Is it worth it to have Aweber or Getresponse to build a List with just 10 Unique Visitors a day ??

[discrat]

Just wondering if getting a moderate amount of Traffic to your Blog warrants the need to build a list with A-Weber or Getresponse Atuoresponder ?
Like I get 12 unique Visitors to one sight and 6 for my other Blog. I am making a Net of $30 a month with my affiliate products at this stage for my Blogs. The Autoresponder is like $20 a month, right ?
Is this a mandatory tool at this stage of the game ?

And is there any other ways to capture info at a cheaper fee ? Or even free ?

Thanks so much

[SimonHarrison]

There are some free services but honestly not sure I would touch them, long term it's going to be a hassle.

There are also some decent scripts you can run on your own server but you won't get the same delivery rate that Getaresponse or Aweber does, nor the flexibility.

Both systems have faults, neither are perfect, but both offer prettty damm good value for money.

[Adrianne_]

I agree that both systems are good to have but it's a little early for you to start using them. You're just starting to make money and should never put 100% of your profit back into your business.

In the mean time, I would suggest you use outlook express with the email account that comes from your ISP. If they don't provide you with one, then use gmail. In my experience, they have a better delivery rate than yahoo & hotmail. You could probably find a free autoresponder just by doing a search for it if you want to get some practice with them. I think there use to be one called Aces but I'm not completely sure.

Also, start putting together some followup emails that you will be using to keep in contact with your subscribers/customers. You will need these letters to add to your autoresponder when you decide to purchase one. For right now, keep in touch with your list thru email and when you are ready, move everyone over to the autoresponder of your choice.

[sparrow]

When I first started off I used a free form to collect my first list

because I thought I had to few people coming eventually the list grew

I use to send out by hand the emails when it was small then the list grew to large to manage

thinking back I wish I had use Aweber or something similar using a paid autoresponder is so much easier

Ed

[Michael Mayhew]

You can signup with GetResponse free.
AutoResponder from GetResponse! - Free edition!!

As you grow you can upgrade to pro service.

[discrat]

Dangum, thanks so much for the info. Its wierd in the last 6 months since I startd my Blog and IM, I was only interested in coming to Forums for SEO and Signature backlinks. I even did this a couple of months ago right here at Warriors.
But now I dont even care about that, at least with this Forum. Its all about great people who really want to help others.
Thats so cool

[Sami]

NOTE: there is alot that goes on behind the secens with a pro auto responder system that is not immeidately obvious. They don't "just" send out emails.

They have multiple servers and multiple IP addresses. They have reverse DNS records and pay hundreds if not thousands of dollars per year to have their domains and IPs whitelisted.

They also religiously monitor what is being sent out form their servers. So (a) they never get blacklisted in the online spam lists and (b) nobody can accuse them of spam.

When you send mail via those services you also get server backups hardware upgrades, 24x7 uptime (almost), O/S upgrades.

If someone accuses you of spam you can easily provide third party (Aweber or GetResponse etc) evidence of that person previously opting in (but later forgetting and it happen more than you think).

Using outlook and free email accounts is a terrible idea and you never know if your mail got thru. The responder services give you some delivery stats at least.

NOTE: the good responder services will not allow you to just import your list when it gets bigger. Your list will have to re-confirm their optin via your new responder service. Most never bother and you'll lose a big chunk of your list when you do move over!

I'd start withe these service and focus on working 'on' you business not 'in' it.

All the major successes will tell you: you gotta spend money to make money. And as spending goes, auto responders are very cheap and totally critical to your success. I'd start now.

Best of good fortune to you.
Sami

[Suthan M]

Not only that, but i think emailaces also have a free edition, but i am not sure if its still applicable..

Check it out as well

[discrat]

Can you set up a GetResponses free Autoresponder on a Blogger Blog ?? If so how do you go about it ??

Thanks

[David Raybould]

hey Discrat,

Just to give you the heads up, I tried the free version of getresponse a couple of years ago before opting to go with aweber.

The free getresponse account may be free, but the first thing your optins are going to see is advertisements from other account holders. You have to upgrade your account to a paid version to take these ads out of your emails.

Also, back then it was limited to 5 email messages, so if you wanted to have more than 5 in a row, (essential for making money) you had to upgrade.

Just my 2 cents. Things may have changed but check it out beforehand to make sure you aren't disappointed.

Hope that's useful.

David

[Sami]

Originally Posted by discrat

Can you set up a GetResponses free Autoresponder on a Blogger Blog ?? If so how do you go about it ??

Thanks

It has been a couple of years since I did anything with blogger but I'm fairly certain you can use your autoresponder with blogger:

• Create your opt-in form (your autoresponder actually gives you the code when you follow the wizard).
• In blogger decide where you want your form
• either add it to the template or an individual post ...
• ... you'll do that by switching to the 'page source' so you can actually edit the html. Copy and paste the opt-in form into the source of the blogger template or you individual post.
• save and publish.

That's roughly the procedure.

Two things:

1- If your blogger blog is not well established then you ough to consider Wordpress on your own hosting account. Pretty much most cPanels have 'Fantastico' whcih installs a Wordpress blog for you in seconds and you get many extra benefits. Example: WOrdPress has lots of free and paid plugins (i.e. extra functions such as opt-in integration etc) that others have create and regularly do create for it.

2- The GetResponse free account is useful for practice purposes. Thought you are limited to 5 responder series, you get play and practice until you're ready to go live. AWeber doesn't give you a free account in the first place.

Besides I think you can send unlimited 'broadcast' messages which is what you'll want to do with your newsletter.

Good luck
Sami

[Zeus66]

Do yourself a favor and go with one of the big boys right from the start. I recommend Aweber, but GetResponse is good too from what I've read and heard from people I trust.

The reason to start right off with one of the best is the headaches with migrating an existing list. Everyone on it will have to reconfirm their subscription. You'll lose a fair number if/when you switch to the elite service of your choice down the road, if you go with a cheap option now.

Not a day goes by that I don't wish I'd followed this advice a few years ago. It is WELL worth $20/month to get Aweber right off the bat.

John

[Zeus66]

I guess I should add that I agree with the idea of building a list right from the start, too. 12 visitors/day is 360 per month. Let's say you can find a way to get 10% to sign up for your mailing list (36 month). A lot of pro list builders suggest that a good target is $1 per subscriber per month. I'd suggest that's a bit high at first, but you should strive for it. So if you get there after, say, 3 months, you'll have about 110 subscribers, or $110/month coming in. But only if you start building that list right now.

Then the $20/month you're spending on Aweber seems like a good call, right?

John