I've had enough!I am UNSUBSCRIBING my Aweber account!

by Preben Frenning

Posted: 15 years ago 22 replies

INTERNET MARKETING

Seriously.
As most warriors probably have seen, the post "Here's "A Stupidly Simple Cash Cow" and it's FREE :-)" is a MAJOR hit.
- That's because offline internet marketing is a growing interest for marketers all over the world.

Many, if not most of them uses(used) aweber, since it's considered the best autoresponder.

However, there are A LOT of internet marketers who doesn't live in an english speaking country.
How can we provide customers with a great email series on their website, when the confirmation link text is UNCHANGEABLE?

I find it hard to believe that there is no way to get around it, other than to use another autoresponder provider than aweber, but that's just how it is.

I have sent them several support emails suggesting this, and I have gotten various replies.

The first one I talked to, told me how to change the body text, and that it was possible to change everything except that, for security reasons.

We talked some more, and he told me:
"You have the ability to customize the majority of that message to inform your subscribers of the message that they are viewing and what they need to do. I will pass this on for you as a request to edit everything inside that message though. Thank you for your feedback."

I got no response after that. (This was 23.08.08)

Then I tried again 11.11, and got the following response:
"I would be happy to pass along your suggestion! Perhaps in the future, our services will be more compatible with other character sets aside from the English alphabet."

Then again, no information after that.

I bet many other IM'ers outside the US and UK would want aweber enable this.

Please tell me your opinion about this, and which autoresponder provider would be best suited for my needs.

I will not unsubscribe from aweber's services just yet, as it's still a few weeks until my offline IM company goes live to customers.

I still consider them a great autoresponder provider, except for non-english IM'ers. But I will give them a litt le bit more time, and hope they see this, and actually do something about it. - "Aweber's Core Values"

Thank you for all replies,
- Preben Frenning

#account #autoresponder #aweber #best autoresponder #enoughi #foreign autoresponder #switch autoresponder #unsubscribing

radhika 15 years ago

Aweber is mainly focused on English language. You should have known that before subscribing to it.

Enabling multilanguage support is very tedious process for any autoresponder company.

Any service/product has it's pros and cons. You just have try to get good part of them. That's all ...

.
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Preben Frenning

15 years ago

Yeah, I know.
But don't think it would be too hard to make everyting changeable, except the link itself.
I mean, the reason it's not changeable is to get people to click on it.
They won't if the rest of the email is in anither language. At least a lot won't.

They don't need to change a whole lot, only that. A task as simple as that should be able to get through.

I totally understand that it can be a mess, starting to make aweber useable for all languages and charsets, but making a field changable can't be that hard.

I also emailed getresponse, as they seem to be second most popular to other internet marketers. If they provide a solution to my problem, I will definately change, unless aweber does something.

Any other recommendations to autoresponder companies that suits my needs better then?

Thanks,
- Preben

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radhika

15 years ago

You can create an image with your prefered language text in it (with instruction on unsubscribe link) and keep it on the top of email or bottom of email. Simple to overcome your problem. right? Because you only need that change ...

.

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Glenn Grundberg

15 years ago

Personally I don't use AWeber for my offline clients anyways...why bother?

Most of the small businesses we're talking about will take years to grow a substantial list (I'm talking in the thousands). Most will indeed hover in the hundreds for a looong time, and there's not nearly as much worry about spam and undeliverability in the scenario.

See, most of the opt-ins come from "customers". People who actually walk in and write their e-mail down on a list or have it harvested at the register as part of a sale. Face-to-face.

They are VERY unlikely to forget that they subscribed to "Bonita's Boutique Bulletin" or whatever. Just remember to put something extremely recognizable in the subject line, and make sure the "from" name has the business name in it. No problems.

Oh yeah, the setup? Free DadaMail. simple cgi script, or if you want, there's a "pro" version. Works just fine for this application, and all mail is sent from the customers domain. Or whatever. There's a lot of good open-source mail scripts out there.

Customer doesn't HAVE a domain or website? Well, why aren't you selling them one? ;-) I can usually convince them that's in their best interest...

But, if they are absolutely dead-set on NOT having one, here's what I do:

Register their business name (or whatever) as a domain anyways, purchase a screaming cheap hosting account, (like $9.95 a month or less) with hostnine or hostgator and set up an optin squeeze as the index. I keep track of all these with Domain Dashboard.

Set up the dadamail script on that domain, and bill the customer direct for your monthly services as their e-mail systems administrator. I get a VERY nice fee every month for this, and my cash outlay is under $15 a month per client. That's cheaper than Aweber, and I have TOTAL CONTROL. Including Language.

Here's a nice benefit to you...

