Janet Matthews

I am about to conquer my fear of list building and would be grateful for some autoresponder recommendations from those of you who are experienced in this area.

Thanks

PS sorry - just noticed I can't spell attempt (title) and can't see how to edit it!!!!!!

aawarrior

Hi Janet
Have no fear when it comes to list building it can be done so easily if you have the right tools to do it. I would highly recommend Aweber.
I can really say it change my marketing business. Its soo easy. If you have any problem setting it up I would be happy to help you.

Good luck

Alex.Fields

I would recommend Aweber, alot of people on this forum would recommend the same.

Getresponse is highly favourite amongst alot here on the forum. It depends on what your taste is. I would not say that the one is better than the other.
These are both paid services.

If you like to start without investing money, you can try Mailchimp. Just remember that most of the time it is not possible to transfer lists to other services.

biscuit85

aweber, nuff said!

patadeperro

Aweber hands down, but remember this, the auto responder system you are going to buy it is the single most important decision you are going to make technically speaking in this business why?

Because once you have chosen one you can't transfer your list from one software to another without asking them to confirm again furthermore you can loose more than 50% of your list.

Good luck

Janet Matthews

Thanks for the offer Asanda

Janet Matthews

Thanks you both for your advice - I hadn't realized that you couldn't move from one to another without getting people to re opt in. So making the right decision first time seems to be of vital importance.

wvcopywriter

I started off with mailchimp because it is free until you reach a cerian amount. Then after you reach your free limit you can transfer over to aweber.

Andy Crofford

This is exactly what I was going to recommend. I think Mailchimp provides a great service.

Janet Matthews

Thanks everyone - I have never heard of mailchimp. How difficult is it to transfer across to aweber at a later date? Some have indicated this is not an easy task.

I have heard of traffic wave - but wonder why so many people (the majority from what I can see from my newsletters) use aweber. Why is this the autoresponder of choice of the top IMers????

WillR

This is bad advice. As others have mentioned above, when you decide to transfer your list over to a better auto-responder that has much better delivery rates, such as Aweber, all your subscribers will need to re-confirm with the new autoresponder. This means you end up losing a chunk of the list you have spent time and money building.

Besides, if you can't afford to spend only $19/month on one of the most important parts of your business then I would question how serious you really are about it. And it only costs $1 for your first month.

M Thompson

Don't think of just your first attempt, think long term, you need to get with an autoresponder that can handle 10 subscribers and 10,000,000 subscribers. Go with aweber

WillR

- Features
- Ease of Use
- Price
- Reliability

and most important, DELIVERABILITY!

Shaun OReilly

Actually, in my experience you can transfer lists into
AWeber without reconfriming - if you are currently
using a reputable third-party autoresponder service
and have a full audit path for each confirmed opt-in
subscriber.

Plus, I've found that MailChimp servers have a higher
deliverability than most other providers.

Why?

Because they're so strict on what type of lists they'll
allow to send e-mail via their servers. For example,
MailChimp are very strict on not allowing lists that
are commonly associated with high complaint and
spam rates such as work-from-home, hardcore
affiliate marketing, etc.

Net result? Their servers get less complaints and
therefore have a better reputation and higher
deliverability rates.

In any case, asking people on your list to re-confirm
is not always a bad thing and it's a good way of finding
out who your most active and qualified subscribers are.

For example, a previous mentor of mine changed list
providers and his list plummeted from 23k to around 9k.
However, the most interesting part is that his monthly
sales did not go down much at all.

Dedicated to mutual success,

Shaun

Marian

Yeah, great if you're cleaning up your list a bit and it helps because Aweber charges also unsubscribers and undeliverables as long as they're on your list(s).

Marian

WillR

Yeah, I forgot to point out that MailChimp does not allow affiliate marketing so that can be a big drawback to Internet Marketers.

Shaun OReilly

It is not entirely true that MailChimp don't allow affiliate
marketing.

I've contacted their Compliance Department multiple times
and have got permission to send affiliate offers to my list
provided I stay within a narrow set of guidelines.

If your main business model involves sending predominantly
affiliate offers - then do NOT use MailChimp.

However, if you have a list for mainly selling your own products
and you want to send some affiliate offers, then contact the
Compliance Department of MailChimp first (rather than taking
advice from anyone else on a forum).

MailChimp has great deliverability because their Terms of
Service are so strict. (Even stricter than AWeber).

Stricter rules bring higher deliverability.

Dedicated to mutual success,

Shaun

ashishaffiliate

mailchimps dashboard is bit slow and i've slow network. i'm using imnicamail.com for my mailings.

i will recommend imnicamail for startup or aweber if u r experienced.

Ashish

Oggyoi

I signed up for Mailchimp on Sunday but haven't done anything with it.

