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RicWillmot

posts: 154

Feb 01, 2008 9:53 PM ET Quote Report Abuse

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The time has come to investigate better ways to manage our monthly email newsletter.

We have around 2000 subscribers and they currently receive a plain text newsletter once a month.

I have only briefly looked at `awebber` on the recommendation of a colleague; but they insist on us sending a new `opt-in` request to every single one of our subscribers before starting.

Although not a burden, I feel ill-at-ease just at this point in time, that it is may be considered an inconvenience to our existing subscribers to continue receiving our newsletter. Not certain.

Recommendations?

Thank you.

Ric

-------------------------

Ric Willmot
Executive Wisdom Consulting Group
www.ExecutiveWisdom.com
info@executivewisdom.com
Blog: www.ricwillmot.com

Founder of the Society for Executive Wisdom
www.ExecutiveWisdomSociety.com

Strategy for Professionals: www.strategyforprofessionals.com

EngineersCanSell

posts: 163

Feb 02, 2008 9:55 AM ET Quote Report Abuse

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Ric, I`m curious to hear responses. I`m ready to make the jump at this time too. I`m embarrassed to admit that I`m using Excel and Outlook to do it for about 2,500 people. It is literally an all day affair when I send something out.

I`m looking at phplist.com it`s open source code, which I like to support. I just downloaded it today and hope to test it out during the next week or two.

I also had someone recommend constantContact to me, but I don`t know anything about it.

Eric

nhgnikole

posts: 2660

Feb 02, 2008 2:29 PM ET Quote Report Abuse

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You can add them to Constant Contact without an opt-in email.

Honestly, the opt-in email is the right way to go. But it`s a problem when you are migrating, yes.

It is not actually hard to make your own list-serv for this purpose. And in the long run, you would probably pay less for setting up a list-serv than you would for the monthly fees on these services. It just depends on the kinds of services you want.

ScrapBizKim

posts: 369

Feb 03, 2008 12:32 PM ET Quote Report Abuse

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Personally, I think the plain text newsletters are not very exciting. I use Constant Contact and I have often heard back from subscribers that my emails look very professional. Constant Contact has a really easy to use drag and drop format. I can put something together very quickly that`s colorful and and easy to read.

I like how easy it is for people to opt-in (and out) and I was able to automatically import an email list recently without any problem. It was really easy to do and something I had dreaded. If I had known how easy it was, I would have done it months earlier.

~Kim

RicWillmot

posts: 154

Feb 04, 2008 12:02 AM ET Quote Report Abuse

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Thank you, everyone for your input.

Is anyone using 1ShoppingCart?

Rgds,

Ric

RosannaTussey

posts: 63

Feb 04, 2008 2:00 PM ET Quote Report Abuse

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As a Virtual Assistant, I routinely do the email newsletters for my clients. I have worked with many different applications such as Aweber, ConstantContact, Vertical Response, iContact, GraphicMail, etc.

What they all have in common is that they are worth their weight in gold. Some are more user-friendly than others, but they all have tremendous value when compared to sending out from your personal email account.

First, they yield professional-looking newsletters. This is critically important if you are trying to sell anything to anyone via email. Plain text newsletters tend to be a bit dry in and of themselves, so you have to work all the harder to keep their attention and portray your professionalism. HTML can be a better option.

Second, they provide a better experience for your customers and prospects. Not only do they look interesting, but you can incorporate the option in your newsletter for them to opt to join more targeted sub-lists that can yield better results.

Additionally, they allow you to track your statistics for each email blast that you send out. You can find out which particular campaigns result in the highest percentage of your emails being opened, clicked through, and so forth.

You may also want to consider teaming with a Virtual Assistant to handle the email newsletters for you. Chances are, this is taking up a large chunk of your time that would better be used to apply your expertise and skillset elsewhere in your business.

If anyone has any questions about email newsletters, please feel free to PM me at any time.

-------------------------

Rosanna Tussey
Owner
New Mexico Candle Co.
http://www.nmcandleco.com

Clerks

posts: 5

Feb 07, 2008 12:21 AM ET Quote Report Abuse

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I must agree with Rosanna, all of the available e-newsletter programs are invaluable. Having a well designed HTML template instead of plain text also helps brand your business. You can design your newsletter to carry through with the theme of your website, letterhead etc. Think of the benefits.

As far as requiring opt-in, I know with certainty that ConstantContact does not require that. They do add an unsubscribe link in the footer of all mailings which automatically moves the contact from your active mailing list to the unsubscribed and you can run a report of all unsubscribes.

Remember, if your mailings are an all day affair this will deter your from doing them often. This is not something that you want. You want to set-up a schedule of regular contact and stick to it which is something that can be outsourced and save you some headaches.

If anyone has questions there are several of us here on the forums that can answer them for you or feel free to contact me any time.

-------------------------

Jenn

"Man is only truly great when he acts from his passions." -- Benjamin Disreali

Malte

posts: 30

Feb 10, 2008 9:59 AM ET Quote Report Abuse

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I can recommend Constant Contact, I have been using them for various projects and it`s really worth the price. They also give you the option to use surveys that you can easily integrate in your newsletters to get customer feedback and opinions.

The only bad thing is that they add their logo and commercial in the footer of the newsletter, which to me seems really weird thinking about the fact that it is a paid service, not some free newsletter.

/Malte

-------------------------

My personal blog on strategy, marketing, branding and general topics on business TheBusinessUpdater.com

RosannaTussey

posts: 63

Feb 11, 2008 11:20 AM ET Quote Report Abuse

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It seems that most email marketing companies do that. It initially struck me as odd, too, but it appears to be the standard.

I have found ConstantContact to be a very reliable program. One thing that I like about Constant Contact and VerticalResponse (another similar program) is that they carefully monitor for potential SPAM. This is good because the more they prevent others from spamming, the less likely they are as an email marketing company to get on SPAM lists. This helps ensure the delivery of the newsletters that YOU create and send through their application.

These are by far NOT the only email marketing companies that take a particularly tough stand against SPAM. Many do, but I especially appreciate the strategies of the companies above.

-------------------------

Rosanna Tussey
Owner
New Mexico Candle Co.
http://www.nmcandleco.com

aither

posts: 266

Feb 11, 2008 3:48 PM ET Quote Report Abuse

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Personally, I use iContact - so does StartupNation. But I`ve said that before . . .

You can get a trial version of iContact - it`s very user-friendly and it`s probably the most reasonably priced: $9.95 for up to 500 contacts. I think the trial version allows you to add ten names and it`s for 15 days.

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