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Calling all membership site owners - how do you deal with email deliverability from your own server?

by nicheminer
11 replies
Trying to figure this is getting to be like pulling hairs from my nose with pliers!

I use the BM script for my membership site. Any of you who have the same will know that you can send emails through the server side script to your various member levels.

Until late December 08 everything was fine and my emails were getting to the members. They are mostly time sensitive so I needed to be sure on delivery.

Then I started to get reports that some members were no longer receiving my emails.

It wasn't at my end because some emails were getting through.

I tested and persuaded a few members to change to gmail and that solved their problem. But not everyone wants to do that.

I figure that certain ISPs are filtering out my emails before they get to the recipient.

This is taking up a lot of my time and I'm now out of ideas.

I have an aweber account, but they tell me that I can't send sign ups to any lists from my server side script. This would mean no auto change of membership if someone either stopped subscribing or just upgraded.

Got 3 membership levels and I'm sure many of you have the same. I'd really appreciate knowing how I can deal with this problem so that I can continue to give my members the very best service possible.

Graham
#calling #deal #deliverability #email #membership #owners #server #site
  • Profile picture of the author eholmlund
    Setup your server to send you the bounces, and see why ISP's are blocking your email. Many times, there are server settings that may need to be adjusted to "comply" with their policies. For example, having a RDNS entry, etc.

    But all of that is a pain, and there's almost no way you can keep up relationships with all the ISP's the way a company like Aweber does it.

    However, I think you can use Aweber with the BM script. Last time I checked, Filsaime had made the BM script to be in compliance with Aweber. Basically Aweber needs to get the IP address of your visitors passed to them.
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  • Profile picture of the author Chuck Evans
    We've never had an issue sending emails from our server. We use a highly modified version of the original eComm script and use Bluehost. No issues!

    chuck
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    • Profile picture of the author webpromotions
      Just adding proper SPF records and domainkeys will instantly knock a few points off your spam scores. If you don't know how to do this, your host should be able to do it for you pretty quickly if you are on a managed server.

      You also need to contact the major players like Yahoo, MSN, etc and sign up for their feedback loop programs. (can kind of a pain)

      There are services out there that specialize in this sort of thing, but of course not w/out the price tag.
      Habeas.com is one. (they have like a dozen different names now)

      I'm doing about 1-1.5 million emails per day w/ a membership site and while my delivery rate wouldn't even begin to compare w/ someone like Aweber or Getresponse, it seems to be getting the job done, although I'm still a victim of Yahoo's 'temporarily deferred' issue.
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      • Profile picture of the author myob
        The only issues I have had are with yahoo, hotmail, and AOL. By having your subscribers "whitelist" your email or add to their contact list, you should be able to get through. The ones that won't use their primary emails were never real customers anyway.
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      • Profile picture of the author Jesus Perez
        These are your answers. SPF, DomainKeys and Feedback Loops. Also, be sure your Reverse DNS responds correctly. Implement them all and kiss your issues goodbye.

        Originally Posted by Doug English View Post

        Just adding proper SPF records and domainkeys will instantly knock a few points off your spam scores. If you don't know how to do this, your host should be able to do it for you pretty quickly if you are on a managed server.

        You also need to contact the major players like Yahoo, MSN, etc and sign up for their feedback loop programs. (can kind of a pain)
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        • Profile picture of the author FrankRumbauskas
          I know this will fall on a lot of deaf ears but the whole AWeber deliverability thing is a big myth.

          I began sending from my own server several months ago and the deliverability is FAR better than it was with AWeber, and I get to use single opt-in again. These changes alone increased my sales 71% !!!!!!!

          Look, no matter how much AWeber works on whitelisting or deliverability, the fact of the matter is that you're sharing an IP address with thousands of other marketers who are sending out spammy content, and you're going to hit blacklists.

          I host on a dedicated server and followed the tips in this post to get set up:

          http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...erability.html

          Do that and your deliverability will match AWeber's at a minimum, and most likely exceed it. I'm not trying to bash on AWeber, but seeing how much better my deliverability is on my own, I'm a bit upset with how well they've brainwashed the entire marketing community to believe it's "impossible" to get your own emails delivered. Tom and the crew are good guys, but email deliverability is just like anything else in IM - don't believe what anyone tells you until you test, test, test on your own!

          One last tip - I use Viral Inviter which is prone to generate spam complaints; for that reason I host it on a separate shared hosting account OFF my own server.

