12 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}
12 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}

questions about autoresponders and email lists

by RB
10 replies
I've seen different posts on auto responders and the difference between them, but I am unclear on what email addresses are considered to be legitimate - not spam.

I have an offline photography business. I use an order form to collect orders. The order forms have a place for people to put their email address if they are interested in email discounts or promotions.

Can I import these names into an auto responder and email promotions to them or do I have to have double opt in names that are collected originally in the auto responder?

If so what is the process for importing the email addresses into the auto responder, excel database import?? or what?

Thanks in advance.

RB
#autoresponders #email #lists #questions
  • Profile picture of the author Warrior X
    Yes, since they volunteered their information in order to receive discounts
    and promotions, and since you were clear about how you would be using their
    emails, that's the same as an opt-in.

    Double opt-ins, by the way, are no longer mandatory (as used to be the case).
    It's at the advertiser's discretion.

    Jeremy
    Signature
    #1 In WHITEBOARD VIDEOS - Great Way To Tell Your Story!
    Available Here
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7562581].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
    Banned
    Originally Posted by RB View Post

    I have an offline photography business. I use an order form to collect orders. The order forms have a place for people to put their email address if they are interested in email discounts or promotions.

    Can I import these names into an auto responder and email promotions to them
    Yes.

    Whether a commercial autoresponder company will let you import them, using their service (most won't), is a matter of their own terms of service, policies and procedures - it isn't about "the law".

    But you can put them into a self-hosted one, anyway. (And you might have to).

    There's no such thing as "double opt-in". It's a widely but mistakenly used misnomer for "confirmed opt-in".

    Nobody opts in twice. They opt in once and then confirm their email address (if you use confirmed opt-in). Whether one uses single opt-in or confirmed opt-in has nothing at all to do with any of your questions here, though. Confirmed opt-in isn't "more legal" than single opt-in.

    I know someone who knows someone who runs a pub with a guest-book in which visitors are invited to leave email addresses, and the pub owner manages to import them manually into an autoresponder called ImnicaMail (a Warrior-owned autoresponder service). Whether this is really in accordance with Imnica's terms of service, I don't know: I may be wrong but my guess is that it probably isn't, really.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7562584].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author RB
      Thanks for the quick reply Jeremy and Alexis.

      RB
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7562603].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author Joel Young
      Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post

      ...ImnicaMail (a Warrior-owned autoresponder service).
      This I did not know! I receive quite a few spam emails from people using Imnica every day. And yes, I am sure it is spam because they're coming to email addresses I have not publicized in a couple years - and these spams started shortly after I joined WF. Not blaming WF itself, but there are many members here..........
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7562633].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
        Banned
        Originally Posted by Joel Young View Post

        This I did not know! I receive quite a few spam emails from people using Imnica every day. And yes, I am sure it is spam because they're coming to email addresses I have not publicized in a couple years - and these spams started shortly after I joined WF. Not blaming WF itself, but there are many members here..........
        I meant "owned by a Warrior", not "owned by the Warrior Forum"! I'm not criticising Imnica, I hasten to add! I was only repeating a second-hand story - and as I said, I don't even know whether what's being done there is "proper" or not. (But if it is, it's something that many people in the position of the OP and in similar positions will perhaps want to know about? Possibly the owner of ImnicaMail will reply to this thread, and comment?).
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7562641].message }}
        • Profile picture of the author Joel Young
          Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post

          I meant "owned by a Warrior", not "owned by the Warrior Forum"! I'm not criticising Imnica, I hasten to add! I was only repeating a second-hand story - and as I said, I don't even know whether what's being done there is "proper" or not. (But if it is, it's something that many people in the position of the OP and in similar positions will perhaps want to know about? Possibly the owner of ImnicaMail will reply to this thread, and comment?).
          Yes, I realized you probably meant that after I posted. And I know you're not criticising them, it was just a light bulb moment when I read your post, because I wondered where all the Inmica spam was coming from all of a sudden. No biggie, just passing through.
          {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7562714].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author John Collins
        Originally Posted by Joel Young View Post

        This I did not know! I receive quite a few spam emails from people using Imnica every day. And yes, I am sure it is spam because they're coming to email addresses I have not publicized in a couple years - and these spams started shortly after I joined WF. Not blaming WF itself, but there are many members here..........
        One reason you get these unwanted emails is there are warriors, some well known that take their email list, export it from one autoresponder service and import them into another service if they can get away with it or send email from a throwaway domain. There a at least a few that are sending from the same domain. Birds of a feather flock together. Some of these people, I was on their email list before I joined the WF and didn't know they were here until I saw them here. Most autoresponder services keep people that have unsubscribed in your database. You must clean them out yourself. I haven't exported a list but they may export the unsubscribers too unless you have manually removed them. I feel they do this so you cross the threshold into the next price increase for list size and they make more money.

        Many but not all of these people are using fake names, one female is using a male name. I am not going to disclose who they are but I know and I think most people would be surprised. The reason they send stuff to old email addresses is you either signed up to their list using that email long ago, it was the email addy you used in the past for PayPal when you bought something from them, someone sold their list to them etc.

        There are a few people that do this year after year. One person I have never been able to ditch just started emailing me a few times a day. I unsubscribed from them (the last time lol) in 2011. This guy actually uses his real name.

        With that said it has nothing to do with the Warrior Forum. However they got your email address, a current one or old one they didn't get it from here. There just happens to be members here that do that sort of stuff. I've seen these people on other forums too and people their probably think they got their emails from that forum.
        Signature
        John - AffiliateMoneyTips and AlzheimersHappens
        You're welcome to follow me on Twitter - affiliatetips and Johnr_Collins
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7711571].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author John Rogers
      Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post

      Yes.

      Whether a commercial autoresponder company will let you import them, using their service (most won't), is a matter of their own terms of service, policies and procedures - it isn't about "the law".
      That's really the bottom line.

      But you can put them into a self-hosted one, anyway. (And you might have to).
      If you go this route, make sure you read the policies of your web host regarding email. You may find your account suspended if you go into it blind.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7562763].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
    RB, since you're running this list for your offline customers, and you have physical proof of their desire to receive your offers, you are on solid ground.

    As Alexa said, you may not be able to simply add those emails to a third party service.

    On the other hand, such a list is unlikely to grow all that large. Maybe a few thousand at most? Managing a small list should be pretty easy, as well as small enough to avoid most of the potential problems often cited for self-hosted solutions.

    In fact, unless you plan to set up a pre-scheduled set of emails, you don't really need the "autoresponder" part of an autoresponder service. You will be running an announcement list or newsletter list, broadcasting when you have something to share. Most hosting providers offer mailing list software as part of the email service included in your hosting package.

    I'm not necessarily advocating against using an autoresponder service, rather just letting you know that there are other options...
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7562682].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Paul Marcoux
    find a company to send your emails out. or you can use your own email account for that but be careful about their limits. you dont need a auto responder.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7563750].message }}

Trending Topics