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Aweber Conversation

by Zeus66
6 replies
Just got off the phone with Aweber, and thought I'd pass along what I learned. I called them because I noticed an unusually high bounce rate from my last broadcast email send. She didn't say it in so many words, but it was pretty clear that she was telling me that it was one big ISP that apparently didn't let Aweber messages through for a very brief time on 1/26/2010 during the middle of the day. My broadcast got caught up in that.

Now for the good news. She said they got in touch with them immediately and it was resolved. Well, she didn't say that in so many words - she was being cryptic probably for legal reasons - but that was obviously what she was implying.

THIS is why you need to use a professional service like Aweber. Deliverability is a huge concern. First of all, they report when your emails bounce. So you actually know when there's a problem. That alone says a lot about their service. Second, they are incredibly proactive when there is a problem, which is rare.

So, do I mind paying upwards of $50/month for Aweber? HELL NO! Don't be shortsighted and focus solely on the monthly cost. Even with a small list, if you're doing things right, you don't even miss the tiny expense. It's one of the best values on the Web, easily.

John
#aweber #conversation
  • Profile picture of the author JHC81
    We've been using Aweber for the past 4 years and don't have any plans going with anyone else.
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    • Profile picture of the author Michael Shook
      There seems to be a trend in people trying to save money by hosting their own email software. many times it works well, but sometimes the host won't let your server deliver emails like that and just like John says the big email companies work hard to keep their deliverabillity agreements with the ISP's

      This is one of those things that if you do email marketing, it has to work. Otherwise, no matter how little you paid for your self-hosted email solution, you still did not get the benefit of your investment.
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  • Profile picture of the author Shaun OReilly
    Deliverability is VITAL.

    However, using a third-party autoresponder service such
    as AWeber, GetResponse, iContact, etc, is only one way
    to strive for deliverability.

    If their servers get blacklisted, you rely upon them to get
    delisted with various blacklisting 'authorities'.

    I did an RBL check for the various AWeber e-mail servers and
    they're on some blacklists at the moment - which accounts
    for why some people are experiencing some issues.

    smtp-verifiedoptin-01.aweber.com
    207.106.200.7
    spam.dnsbl.sorbs.net
    opm.tornevall.org

    smtp-verifiedoptin-02.aweber.com
    207.106.200.8
    spam.dnsbl.sorbs.net
    spam.spamrats.com
    opm.tornevall.org

    smtp-w-01.aweber.com
    207.106.239.85
    spam.dnsbl.sorbs.net

    smtp-confirmations-w-01.aweber.com
    207.106.200.17
    spam.dnsbl.sorbs.net

    smtp-01.aweber.com
    207.106.239.80
    spam.dnsbl.sorbs.net

    smtp-02.aweber.com
    207.106.239.91
    spam.dnsbl.sorbs.net

    (Checked at The Anti-Abuse Project | RBL check and monitoring | Network Security Consulting 27th January 2011)
    Another option is to use e-mail software installed on
    your own server but use external SMTP services to
    ensure high deliverability too. (They manage blacklisting,
    etc).

    The advantage of this approach is that if an external
    SMTP server gets blacklisted, you are able to change
    the SMTP server that's used for delivery of your e-mail.

    For example, if authsmtp.com get blacklisted, I can opt to
    send my mail via another SMTP provider such as smtp.com

    It keeps the list database and the server for e-mail
    delivery separate instead of tied like they are with
    other third-party autoresponder services.

    (With a third-party autoresponder service, you don't control
    the server that they send your e-mail from. You're tied).

    External SMTP servers also have a monthly cost associated
    with them of course but the neat thing is that you can change
    SMTP service providers very easily (contrasted to the headache
    of changing third-party autoresponder service provider).

    Dedicated to mutual success,

    Shaun
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    • Profile picture of the author Alan Petersen
      Does Aweber automatically removed email addresses that bounced like they do those who hit the spam complaint links of their email provider?
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      • Profile picture of the author Zeus66
        Originally Posted by Alan Petersen View Post

        Does Aweber automatically removed email addresses that bounced like they do those who hit the spam complaint links of their email provider?
        Not at first. I don't like that Aweber will not let you see which emails bounced, but they do not remove them unless they bounce continuously for I think it's more than a certain number of emails you send out. I can't remember the exact amount, but it's a lot.
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        • Profile picture of the author Alan Petersen
          Originally Posted by Zeus66 View Post

          Not at first. I don't like that Aweber will not let you see which emails bounced, but they do not remove them unless they bounce continuously for I think it's more than a certain number of emails you send out. I can't remember the exact amount, but it's a lot.
          Whew, cool. That was the first thing I thought about when I read your OP. I thought bounces were bad email addresses didn't realize it could be due to ISP glitches. Thanks for the info.
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