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Tricky situation with a 600,000 subscriber list

by TrueMarketer
33 replies
Hi,

I have a list of approx. 600,000 subscribers.

Now, here's my dilemma.. I have a list but no way to email it. When I was with AWeber I was subscribed to the plan that was like 20% of today's rate (before they added all kinds of new features) and all other Autoresponders including GetResponse, iContact etc are almost as expensive.

My list isn't the most responsive, it's in a market that is very hard to sell to. Just as a reference point, my CR on the site is about 0.2%, and that is after years of testing and tons of split tests.

I have hosted sales that have made about $10k in the past but I can't really risk a monthly
bill of $3-$4000 right now.

Does anyone have any suggestion on what to do? Is doing bulk mail using a bulk mail client even something to consider? What other options do I have? Let me know if you have any ideas. I could probably pull off a sale that generates $10k+ again, it's just that I dont feel comfortable risking $4k right now.

I'd appreciate any advice you may have!
#600 #aweber #list #situation #subscriber #tricky
  • Profile picture of the author LMC
    jako,

    I would suggest setting up your own mailer...

    unless you are going to cultivate the list, and find the response group, it's not cost effective putting them into any autoresponder program.
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  • Profile picture of the author tpw
    I would not recommend mailing from your desktop, but I have zero reservations about mailing from your server, so long as you tend to the rules of your hosting provider.

    If you need to move your mailing system to a different server, so you can stay on the good side of your hosting company, I would do that.

    There is no sense in risking your domains to send email, but sending email in-house is not the huge problem many people think that it is.
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  • Profile picture of the author TrueMarketer
    Thanks a lot for the advice guys, much appreciated.

    Tpw: so what you're suggesting is getting a mail server and use the server's SMTP with a bulk mail client like for example SendBlaster?

    Sorry but I'm a complete newbie when it comes to the technical stuff, I have simpl been emailing away with Aweber for the last 5 years or so
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    • Profile picture of the author TrueMarketer
      Does anyone have any suggestions for a good email server + email client solution?
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    • Profile picture of the author Dan Bainbridge
      Originally Posted by jakobh View Post

      Thanks a lot for the advice guys, much appreciated.

      Tpw: so what you're suggesting is getting a mail server and use the server's SMTP with a bulk mail client like for example SendBlaster?

      Sorry but I'm a complete newbie when it comes to the technical stuff, I have simpl been emailing away with Aweber for the last 5 years or so
      A 600k list is a serious asset, and you should take it seriously. If I had a 600k list it would make me $3-5million+ a year, probably even more...

      Treat it properly, think big, and think in terms of the most quality systems you can use...

      But you are right imo not to use a hosted solution, $4k per blast is ridiculous. We opted never to use Aweber and have always used our own servers and so self hosted mailing software...

      We've got around 150k subscribers and we probably save $30-50k (maybe more?) by not being on Aweber...

      You really should seld host your own mailing solution. Despite common myths your (at least ours do) emails will get delivered, and opened.

      You need your own dedicated server, something that is completely yours so that others can't ruin your spam reputation, and so you can handle the strain of mailing to 600k people without annyoying hostgator... do not use hostgator, this won't work at all... you NEED your own server... so you need to get someone with technical knoweldge to set this up for you.

      One we use is Linode:
      Linode - Xen VPS Hosting

      They are flexible, but speak to their customer service and they should help you pick one.

      Then you need your own email software that you will host exclusively on this email server. There are multiple to choose from, we use Oem/Octeth:

      Octeth - Oempro - Email Marketing Software - Email List Managment Software - Auto Responder Software

      This costs a few $100, and your hosting will cost somewhere between $20-50 a month... so for $500 a year you can send UNLIMITED emails.

      Seriously, do this, you won't regret it, you then don't have to worry about NEEDING to earn $4k per email just to cover your costs... the Aweber trap is seriously crazy... then you can test out your list, warm them up, cut out the non responders, and develop a quality list that opens your emails, knows you give value (as you can send them free gifts with no offers attached without worrying about needing to make $4k), trusts you, and BUYS from you regularly...

      Good luck - think big, think "what would a real company do" as with a 600k list you can be a real company, I don't care how poor you think your open rates are or how tough your niche is... with a self hosted solution you can improve this in all areas.

      Good luck!
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      • Profile picture of the author TrueMarketer
        THANK YOU everyone! I have a much better idea of how I should move forward now.


        Originally Posted by Dan Bainbridge View Post

        A 600k list is a serious asset, and you should take it seriously. If I had a 600k list it would make me $3-5million+ a year, probably even more...

        Treat it properly, think big, and think in terms of the most quality systems you can use...

        But you are right imo not to use a hosted solution, $4k per blast is ridiculous. We opted never to use Aweber and have always used our own servers and so self hosted mailing software...