Is the general feeling that it's better to forgo the Mailchimp and to change to Aweber instead or to start out with Mailchimp then progress to Aweber?

Any advice always welcome.

Janet Matthews

Thanks for some really helpful advice. I can see why Aweber is the choice of the majority and agree that $19 isn't a big investment if I am serious about IM, which I am.

WillR

And don't forget your first month is only $1 - even better!

Janet Matthews

Yes that is excellent, especially if I can ensure I cover my first $19 during the trial period.

Alexa Smith

A business plan that involves "changing autoresponders" is fundamentally flawed.

Affiliate Marketing is expressly prohibited in Mailchimp's terms of service (I just checked again, now: in their terms of service it's quite unambiguous). There are people who have got away with doing some affiliate marketing there. As you can see from other threads here on this subject, there are also others who have been discovered, lost their lists, and found that Mailchimp then refused even to discuss the matter with them. Be very careful!

For myself, there are no circumstances under which I'd dream of using a free autoresponder. In my opinion, it's all downside. I think it's actually better not to use one at all, and I don't say that lightly.

"Choice of autoresponder" is one of the very, very few things in internet marketing that you really do have to get right with the first decision you make about it, otherwise the opportunity cost can be very high. It's better to postpone that decision than to make a bad one.

yourreviewer

Personally, I feel if you are not ready to invest in buying a domain name, hosting or an auto responder, you are not ready for business. Rather work extra hours in your day job or stop your Netflix subscription to invest in your business.

sebastianlatina

I think you'll be happy with either Aweber or Get Response. Both services have great functionality. I'm not sure if this was mentioned in an earlier response, the great thing about Get Response is that you have options on your monthly subscription. You can always upgrade your subscription to support your list, when your lists grows, just upgrade to the next price range to support it. However what I like about Aweber is that it's $19/month and it's independent of the amount of subscribers you have. I myself have aweber. I've had a lot of fun with it and it's very user friendly.

Shaun OReilly

I agree that the Terms of Service for MailChimp are very
unclear and ambiguous.

However, it is only by contacting the Compliance Department
of MailChimp that people will get a definitive answer regarding
their specific set of circumstances.

That's how I got permission to do some affiliate marketing via
MailChimps servers - with their full knowledge and agreement.

Hardcore affiliate marketers should not touch MailChimp with
a barge pole. Sure.

I poo-pooed MailChimp around 6 months ago because I thought
it was just a 'free' provider. However, having done some work
for clients who actually use MailChimp, they do have some
distinct advantages not least of which is excellent deliverability.

And MailChimp offer free and paid options.

There is not one autoresponder service provider that will be best
for all people in all circumstances.

For some MailChimp is a good choice. For others it's not.

Same with AWeber and others providers.

But don't use dogma from a forum to decide on which provider
you should (or should not) use.

Check the full facts for yourself and then decide for the best
autoresponder service provider your business.

Dedicated to mutual success,

Shaun

Janet Matthews

Hi Alexa - I will heed your warning, but also wonder which autoresponder you would recommend

Janet Matthews

Hi Sebastian - I am not sure I understand what you are saying here, as when I went to Aweber's site - it says for example that 2,501-5,000 is $30 and 5,001-10,000 is $50. So it is dependent on the amount of subscribers you have!!

Alexa Smith

Hi Janet, I've only used Aweber, really. I feel I can recommend that from experience and GetResponse on the basis of reliable-enough second-hand information. For myself, I wouldn't use another, for a big variety of reasons including the potential for future compatibility issues (I know it sounds very vague, and to some extent it is, but if there are ever new services equivalent to e-Junkie, or whatever, that need to work compatibly with autoresponders, for customer ease, Aweber and GetResponse are the two with which that's likely to be easy, in my opinion).

It's true that Aweber have had a couple of security breaches recently, but that may be absolutely no fault of their own and simply the fact that they were targeted. It could just as easily be GetResponse who are targeted next time. Nothing is ever 100% reliable, unfortunately: it's just a question of trying to get the odds in one's favour. I'm with Aweber, have 8 lists there, and am probably going to open a GetResponse account some time soon, for some future lists, just on the "eggs and baskets" principle and not because I'm unhappy with Aweber.

Apologies for a rambling answer which is very subjective and probably of little real help!

ivanadee

Aweber is the greatest and the most expensive one :P
getresponse is always be a good alternative and actually cheaper.
Aweber has more features than getresponse so, it will depend on ur needs

Janet Matthews

Thanks Shaun - I was merely trying to get some idea of what people's preferences are and will certainly do my own research outside of that before making a decision. However there are some very experienced Internet Marketers on WF whose advice I value highly and I am not sure where else I can go to get the same level of advice

Janet Matthews

Hi Alexa - No problem - it is just those sort of ramblings that help me to build a fuller picture to inform the way forward for me

Converting Copy

DON'T skimp a few bucks up front to go with anything less than the best, you'll regret it for the rest of your marketing life. Stick with the best from the get go, lest you lose half of your list or more. I'm an Aweber guy, always have been, always will be... I feel like Brett Favre.