When, (and you notice I don't say IF) the client is ready for a full-blown website...you are already halfway there. Just template them a site package and voila! (You ARE going to keep after them about this, right? :-)

But here's another, and it's HUGE...

Not only does your client get a squeeze and web presence basically for free as part of this scenario, but YOU get a long list of different c-class IP's all linking back to YOUR design site...

Capisce?

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RDGatchel

15 years ago

To quote a past American President ... "I feel your pain". And this comment may stray a LITTLE from your main gripe, but it may give you some other food for thought.

I HAVE BEEN THROUGH THE RINGER in dealing with autoresponder / email delivery services for myself and for my clients and ... alas ... with Aweber too.

I have to say that my situation (and that of my client) was very much with what Glenn said in his post:

Originally Posted by Glenn Grundberg

See, most of the opt-ins come from "customers". People who actually walk in and write their e-mail down on a list or have it harvested at the register as part of a sale. Face-to-face.

When dealing with Aweber and others, simply uploading a customer list or importing a buyer's list can be a bit of a pain ... and due to the hoops you have to jump through with automatic double opt in with these leads translates into (in my case) very little success with people GETTING and STAYING on the list. YES I KNOW ... I KNOW that Aweber is doing it's best to comply with CAN SPAM and all of that ... but it still a bit "user unfriendly" when you are dealing with customer lists of OFFLINE BUYERS.

SO ... when we had issues (and they were HUGE issues) in the past with Aweber for our offline buyers list. We had to find a solution so we:

(1) Went with AutoResponse Plus. A great script that lets you run an autoresponder AND email / broadcast management on your own server

(2) We put it on a hostgator account at first and then as we grew, we put that on a BIGGER server to handle the amount of email we sent out. Basically, you can grow as much as you want

It works a lot like Aweber or other solutions, but you have complete control of the system .... INCLUDING importing leads lists for offline use etc.

NOW ... as for "non us branding" and such, I'm sure that the programmer (who is a great guy) would be willing to talk about it.

As I said in another post, I'm VERY big for having "mission critical" components of my business WITHIN MY CONTROL and having your own autoresponder and email management on your own server is one way of keeping some control

PS - YES I use Aweber and they serve their purpose very well, but I also have my own system running in tandem and have NEVER had issues with spam complaints or anything on mine.

Thanks

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Derek Pankaew

15 years ago

Originally Posted by Preben Frenning

How many emails are you sending? If you're sending less than 500/hr, you should be able to just run it out of a mail server on your hosting account's SMTP server. Just buy a mailserver software and install it.

That said, Aweber's concern is completely valid. They got to where they are today by complying very well with CAN SPAM and other internet regulations. They can't possibly risk having people remove or obscure the unsubscribe link for the 0.1% that want to send emails in other languages.

I'm certain that if they added that feature, it would be abused by some.

My 2 cents.

- Derek

Thanks

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Preben Frenning 15 years ago

I meant it should be possible to edit everything else than the link itself.
How can you spam with that?
And if that would be a problem, why not implement confirmation text in a few other languages as well?
Anyways, good idea about getting my own autoresponder.

It is now very clear to me that I should get an autoresponder from another company now, or get one myself.

Thank you for all replies folks =)
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Andrew E. 15 years ago

I've got a suggestion for you - MailChimp. We and our clients use it for it's robust features, but it also has multilingual support.

MailChimp translated to 16.5 languages | MailChimp Blog

Andrew E.
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Preben Frenning

15 years ago

Aaaah! What a GREAT reply!
Thanks!
I DID NOT think about the class C ip's before now!
Then I might skip getting a hostgator reseller account, and get a bluehost or similar instead!

I have actually thought of many of the things you mentioned, but not actually being an "email admin" for them without them having a website.

I'm thinking of using xsitepro to make them a website, and simply customizing a ready template for them. - After all, I tell them I sell simple and effective web solutions, and that it's not mainly webdesign I do. And the websites are OPTIMIZED. - Which both sounds good, and works great!

Thank you so much for the tip about dadamail! Will definately check it out ;o)

Thanks again,
- Preben

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Glenn Grundberg

15 years ago

Originally Posted by Preben Frenning

You're welcome, Bro!

Think outside the box, and there's a LOT more you can do with this "Cow" to benefit not only your client, but also yourSELF.

Peace,

Gman

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Preben Frenning 15 years ago

@Anarchy I wasn't aware of that. Great idea to suggest it like that instead.

My last reply was to Glenn btw.

Well, now I have a lot of options =)
Definately an exciting time ahead now! I'll experiment with everything suggested in the next few days and see what works best for me.