          FYI - For a script I'm using Interspire Email Marketer. VERY happy with it!
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          • Profile picture of the author TheRichJerksNet
            Originally Posted by FrankRumbauskas View Post

            I know this will fall on a lot of deaf ears but the whole AWeber deliverability thing is a big myth.

            I began sending from my own server several months ago and the deliverability is FAR better than it was with AWeber, and I get to use single opt-in again. These changes alone increased my sales 71% !!!!!!!

            Look, no matter how much AWeber works on whitelisting or deliverability, the fact of the matter is that you're sharing an IP address with thousands of other marketers who are sending out spammy content, and you're going to hit blacklists.

            I host on a dedicated server and followed the tips in this post to get set up:

            http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...erability.html

            Do that and your deliverability will match AWeber's at a minimum, and most likely exceed it. I'm not trying to bash on AWeber, but seeing how much better my deliverability is on my own, I'm a bit upset with how well they've brainwashed the entire marketing community to believe it's "impossible" to get your own emails delivered. Tom and the crew are good guys, but email deliverability is just like anything else in IM - don't believe what anyone tells you until you test, test, test on your own!

            One last tip - I use Viral Inviter which is prone to generate spam complaints; for that reason I host it on a separate shared hosting account OFF my own server.

            FYI - For a script I'm using Interspire Email Marketer. VERY happy with it!
            Exact reason why I use my own system...

            1. Why pay for something that I can use on my own server anyways
            2. I have full control to do as I like
            3. I can modify or change my script anytime because I own it as it was coded by me
            4. Unlimited use and Unlimited Subscribers

            I have clients that use my custom built mail system and they have membership sites with members in excess of 30,000 and they send out email with no problem. One of my clients in on reseller account for hostgator and has 20,000 members that he emails.

            With that being said, realize yahoo, msn, gmail, hotmail are bad for sending stuff to the trash or in case of hotmail blocking emails all together from even being seen.

            I highly suggest hostgator and dedicated..

            James
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  • Profile picture of the author Debbie Songster
    Graham
    In addition to the other advice you received above...
    You didn't say if you were on a dedicate or shared server.
    Either way, check to see if the system is regulating how many emails you can send per hour.
    Even a dedicated server has these settings. Perhaps its not set high enough. If its set to allow only 1,000 per hr than anything over 1,000 emails will be discarded.
    All shared hosting servers have this set - the allowable number per hour is set by the hosting service.

    I've set mine to unlimited to avoid any issues in the future.
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  • Profile picture of the author nicheminer
    Thanks guys,

    I'm on a shared server, but don't send many emails and only two or three times a week, so quantity is not the problem.

    There have been server issues and sometimes prolonged outage times, so I think I'll change the hosting for this site. That will give me a new IP address - might help the problem.

    I'm no techie so flying blind here - hence the request for help.

    Graham
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  • Profile picture of the author TheRichJerksNet
    Hi Graham,
    First you can check your domain, I think this tool still works - http://member.dnsstuff.com/tools/dns...n=mydomain.com

    Next if you are not on hostgator.com maybe you need to change, as I have never had downtime with them but when the server was being upgraded and then it was for only a short time.

    I use my own custom built script and send emails with no problems but again it is my own custom built script, no some pre-made script that is on the market.

    If your system uses cron to send the emails then check into what it is set to. Also as Debbie said above you need to check the server to see if it has a limit because many host do not like 1,000 emails being sent every 5 minutes.

    James
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  • Profile picture of the author Ken Leatherman
    Graham,

    You might want to consider changing scripts. Big Mike, with Incansoft, created EZ Contact Manager. It gives you everything automated, including unsubscribe, subscribe. since you have time sensitive e-mails to send out you can set it up to send your e-mails out when you want to them to go out.

    I run 6 separate memberships and deliver over 3 thousand e-mails a day. Normally if someone doesn't get the e-mail it's failure on their end to whitelist, especially with hot.com, aol.com, msn.com. and yahoo.com. If that doesn't fix it I do recommend they try Google gmail.com.

    You can talk to Big Mike and get help importing your members. He's cool with customer service. If you would like to check with Big Mike personally you can contact him here: michalis.koztakolios @ gmail.com (no spaces) or you can read about the script here. It is not an affiliate link.

    Check with Big Mike and see if he has any discounts on the script.

    Ken
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