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Mail List Broker "Mayhem"..What Would You Do?

by Dennis Miedema
9 replies
Hey guys, first of all let me say how happy I am with these forums..because I'm a lone cowboy over here in the Netherlands where almost no one keeps himself busy with what I do and it gives me a way to connect with likeminded people.

So here we go..I started my business back in January, and now want to rent an email list off of a broker so I can expand the number of visitors to my website and subscribers to my newsletter. I don't want to ask if that's smart or not because Perry Marshall (Adwords guru) showed me a system to make it work that got a 20-25% conversion.

But here's the thing...how do you deal with "mailing list logistics"?

I have two options:
1) Pay $400 for 10.000 names delivered to me in an Excel file that I'll need to email myself
2) Pay $800 for 250.000 names that the list owner will email FOR me

I can't really miss 800 bucks right now and I think that's a too large amount of money to test whether email lists work for me, so I tend to go with number 1). But the logistics...omg...

- 10.000 names would mean that, at a fast 30 seconds per email rate, it would take me a little more than 83 hours to email all those guys in my highly targeted list
- Because I have other business to attend to as well, 83 hours would mean that it would take me several weeks before I've emailed everyone
- If I hire a VA to do it, at a minimum VA wage of $10 per hour..that's $830 I can't afford

So what do you guys think I should do?

Go "hardball" and throw in those 83 hours myself, hire someone to do it..or go for the $800 list because it'll end up being cheapier?

All ideas are welcome and expect me to be very grateful in return, I might just return a favor for a favor if you help me out with this one
#broker #list #mail #mayhemwhat
  • Profile picture of the author artwebster
    You can cut the time down dramatically by using the BCC facility in your emails. If you have an email client that will allow 100 BCC addresses you have already cut the time down to around ten hours.

    Using this system will also show up those email addresses that are incorrect and should be able to claim a replacement for.
    Signature

    You might not like what I say - but I believe it.
    Build it, make money, then build some more
    Some old school smarts would help - and here's to Rob Toth for his help. Bloody good stuff, even the freebies!

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    • Profile picture of the author Dennis Miedema
      Originally Posted by artwebster View Post

      You can cut the time down dramatically by using the BCC facility in your emails. If you have an email client that will allow 100 BCC addresses you have already cut the time down to around ten hours.

      Using this system will also show up those email addresses that are incorrect and should be able to claim a replacement for.
      Really? I didn't even know that! Thanks!

      So say I want to use Hotmail for this, would using the BCC facility mean that I can send 1 + 100 emails at the same time?

      It sounds like you have some experience with it yourself, so do you perhaps also know what kind of email platform is best to use for mailing the list? And I mean that in a Spam filter way, because I know how Hotmail is usually seen as spam..
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  • Profile picture of the author artwebster
    I don't think this would work with a free email address. I know Yahoo! restricts you to 50 BCCs and then you have to wait a while before you can send any more.

    Outlook Express is quite flexible and I am sure that I was able to send more than 100 BCCs at a time but the best emails are those on my domains.

    I forgot to mention, if using BCC, use your own address in the To: address line.
    Signature

    You might not like what I say - but I believe it.
    Build it, make money, then build some more
    Some old school smarts would help - and here's to Rob Toth for his help. Bloody good stuff, even the freebies!

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  • Profile picture of the author Dennis Miedema
    Hmm..okay..don't ask me why but Outlook doesn't really like my laptop - tried installing it but it keeps forgetting my account data..

    But what you're saying is that you should use your company email addresses? So say I own company XYZ then the best email adress to send them with is emailaddresshere@xyz.com? I thought that would work better too, so thanks for confirming it!

    And lol about the To: address line..thanks for saving my but there my friend
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  • Profile picture of the author iw433
    If you are going to do all that why not get a self hosted autoresponder script, upload the list and broadcast to all of your list? If you need a good autoresponder that is easy to install and use along with an additional list just PM me.
    Signature

    Bill Skywalker Edwards
    Address-O-Lite

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  • Profile picture of the author Mike Hill
    To get the most value out of this sort of thing (assuming it's a legitimate list) then the list owner is only going to allow you to mail the list once... It will probably be "seeded" so they will know if you email them more than once and send you a bill for mailing the list a second time.

    Here's what I would do to get the most out of the list...

    1. Randomly split the list into 1,000 name (email) piles.
    2. Send my first 1,000 and track the results...
    3. Keep going through them 1,000 at a time, each time trying to beat the previous open rates, conversions, etc...
    4. By the end you will have a fairly descent control. If this campaign was profitable, contact the list owner to remail the list with your control.

    5. Ask list broker for another sampling from a different list and do it all again...

    Be careful not to roll-out network wide too quickly...

    Mike Hill
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    • Profile picture of the author Dennis Miedema
      Originally Posted by Mike Hill View Post

      To get the most value out of this sort of thing (assuming it's a legitimate list) then the list owner is only going to allow you to mail the list once... It will probably be "seeded" so they will know if you email them more than once and send you a bill for mailing the list a second time.

      Here's what I would do to get the most out of the list...

      1. Randomly split the list into 1,000 name (email) piles.
      2. Send my first 1,000 and track the results...
      3. Keep going through them 1,000 at a time, each time trying to beat the previous open rates, conversions, etc...
      4. By the end you will have a fairly descent control. If this campaign was profitable, contact the list owner to remail the list with your control.

      5. Ask list broker for another sampling from a different list and do it all again...

      Be careful not to roll-out network wide too quickly...

      Mike Hill
      Hi Mike, thanks for the excellent advice..I'm familiar with split testing but strangely enough didn't think about it for this mailing list. Here's a final question for you: I off course CAN track the number of conversions (by just seeing what amount of people replies), but how do I track the open rate?
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      • Profile picture of the author Loren Woirhaye
        Originally Posted by Dennis Miedema View Post

        Hi Mike, thanks for the excellent advice..I'm familiar with split testing but strangely enough didn't think about it for this mailing list. Here's a final question for you: I off course CAN track the number of conversions (by just seeing what amount of people replies), but how do I track the open rate?
        I'm not Mike, but since he's not around at the moment I'll tell you:
        Use HTML emails - the simplest way to track open rates is to put
        a little picture in the email an look at your hosting stats to find
        out how many times it has been accessed. That's your "open rate"
        - of course many autoresponder services do this for you but it's
        not hard to do it this way.
        Signature
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      • Profile picture of the author Mike Hill
        Originally Posted by Dennis Miedema View Post

        Hi Mike, thanks for the excellent advice..I'm familiar with split testing but strangely enough didn't think about it for this mailing list. Here's a final question for you: I off course CAN track the number of conversions (by just seeing what amount of people replies), but how do I track the open rate?
        The easiest way to track open rates is to insert a 1x1 pixel clear image into the HTML of the email body copy.

        Mike Hill

        [EDIT] Yeah, what Loren said ... we must have posted at the same time...
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