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richaard 15 years ago

I sympathize with your frustration with Aweber. I can say this however, if you talk to the right person there, they will exhaust the subject until you understand it. If you get the wrong person, they will further frustrate you with their patronizing tone. But it can be a good autoresponder if you have patience and persistence.
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IMChick 15 years ago

Another option, depending on how much business you do and what direction you're heading in, is to have aweber brand an autoresponder for you. Then you tell them your specific parameters (like language links or whatever), and go sell it in your market. Not cheap, but a good business if you've found a niche with a painful problem.
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Desmon G 15 years ago

Yes, the staff at Aweber can drive you nuts sometimes. Thankfully, I haven't had anyone piss me off enough to stop using their service.
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forous 15 years ago

Aweber is a US company and mainly deals with English. They do not have the support for other languages.
My suggestion is find another provider who deals with multiple languages.
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sevenish 15 years ago

Thanks for all of the great information here.

While I usually sign my clients to Aweber, I'm looking into ConstantContact and others. I'll certainly follow this thread for better suggestions.

Thanks!
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- zapseo 15 years ago
  
  It makes sense to me because they wrote that text so that it will comply with....CAN SPAM laws...which are American and therefore, English.
  
  If you are running AR material in other countries -- well, isn't Implix (makers of GetResponse) European? I would surely think they would be more sympathetic.
  
  But, as an American company working to comply with American laws...what they are doing (and saying in their support tickets) makes perfect sense to me.
  
  They could...maybe...allow a bit more text, though.
  
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RedSynergy 15 years ago

Wow I can't believe Aweber don't offer a language choice for their confirmation link. They must be leaving a LOT of business on the table because of this. If only I had the money to start up a competing autoresponder/mailing list service.....

This is so typical of the internet mentality I'm afraid. If it's not in the USA then it doesn't exist. I lost count of the number of times this affected me because I am in Oz.
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Will Edwards 15 years ago

Personally, I think it's a simple problem to solve if the autoresponder company had the will.

They could simply allow you to put your own message in there for example just as you have control over the body text. Alternatively, they could have the relevant line translated into the major languages and available at the click of a mouse.

Will
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ADAMw3 15 years ago

Unfortunately, the english speaking world is the largest online. This will not change. You might have to do some research on your own to find an auto responder that is compatible with your language, or maybe make your own.
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- Martin Luxton 15 years ago
  
  Preben,
  
  I was using Aweber for Turkish customers and I experienced your problem too. But think about the language support they would need to check all the messages for compliance.
  
  They could do it, I'm sure, but the cost would lead to them having to increase their prices.
  
  And would the demand merit it?
  
  I think there is a bigger issue that hasn't been addressed.
  
  Users here are not so sophisticated about autoresponders.
  
  We had 45 students who all said they wanted to sign up to an email course and gave us their email address. To start off with, we sent them sign up links and we had actually phoned them the day before telling them when they would get the email and what to do.
  
  10 subscribed. 2 marked our emails as spam. The rest we phoned again asking them to check their email accounts to find the email. Finally, after a week we had 38 of them signed up. The other 7 couldn't find the email so we had to wait 30 days (legal requirement) before we could send them a link again.
  
  Bearing this in mind, it might be worthwhile you doing a video in Norwegian showing prospective customers how it works and put it on your website.
  
  Martin
  
  Thanks
  
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Preben Frenning 15 years ago

Thank you all for great replies!

However, Glenn seems like an experienced offline IM'er, and his solution really makes sense.
It would also be the cheapest alternative, as well as it leaves me with total control, and many benefits.

As for aweber, their staff are always polite and nice, but it shocks me that they couldn't simply have told me about their TOS, and that they would have to translate the text close to the link, instead of giving customers the ability to change all of the text themselves.

And another side note - Getresponse has 500,000 customers, Aweber has 50,000. So there is obviously a need for autoresponders in other languages as well.

@Martin - Good idea about making a video. However, it will be a lot easier to simply choose another way of sending the emails, and my clients are 40+, and would probably not watch it anyway. And even if they did, they would consider the email as spam. I mean, many of them can barely READ emails XD

@Will I totally agree.

@RDGatchel - Many good points here. Thanks for a great reply.
I still use aweber for my own lists, but I will choose something else for my clients.

@RedSynergy - Yes, they are leaving A LOT of money on the table - Getresponse proves this by having 10x more customers than them =P
I might start my own autoresponder in the future, but I will focus on my company now.

@Forous - I will ;o)

@ImChick - I might do that later. For now, I've had enough and I'm using AR scripts pn my own servers instead.

@richaard - They are nice and polite, but they could have told me before. And I have used their services since I started with IM 2 years ago, so I know they are good. Unfortunately only for english-speaking customers...

I will now use all responses from this thread to find the best solution for me.
I will post my plan when I'm done with it.
I hope aweber sees this and that it will enlighten them =)

- Preben
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I've had enough!I am UNSUBSCRIBING my Aweber account!

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