I run a WP blog that is getting around 7,000 uniques daily and wanted to start delving into E-mail marketing. Can anyone suggest a good free e-mail newsletter/marketing software tool? All I really want is for people to be able to subscribe, just so I have their e-mail. I suppose I could just create a simple form using the cforms plugin for WP but thought I would ask and see if there are any other worth while free tools... thanks =0)
Most free email marketing sites are spammers... I don't recommend them. Email marketing in general isn't as affective as banner advertising.
You're going to want to go with Aweber or some high end software. The cheap and free stuff is blocked as spam by hotmail, gmail, yahoo, etc because so many spammers use it, almost none of your mailings will ever get through.
Feedburner email subscriptions can only be used for delivering blogs pots, not email marketing. poizster, I'd recommend you try out Aweber. Although there are free email marketing tools, putting it simply, they all suck. But you might want to try out the free version of GetResponse: http://www.getresponse.com/orderfree.html Rajaie
i have been looking into email software too and my research and reading concluded that aweber is the way to go..
Email advertising isn't very effective becuase the recipients must be oppted in to your lists, in order to email them legally.
I use AWeber. The software that captures emails and blast markets them is called an AutoResponder. There are several good ones available (like ProSender, as well), but they all cost about the same...I think around $150 per year. Here are a few reasons to use an AutoResponder: 1. they handle the opt-in code for you. This is the part that provides a member with an email that they 'click to confirm'. 2. they handle the legalities of CAN-SPAM. CAN-SPAM laws require certain functionality if you are going to market by email, like having a physical mailing address on your mailings, and the ability to opt-out. 3. their IP addresses are white-listed. If you tried emailing 1000 addresses from your IP address, if you had even a few complaints your IP would get blocked by the mail servers. That means that your message won't get through even to the people who haven't opted out...it will be treated as spam at the mail servers and won't even be allowed through. But because the big-name AutoResponders have credibility (because of staying CAN-SPAM compliant), mail servers allow messages from their IP addresses through at a higher rate. 4. scheduling. You can setup scheduled delivery with AutoResponders to do things like a 10-email course that starts with message #1 when they first sign up, and sends a new message every few days. That allows people to receive different messages depending on when they signed up...if they just signed up a week ago, they would automatically be receiving message #3 (for example), but someone that signs up today gets message #1, etc. I hope this helps you understand why actually paying for a good, reputable AutoResponder can be worth it. It would seem to me that with ANY affiliate product that you could market you should be able to recoup the costs and then some. If you're getting 7000 hits per day, here's what you do: create a free 'give-away' product that would be of interest to your visitors. Create a "Free Download" link from your main site to a sign-up page. The signup page should describe the value of your free report, and have a form on it for people to download (by placing their name and email). Use your AutoResponder (they usually provide code) to create the form. Use the AutoResponder's automatic response to send them the link for the download...but only after they opt-in. Some people may disagree with this, but I find that the opt-in rate goes up when you don't give them the report until they opt-in. So what happens is they "sign up" for their free download and you display a page that tells them to check their email for download instructions. The autoresponse tells them to click to confirm in order to get their report. Once they do, the autoresponse from the opt-in gives them the link. You'll build your list in no time...seriously. There's 1000 free things to give away, but if you are good enough to create content for a 7000-visit-per-day blog, you can probably write your own. Consider doing something like a Top 10 list of whatever is related to your niche, if you don't have any other ideas. Hope this helps!
I have been thinking about this and trying to decide on what is the best way to go and I think I will look into getresponse's services and grow from there. Thank you.
Aewber does have some rediculous prices, but how effective are they? I never tried them before and I've heard a bunch of people mention them lately.