        We've got around 150k subscribers and we probably save $30-50k (maybe more?) by not being on Aweber...

        You really should seld host your own mailing solution. Despite common myths your (at least ours do) emails will get delivered, and opened.

        You need your own dedicated server, something that is completely yours so that others can't ruin your spam reputation, and so you can handle the strain of mailing to 600k people without annyoying hostgator... do not use hostgator, this won't work at all... you NEED your own server... so you need to get someone with technical knoweldge to set this up for you.

        One we use is Linode:
        Linode - Xen VPS Hosting

        They are flexible, but speak to their customer service and they should help you pick one.

        Then you need your own email software that you will host exclusively on this email server. There are multiple to choose from, we use Oem/Octeth:

        Octeth - Oempro - Email Marketing Software - Email List Managment Software - Auto Responder Software

        This costs a few $100, and your hosting will cost somewhere between $20-50 a month... so for $500 a year you can send UNLIMITED emails.

        Seriously, do this, you won't regret it, you then don't have to worry about NEEDING to earn $4k per email just to cover your costs... the Aweber trap is seriously crazy... then you can test out your list, warm them up, cut out the non responders, and develop a quality list that opens your emails, knows you give value (as you can send them free gifts with no offers attached without worrying about needing to make $4k), trusts you, and BUYS from you regularly...

        Good luck - think big, think "what would a real company do" as with a 600k list you can be a real company, I don't care how poor you think your open rates are or how tough your niche is... with a self hosted solution you can improve this in all areas.

        Good luck!
        That was a great post, thanks for that valuable information. I think I'm going to do what you suggest. I checked out the OemPro website and it says it's only $29 for a 1-user license. I'm the only one who needs access. Can it really be that cheap or am I missing something? It looks like a great solution.

        Thanks again!
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  • Profile picture of the author JasonParker
    Going cheap with a 3rd party autoresponder today is a little tough.

    I still have my old GetResponse and AWeber rates locked in instead of switching to the advanced analytics when they came out.

    You COULD call GetResponse and try to strike a deal with them. They seem to be the most flexible as far as I know.

    The other option I think is to get something like Auto Response Plus and host it yourself, BUT it's probably going to be a freaking nightmare.
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  • Profile picture of the author rosetrees
    You could take a look at Imnica who charge $553 a month for up to 300k subscribers Plans & Pricing | Imnica Mail
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  • Profile picture of the author Samrath Gupta
    I've been using Mailchimp and it works great !! It is even easy to understand so you can give a try to MailChimp

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  • Profile picture of the author kolbywhite28
    Oh yes, there is a free autoresponder called Listwire: List Wire - The world's best FREE Autoresponder!
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    • Profile picture of the author Hardik Jogi
      Originally Posted by kolbywhite28 View Post

      Oh yes, there is a free autoresponder called Listwire: List Wire - The world's best FREE Autoresponder!
      Do you really think that a free autoresponder would allow 600k (or even half of that) subscribers list?

      Also listwire has an ad in each email that you sent. Thus, it looks unprofessional.
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      • Profile picture of the author Ken Marc
        Originally Posted by hardik jogi View Post

        Do you really think that a free autoresponder would allow 600k (or even half of that) subscribers list?

        Also listwire has an ad in each email that you sent. Thus, it looks unprofessional.
        Listwire owner Gary is a member here, with gary_the_ace profile name (or whatever it's called ), so OP may PM him to find it out!

        Ken

        P.S. : I have read a few threads refering this ad from listwire, and from what I have gathered - it's a text link of listwire (not banner of some xyz product), can someone clarify this please? Perhaps a screen-shot of an actual email with the ad?
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      • Profile picture of the author Gary_The_Ace
        Originally Posted by hardik jogi View Post

        Do you really think that a free autoresponder would allow 600k (or even half of that) subscribers list?

        Also listwire has an ad in each email that you sent. Thus, it looks unprofessional.
        We don't allow anyone to import any prospects, for any reason...

        We're a service to build your list on, not one to import your list into. And, as a free service, we'd get KILLED by spammers if we allowed imports...

        As for the "ad in each email", I've gone over this at length... it's a footer link back to List Wire, the same kind included by InfusionSoft, iContact, and over 75% of paid autoresponder providers on the market. If their ads aren't making anyone look unprofessional, neither would we...

        On top of that, everyone using WordPress is advertising a free service, anyone with a Facebook fan page, a video on YouTube, and the list goes on...

        Free is normal, and accepted online... and in business. How many large companies have you seen promoting to "like us on Facebook", or "Follow us on Twitter", or "Go to YouTube.com/OurVideo" for more...

        The answer is, there are BILLIONS spend on advertising using those free services...

