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Affordable Website Development Services (In: I Want to Sell My Website)
Affordable Website Development Services (In: I Want to Sell My Website)
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dorutrip
Joined: Nov 26, 2004
# Posts: 5
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Posted: 2004-Nov-27 00:15
Hello,
Can you please recommend any fully featured bulk email services (that handle all the process) out that that you have used, comments on them, which to avoid, cost effective solutions and stuff like that.We need such a service for a campaign to promote our affiliate program.
I have found quite a few of them but choosing one is a tough nut. Also if you are aware of any bulk email services (not software) reviews on the Internet Id appreciate them.
Thanks
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dorutrip
Joined: Nov 26, 2004
# Posts: 5
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Posted: 2004-Dec-10 15:53
Nothing at all?
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WinningWays
Joined: Eons Ago
# Posts: 3433
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Posted: 2005-Feb-17 15:26
I have used Constant Contact before. I thought their service was good, but at that time you paid monthly, even if you didn't send out a newsletter that month. This was 2 years ago. Things may have changed since then pricewise, but I do have clients who use it and are very happy with it.
[link]
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john_glube
Joined: Oct 09, 2004
# Posts: 29
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Posted: 2005-Feb-20 11:45
Before selecting any 3rd party service provider, apart from asking in forums, do some home work:
* Find out the IP addresses used by the provider to mail from.
The simplest way to do this is to write to the owners or support, ask them for the information. Tell them you want to check with the commercial block listing services to see whether their IP addresses are being blocked.
Then check with a service like DNS & Stuff to see whether any of the IP addresses are black listed.
I would be most concerned about a listing in the Spamhaus Block List. This list is fairly conservative and if the provider has one or more IP addresses listed in the SBL, there will be delivery problems.
Yes, a lot of folks are fans of SpamCop, but this list is primarily used by Bonded Sender. SpamCop can indicate there are problems, but it is not as determinative as SBL.
* See whether the provider has published an SPF record. This may or may not be meaningful.
You can check whether the provider has published a record by doing a check using DNS & Stuff.
* See whether the domain used by the host to send mail (this may be different from the domain of the web site) is listed in any of the lists maintained by the Spam URI Realtime Block List (SURBL).
(You can find more about SURBL here and run a check using this page.)
This is a block list of domains advertised by spam. SpamAssassin is starting to use this list.
* Has the provider listed its IPs with an accreditation service? This can help with delivery. Although, some bulk e-mail for hire firms presently don't need to work with accreditation services as they already have an excellent reputation.
I say helps, because the value of the service depends on the strength of the vetting of the information provided before accreditation and the partner network (meaning the ISPs, filters, reputation services, block list services and so forth) which use the service.
* What about Bonded Sender? The Bonded Sender program is a white listing service. This is not the same as an accreditation service.
The primary value of Bonded Sender is it can help in getting your mail into msn.com and hotmail.com. However, there is no guarantee the message will make it into the inbox.
When asking about this program, find out whether all of the IPs which send mail for the provider are listed in the program or just some.
Do a check against the IPs using Senderbase to see whether any of the IPs are blocked.
For example, one of the IPs used by a major provider, which is bonded is also listed in SORBS (a block list operated out of Australia) as being a spam source.
For the details use this.
I will leave it to the reader to sort through that one.
* Is the provider white listed with AOL?
If nothing else, the provider should be white listed with AOL.
Again send an email to support and ask. Then verify the information.
* Do a check in Google groups. How? Key in the domain you want to check, eg constant contact *abuse* and see what comes up. Some of it is useful, although in other cases, it may not be.
Just another source of information.
* Does the provider allow list imports and if so, how are they handled.
This is perhaps one crucial area. Many providers do allow you to import your existing list. However, this is the biggest problem area for most providers, resulting in complaints and the servers being blocked.
Why? Some people will abuse this and import lists which are 'dirty,' usually resulting in the provider's mail servers being blocked.
The providers with excellent delivery rates which cater to the business community will either: (i) not allow you to import your existing list; (ii) require you to re-confirm the existing list; or (iii) vet the list to confirm the origin and that people on the list have opted-in.
* unconfirmed or confirmed opt-in?
Many marketers don't like confirmed opt-in. (When I am speaking of confirmed opt-in, I am not using the DMA terminology. For my purpose confirmed opt-in means double opt-in.)
Why? It reduces the number of people that sign up.
However studies show having a confirmed opt-in mailing list: (i) reduces complaints; (ii) decreases the churn rate (meaning the rate at which subscribers unsubscribe); and (iii) increases the list responsiveness.
Okay, with these general comments, I am going to suggest two providers for the reader to consider:
* Bighip.com I use this service for one of my lists. Nice feature set. Good delivery rates and strong support.
* AWeber.com I use this service for another of my lists. Lots of 'stuff' for the marketer. Good support. Good delivery rates.
Trusting these comments are of some value.
Kind regards,
John Glube
Toronto, Canada
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quality-ins
Joined: Jan 18, 2001
# Posts: 360
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Posted: 2005-Apr-12 12:39
Hey John_Glube
Thanks for that post.
If you're using aweber.com, do you find they get blocked by many ISP's? I'm trying out their service. I sent them an email and my ISP has blocked from sending to them.
That's not a good sign.
One good thing to say about aweber is that they have a feature that double opts in the list.
I'm interested in other people's experience with aweber.
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john_glube
Joined: Oct 09, 2004
# Posts: 29
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Posted: 2005-Apr-15 21:16
Hey John_Glube
Thanks for that post.
If you're using aweber.com, do you find they get blocked by many ISP's? I'm trying out their service. I sent them an email and my ISP has blocked from sending to them.
That's not a good sign.
One good thing to say about aweber is that they have a feature that double opts in the list.
I'm interested in other people's experience with aweber.
You are welcome. Hopefully my comments were of some assistance.
One question. I don't quite understand what you mean by "I sent them an email and my ISP has blocked from sending to them."
Are you saying that:
* Your ISP could not send an email to AWeber; or
* AWeber could not send an email to you, because your ISP had blocked AWeber?
If you are having difficulty getting in touch go to their main page and you will find they have a live chat feature which is operated during the week.
As to your general question, "is AWeber blocked by many ISPs," to the best of my knowledge, No. That is not to say there aren't issues. Given the mail volumes coming from their system, I suspect they do have issues from time to time. I also know they watch the situation like a hawk.
Trusting this helps.
John Glube
Toronto, Canada
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lisa_grimmer
Joined: Jul 07, 2005
# Posts: 4
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Posted: 2005-Dec-26 09:47
I search software for emal marketing.
What can you advice about ((URL REMVOED))
[ Message was edited by: bhartzer 01/15/2006 06:20 pm ]
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g1smd
Staff
Joined: Jul 28, 2002
# Posts: 10438
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Posted: 2005-Dec-26 12:27
If they are who I think they are, then their lists are not opt-in but have been scraped from the web over the last 5 years.
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sstrixie
Joined: Dec 29, 2005
# Posts: 1
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Posted: 2005-Dec-29 18:35
I know of several people who are using Constant Contact's ((URL REMVOED)) )and love it. The beauty of the service is that you pay for how many subscribers you have, not how often you mail. You can mail as often as you like, so if you have a daily newsletter it's ideal!
[ Message was edited by: bhartzer 01/15/2006 06:21 pm ]
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