I have compiled lists of users who have given me permission to email them. I need some kind of application or tool to do this - can anyone recommend one? I have about 100 addresses to start with, but another 30,000 or so after a few weeks. Thanks
do a google search on phplist.. it's free.. its a script not a program, it runs on your server, so the emailing should be faster than sending with your regular cable or dsl connection...
Yes, I also use PHPList, by tincan. Works well though the interface isn't all that intuitive. It was coded for an in-house job and later opened up - that scenario often leads to unconventional GUIs.
I started with PHPList, but have since moved on to a paid service. Far more reliable & intuitive, far greater deliverability
Both I guess Never heard of a 'paid service' other than the 'Use Email Marketing - The Revolutionary New Way to Connect With Customers' websites who try and sell you lists of millions. Strikes me as odd that you would pay for a service if it can be done for free, ie. how does a 'professional' do it differently which makes the cost worthy.
I'm not talking about paid list services, I'm talking about hosted Emailers, such as SilverPop, or Constant Contact For larger companies, the likes of silverpop are great. For smaller companies, constant contact is usually sufficient. The provide better tracking, and generally have good sender reputation, as well as relationships with ISPs that ensure more consistent whitelisting. There's far more to email marketing than having a list and a 'blast' application. I regularly blog about many of the finer details, here's my blog: http://www.convurgency.com/emarketing/
Let me ask you this frank, do you purchase / rent your lists or build your own? btw a paid service is also much much more expensive, seeing as phplist is free. Cheapest Ive seen is like 10 bucks a month for 2000 emails, then it just goes up and up from there, cutting into your roi. Id rather have a worser deliveribility rate, and pay NOTHING to send 1 million emails than pay a thousand a month to send a million...
This is the cheapest company out of toptenreviews... (cheapest in the top 3 anyway) The Standard Plans offer affordable e-mail marketing for firms that expect to send up to 100,000 e-mails per month Sign Up Plan Emails/Month Additional per 1,000 Sign up I. Free (30 Day Trial) 200 NA Sign up II. $5.95/m 500 $5.00 Sign up III. $9.95/m 2,000 $5.00 Sign up IV. $19.95/m 10,000 $2.00 Sign up V. $29.95/m 20,000 $1.50 Sign up VI. $49.95/m 50,000 $1.00 Sign up VII. $79.95/m 100,000 $0.80 Sign Up Plan Emails/Month Additional per 1,000 Sign up I. $104.95/m 150,000 $0.70 Sign up II. $149.95/m 250,000 $0.60 Sign up III. $274.95/m 500,000 $0.55 Sign up IV. $499.95/m 1,000,000 $0.50 Sign up V. $899.95/m 2,000,000 $0.50 Sign up VI. $1,599.95/m 4,000,000 $0.50 http://www.streamsend.com/signup.htm http://toptenreviews.com/ 500 a month for a million emails? no thanks!
I prefer using aweber.com Have been with them for a while and never have had any problem! Send like 5 emails a month to over 9,000 stored subscribers and pay 14.95/m Sounds good to me and is worth it
Hmm, the problem with paid services is: 1. They don't seem to allow you to use your own email list, instead, they have to generate the list themselves (by you putting a link on your website). I can't do this because I spent nearly a year gathering the 30,000 emails. 2. The pricing, $150+/month for 30,000 subscribers. The problem with tools/applications is: 1. Delivery, unsure of how many emails are blocked as spam. 2. SMTP will be annoying as it looks like I need to provide my own which I don't have a clue about (and if I have one from my ISP? They might not allow me to send 30,000 emails). So, with regards to the phplist: 1. Is it reliable? Does hotmail/yahoo/gmail often block the emails if I'm sending a large volume? 2. Do I need to provide an SMTP? I have a dedicated server, but might my host disconnect it if they suddenly have 30,000 outgoing mails in a day? Thanks!
I use emailaces.com which allow you to import your list, but you can only import 2000 per month. With 30,000 you would pay around $50 p/m I also use listmailpro.com which is a script installed on your own server. The problem with a list of 30,000 and opting for a script and not a paid service. Like you've stated, will they get delivered! You should contact your host with regards to disconnecting you. I doubt they would because you are using your own server resources unlike a shared server. But they might limit the amount you can send out per hour/day, or charge extra to send to a large list. So with a large list opting for a paid service, would probably in the long run work out cheaper. Plus they have better delivery rates because they work with the ISP's. Regards Neil Harvey
I build my own. Purchasing/renting is becoming virtually useless for serious email marketers, not to mention prohibited in many cases by legislation. Paid services: 1. Yes, you can build and import your own lists 2. That's still a small price to pay for the return. One company I work with pays $1000/month for their service Tools/applications 1. They will provide you with those stats, it's called inbox monitoring 2. You shouldn't have to provide your own SMTP server, that defeats the purpose of using an ESP. Check out constant contact PHPList 1. No, it is not reliable. You have to go through extensive tweaking to get it two work 70% as well as a cheap ESP. No emails get through to Hotmail/Yahoo. With gmail, it depends on the content mostly. 2. It is best to use an SMTP server with it, yes
Blitz you may want to try ... http://www.mailutilities.com/ - this is the software I used initially when I first started or http://www.xtreeme.com/ - this is the software I am currently using. I specifically use xtreme followup which allows for sequential mailing which means you can do follow ups at predefined times. It also allows you to parse form emails, doubl opt-ins, perosnalized emails etc. Good Luck! Frank
Also to consider... Do you trust your valuable list with a 3d party? Constant Contact say they have 65K customers. If each have on average a list of 5K records, that's a nice 325K list THEY have in THEIR database. Only takes on pissed off employee to take a copy.
well, they have some serious legal constraints governing that, and given the sensitivity and pricacy of the data I'm sure they have several levels of authorized access besides, do you trust that same list sitting in a database on your hosted server? All it takes is a pissed off employee there as well...
No, but on my dedicated server it's all good... Just hypothetical though but important nontheless. Another thing which might complicate it is indeed legislation. If I in the UK host my list in the US that data comes under US law whereas as a company I have to comply with the UK Data Protection Act. Given the fact that the US government has license to roam anything they want as long as they put it under the header of 'terrorist threat' that means my list isn't all that safe, regardless how safe Constant Contact is. Anyways, just kicking up some dust here for your brains to ponder. I fully agree PHPList isn't all that fantastic and yes, I've had trouble with Hotmail and other biggies at times. Based on that, I'm looking around at other options as well. Are there any self-hosted, quality software packages out there you guys know of?
I used www.netatlantic.com service to maintain my mailing list while working to a software development company. It's commercial, but with them you'll never be blacklisted at spam filtering companies. I had lots of trouble with that sending emials by myself, or from my hosting provider.