How to build list for free

True,

You can try ImnicaMail. I think they are great. You can find them here:

Imnica Mail - Email Marketing Service - Email Marketing Solved

Di

This was a topic yesterday as well.

HERE is the thread for that. Good luck!

While starting your list is great step in building your business, I would go with AWeber $1 first month/$19 mth after. As you and your business grows your going to want have a professional auto-responder to automate your messages to your list.

I personally haven't tried any of the free AR's but I have heard mention that it's nearly impossible to import your list successfully after it's established without having to get your subscribers to re-optin and re-confirm their subscription, which can have a major impact on the number of subscribers you've worked hard to get.

Another words, if you are planning to stay with this, and you are focused on building a solid list, it's advisable to go with an inexpensive paid service. This way after you build your list to a decent number, you won't have to worry about the pain it is to import them to a new/paid AR service.

Hope that helps.

-Art

I don't know whether I should bump that thread with this or post here. I'll go with here. One person on the thread said you can't do affiliate marketing with MailChimp, but you can within certain constraints. I e-mailed them for clarification: MailChimp and Affiliate Marketing

Summary:

I consider list building the most important aspect of building your online business and it took me forever to piece all the components together to do it, that is why once I got it all together, I give it away for free to other newbies so they don't have to struggle like I did to get started.

Having tried many free and not free services, I ended up with aweber which is the one most experts recommend anyway.

I ended up with aweber because it had more features, was easier to use for me, and has great help and training for newbies, like how to increase open rates, how to put a sign up box on facebook, lots of free templates and great analytics.

Since I got all this information about aweber (and other things you need to know to build a list) I created a list getting 3-5 signups a day with a 75% conversion rate in just about a month.

So my advice to you is to look at a lot of services during the free or low cost trials and decide. It might be worth a little money to save a lot of headaches.

:-)

I also have tried several different autoresponders ( both free and paid) and have ended up using Aweber.

I am doing great with InfusionSoft dot com. Its really strong and full with many useful options which you may need. I am very happy with its service.

Yes ... GetResponse is free for your first 100 subscribers. That's enough to get off to a good start. And they're a reliable, well-established company with high deliverability.

Some autoresponder companies are just "permanently free" and many Warriors have had various disasters by using their services. This is very, very high-risk and it's really worthwhile avoiding it, for all the reasons explained here.

Your list is perhaps your business's single most valuable asset. Be very careful whose services you rely on, not only for building and using it, but for its safekeeping, security, accessibility, transportability and so on. Read terms of service very, very carefully indeed. "Choosing an autoresponder" is one of the few things in internet marketing over which it's amazingly helpful to make the right decision the first time you make it, rather than the second. It really matters, partly because the potential future downside of getting it wrong can be difficult to envisage.

Specifically, if you're planning to "start with a free autoresponder with a view to moving somewhere else/better later on", then you'd certainly be very well advised to think again: it doesn't work that way, and there are reasons for that (explained, among other places, in the thread linked to just above).

If you want to build a real business, you'll have to spend (Invest) money. As in the real world, you can't setup a business with no money.

I would't put my business in the hands of a "free autoresponder" company. Aweber is not that expensive, $1 trial and $19 per month to start. It's a low investment for a business startup.

Wow, thanks for this thread and Alexa Smith's link to the explanation of why a free autoresponder is a bad idea! I had just spent a half-hour or so this morning setting up a free autoresponder account, form and messages and installing the form on my page...traffic has gotten to the point where I'm having trouble keeping up with the signups. But then I read this thread and the linked post...and feel that I dodged a bullet.

I've immediately removed the free autoresponder form (which had an ugly image from the company and distracting information about themselves which had stopped me from using the service earlier) and put the old manual one back up...I feel like I've totally avoided a serious mistake thanks to you guys.

I'll have a look at aweber. Maybe that's a better fit.

There are quite a number of free services out there where it stated you can have up to a number of lists.

Please read the fine print before you use any of them.

Do you have the control of your list and who own it?

Do you have any business plan for the next 30 days?

If Yes I suggest you to sign up for Aweber $1 trial where you will be able to recoup back your investment.

2cents.

You could try Interspire, it will only cost you once but then it's free. You have to set it up though.