        -Gary Ambrose
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    • Profile picture of the author PhilippaWrites
      Originally Posted by kolbywhite28 View Post

      Oh yes, there is a free autoresponder called Listwire: List Wire - The world's best FREE Autoresponder!
      Thanks for this, I'd never heard of Listwire. Looking into it now!
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  • Profile picture of the author anahita56
    There's an auto responder plug in for word press. I haven't used it myself and don't know how it works, but it might be an idea?
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    • Profile picture of the author Ken Marc
      Originally Posted by anahita56 View Post

      There's an auto responder plug in for word press. I haven't used it myself and don't know how it works, but it might be an idea?
      WP autoresponder plugins (there are quite a few, some called newsletter plugins), as far as I know, allow some 100 emails per hour (depends upon the hosting provider), so may not be the best of the solutions in this case.

      Ken
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    • Profile picture of the author TrueMarketer
      Thanks for all the suggestions and ideas!

      I have checked out listwire but they don't allow you to import lists.

      Will a bulk mailer like SendBlaster (or similar bulk email client) + my own ISP's SMTP work? Am I risking anything by using a set-up like that? Will the delivery rate be a lot worse than with let's say AWeber?

      Thanks,
      Jakob
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  • Profile picture of the author robnoble
    You need autoresponderplus and an email server.

    Setting it up isn't that big of a deal and besides the company offer a set up service.

    You will need a specialist email server though for a list that big because normal ISP's have a throttle on number of emails sent per hour and are very wary of large lists due to possible spam issues.

    Here's a email hosting provider:
    Email Server Hosting | Dedicated Email Server Hosting

    You can Google for more provider options
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  • Profile picture of the author Janice Sperry
    With a list that large and not being tech savvy I would not even try to host it yourself.

    You might want to contact a Warrior, Brian Rooney. He owns Traffic Wave. It has built up a great reputation over the years and he understands about Internet marketing. I haven't switched from Aweber yet because if it ain't broke... If I did switch I would go to TW. I have a number of friends that have had great success. (I am not an affiliate.)

    With a list that large you would probably get some premium help from support from any company you decide to transfer to.

    Below is copied from Brian's signature...

    Brian Rooney
    TrafficWave.net AutoResponders
    Email Marketing Blog
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  • Profile picture of the author hanakuza
    You should get in on hosting providers that host for safelists or solo ad sites, those sites send out millions of emails daily.
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    • Profile picture of the author myob
      Check out autoresponse plus. It's a self-hosted autoresponder software which has more advanced features than even commercial autoresponders. I have a list of nearly 800,000 and there is no monthly fee except for the cost of a dedicated server.
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  • Profile picture of the author AuthenticHealthCoaching
    Try purging your list somehow, or segregating it into most likely to buy/least likely to buy and mail the most likely to buy
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  • Profile picture of the author Sleaklight
    If you do it yourself from your own server, make sure to order several ip's. If not, you will find your IP blacklisted very quickly and all emails end up in people's spam folder or not get delivered at all.
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  • Profile picture of the author ddDonPaul
    600k people had subscribed to something, you just need to find the product that they are looking for... and the propper way to present it to them
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  • Profile picture of the author Valdor Kiebach
    Seems my reply got deleted?

    Anyway, get a vps and a new domain name and setup an opensource mailer script on the vps and you will be able to send as many emails as the VPS bandwidth will allow.

    Look on some other marketing forums and you will be able to get a VPS to suit your needs for $10 a month.

    As has been mentioned you may find the VPS IP gets blacklisted if you star spamming from it.
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  • Profile picture of the author TrueMarketer
    When you're talking about getting a separate domain and email from that, is that to prevent my main domain from getting blacklisted?

    So if my main domain is www.mymaindomain.com I would maybe get a domain that is www.mymaindomain1.com or www.mymaindomainmailer.com ?
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  • Profile picture of the author Kevin Thomas
    I am really intrigued in list wire but I have a couple of questions before im ready to leap in and get my feet wet


    1) Is there a limit on how many subscribers that I can have?.

    2) Would Listwire work with Frank Kern/Shoemoneys Good Karma List Machine?
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  • Profile picture of the author WillR
    I would find a good autoresponder service and upload the leads there. Your main problem with Aweber is not just it's price. They also require any leads that have been uploaded to confirm before they receive email messages from you. So you might lose a ton of subscribers that way.

    Anyway, get the leads into a good autoresponder where they do not need to confirm. Don't worry about the cost so much because what you really want to do is cull this list right away and get it down to only those people who are really going to open your emails and buy.

    I would get a couple of really good offers going. Your main aim here is not to make huge profits but to see who on your list are still buyers. So make them some ridiculously irresistible offers. That way you know most of the people who don't buy are just time wasters who would probably never buy anything from you anyway.

    Once you do that you'll probably have a list way under 50,000 and the cost won't be such an issue but you will still be able to make just as much money from that list.
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