Shaun OReilly

Hi Janet,

It's good to take advice from as many sources as possible
- including this forum - before making your decision.

Just be aware that both good and bad advice is given on
forums.

I've used multiple autoresponder service providers in the
past for my own businesses including 1ShoppingCart, AWeber,
Infusionsoft, iContact and MailChimp.

I also manage the lists of many offline business owners
who use these systems and others like Constant Contact.

All of the providers have pros and cons and the best
provider for your business really depends upon your
specific situation and goals.

Dedicated to mutual success,

Shaun

DeborahDera

This is very true. I switched from Constant Contact to Aweber when redesigning the site for my martial arts school. The bad news is that I did lose a good number of subscribers (but Constant Contact allowed me to add them manually). The good news is that my "open" rate is much higher. I'm only mailing to those who really wanted my newsletters anyway!

Oggyoi

I used to do this years ago with my offline business, I'd sift through my account base to see which customers were actually ordering, which had never ordered etc and basically got rid of the rubbish so I could focus on the profitable accounts and also on the potential new ones.

Fun to Write

I've used Get Response successfully for years. There's nothing scary about setting up an account, just make sure you understand who your target market is, and how to design email messages and content that will appeal directly to their wants.

Daniel LaRusso

I'm in the same boat as you, Janet, and I'm really glad you asked this question. Have you pulled the trigger yet? I couldn't tell from reading through the posts.

I have a really dumb follow up question. What I want to do is have an opt-in box where people can put their name and email address (I know, that's what an autoresponder is) and then get either an immediate download or an email with two free reports.

It looks like Aweber is the best way to go for this and for what I want to do long term, but how is the learning curve for doing this? How hard is it to get started, set up, and running, for a total newbie to autoresponders?

Janet Matthews

Hi Daniel - re the first part of your question - I am about to try one that hasn't been mentioned here. It is called imnica mail. There is another thread on WF similar to this one that has lots of recommendations for it and also a WSO that is offering it at $6.30 a month up to 5,000 leads. I have searched Google for reviews and they are all excellent. It seems to compare well with Aweber and is very much cheaper. Lots of people here who are with Aweber joined before the big price rise so are getting a good deal. It is now very expensive. $29 as soon as you go over 500 and $40 over 2,500. Quite an expense if imnica mail compares well with its features and deliverability.

Re the second part of your question I am not the best person to answer except to say there is a WSO that was WSO of the day earlier this week that is about list building and I believe it covers things like that. A course like that would be worth investing in and maybe to stick with the cheaper autoresponder. IMHO

sknapstein

$19 is to start. The price goes up as your list grows. TrafficWave is $17.95 and never goes up. My choice is TrafficWave.

sunseven

There are alot of choices to select from but if your a noob, then the absolute best route is aweber. Everything is super easy to setup and understand

penpal6

Aweber is perhaps the best available auto responder in the market

gottahave

One point many people forget about is whether your autoresponder integrates with the software /plugin you might be using on your site/s. Most scripts seem to be configured for at least 2 autoresponders with Aweber always one of them.

aboutalhah

I use both aweber and icontact (I use icontact for my buyer's list).

I recommend both, although I prefer aweber's look!

So here's the plan:

1. go bu aweber today
2. Watch the video tutorial there
3. Create your first squeeze page
4. Create a solid relationship with your list (create a blog and good content)
5. Tell them: "Click HERE to Buy This NOW"
6. Tell them: "Thank you for buying"
7. Manage your list.

It's work in the beginning, but once you get this, it's almost money in demand.

Regards,
Franck

PS. FYI, you only need aweber, no need to get icontact like me.

Janet Matthews

Thanks Franck - sounds like a good plan!

kabbalah

I looked at imnicamail. I personally didn't like them for 1 reason. They don't have a name capture box ready and set up that you can see and get a code for to insert into your site or blog. If they have one I certainly couldn't find it. I did like their price though.

iansinfo

Most people here recommend Awbber but for me icontact whilst more expensive wins hands down

njaad

Aweber is the default choise for most people, but you have some great alternatives that are much better in terms of flexibility. For instance, Sendpepper.com allows for easy list segmentation, and you can also send printed postcards for a reasonable fee. You can do way more with this service, but the question is if you actually need the extra functionalities.

jasonthewebmaster

Go with mailchimp man! They have are FREE for up to 2,000 subscribers, and have all the features of aweber and other big names! Don't spend money until you build your list up man!

aboutalhah

You are welcome Janet.

Just one thing, don't waste too much time on this, and let me know if you need anything else.

Franck