Which is the best autoresponder?

[Danlucy]

I know it's endless debate. For me, I am using Aweber's autoresponder. It's helped me reach my emails directly to my subscriber's inbox.

What is yours? and why you choose it?

 

[Developer]

I have been using Aweber for almost 7 years now, back when I had a ProResponder
account. ProResponder was a white-label version of Aweber, but the nicest thing was
that when Aweber switched up it's pricing model, ProResponder stayed with their "all
for $19.95" plan. Eventually, PR went belly-up, so I had no choice but to switch over
to Aweber directly. Fortunately, since it was Aweber's backend, I didn't have to do
anything other than change my bookmarks.

I am, however, thinking strongly, of moving over to GetResponse. All the reviews I've
been seeing on GR are outstanding, and, the more I stay with AWeber, the more and
more I get frustrated. Their support is extremely slow, and their mailing servers even
seem to be a bit lagging lately. I sent a mailing out a few days ago and it took more
than 24 hours to finish sending and another 48 hours for ME to actually receive the
email I sent out to that list.

MailChimp is another nice mailing list service, however, they tend not to care for IMers
too much now a days, however, since they offer a FREE plan, I am more than happy to
store a copy of a few of my "buyers" lists on MC accounts, just in case.

Have you, yourself, used any other services, aside from Aweber? If so, what was your
experience and why did you ultimately choose to stay with Aweber?

 

[Ron Killian]

Same here, I've been using Aweber for longer than I can remember. Seems it's been 10 years?

One thing I do like about Aweber is that they really know their stuff, they have a huge knowledge base and their support really helps you. What I don't like about Aweber, more recently, is that they are little outdated when it comes to templates, really out dated. Also, use to be an issue with the strong stance against single opt-in, but that's changed. They are also limited in features, like RSS to email for one.

I had a account with GetResponse several years ago, but kind of dropped them because their support staff was really lacking, and little to no knowledge base. Just poor unknowing support. But I opened an account again a few months ago and they do have some very nice templates, and many more features and options compared to Aweber. Just a better system. I have yet to use the support much with the new account, but so far, they do seem like they have improved.

Course depends on how advanced you want to get. There are other autoresponder services that have some pretty incredible features. If you want to get real serious and take it to the next level.

Sorry, see no reason to waste time with Mailchimp. Any one can find enough money to pay for an good paid autoresponder service.

[EDIT] Funny, after writing my post I noticed I received an email from Aweber. Announcing a new system. So far doesn't look much different or better than GT, but maybe. I'll have to check it out more. Any one see the new system as incredible?

 

[schttrj]

schttrj

The question here is, is it really required? Like if you can buy an icecream for $4.99 and then, around the other street corner, you can get it for free, would not go for the free version?

Having said that, Aweber is worth it. However, Mailchimp is not bad either. I use MC for my projects. Another that has come up is Benchmark Email. Recently started using it. Quite good.

 

[Developer]

Any one can find enough money to pay for an good paid autoresponder service.

I have to disagree with that statement Ron, no disrespect intended, just
one man's opinion. (and bare with me, I feel another one of my long-winded
posts coming on, lol)...

It's not just a matter of being able to afford an autoresponder service, you
must also factor in the other costs associated with running a decent online
business -- hosting ($20 per mth), domain ($10 once off), an autoresponder
account (another $20 per month), paying outsourcers to do the stuff you
know nothing about (anywhere between $5 and $100 initially and perhaps
even some recurring payments for stuff like maintenance or seo deals)...

It's so easy for many of us who have been online a while to sit back and
say "If you really believe in your business or what you do, you can surely
come up with $XX, if it's really that important to you".

Now, I am an honest believer in "if there's a will, there's a way", however,
for many, it really isn't as simple or straight forward.

Allow me a moment (or 30) to elaborate.

I remember when I first started out full time on the internet.
I was working as an EMT, making decent money, not decent
enough, but I loved what I did so it wasn't about the money.

I was off duty one day and witnessed a car accident on the
highway. Being a paramedic, of course my first reaction was
to pull over and help out anyway I could...

Well, little did I know, my life was about to get turned upside
down, in the blink of an eye -- no exaggeration.

I was standing on the side of the road helping a couple of the
"vics" and out of nowhere, some a*shole flying down the road,
doing 80+ MPH, (police later determined it was closer to 90MPH
during their investigation) swerved a little. He hit me dead on,
literally swept me off of my feet.

Come to find out, the guy who was drunk and hit me, had no auto
insurance, so, initially, all my medical bills were up to me to cover.

Now I found myself in a position where I couldn't work, not for a
couple of months anyways. I had to find a way to start making
some money using a different avenue.

So, here I was, out of work, under doctors orders (and rightfully
so since I was in almost a full body cast for almost 6 months and
then a leg cast for another 18 months with many many surgeries
in the interim of all that...

My wife and I had a newborn so my wife was out of work at the
time taking care of the baby (I could barely sit up on the couch
without assistance at times, never mind take care of an infant)
so money was not tight, it was non-existant. I had come online
hoping to find answers to questions I had and every time I would
ask a question, I would get pretty much the same responses I'm
still seeing provided now a days...

"Get this and that, it only costs $10 or $20, surely you can manage
to find or come up with a measly $10 or $20".

Sometimes, as much as we all like to think it is, its not as easy as
everyone makes it sound. Sometimes, even trying to come up with
$5 can be a struggle. It all depends on the persons situation at the
time.

There were days back then (when the accident stuff happened) that my
wife and I struggled hard just to put $3.00 together for some pasta noodles
and spaghetti sauce or even good ole hot dogs and mac-n-cheese, LOL.

So, I know how it feels to constantly hear people saying stuff like "Oh,
if it means that much to you, you'll figure out a way to afford just $10.

Again, sometimes, it really isn't a clear cut as we make it sound. Some
times, it really does come between spending $20 in HOPES of making it
back quickly enough, or taking that same $20 and trying to figure out
a way to stretch it enough to feed your family a few more days with it.

Again, Ron, please please please do not take any offense to my statements.
I mean no disrespect to you, your post or your opinion, but I hear people
saying the same thing all the time "Oh, think of it as an investment, after
all, it's only X dollars."... Depending on the situation, what seems like $1
to us may be like $1,000 to someone else (in retrospect of course)

And again, I do FIRMLY believe that a $20 investment is a MUST for anyone
trying to make money online, and that $20 is definitely a very small price to
pay, but, like I said, for some, it may truly be very difficult to come up with
even $10, especially on a monthly basis.

Another example.

I am now legally permanently disabled. The amount I get every month is
definitely not enough to cover any of my expenses. My mortgage alone
is twice what my disability check is. If it weren't for my online business
being as grown as it is today, I'd NEVER get my "basics" covered each
month, never mind trying to throw $20 out there for an autoresponder,.

If, God forbid, something ever happened to my business and my wife's
income, we would be in the same boat as I am explaining above. We'd
be screwed, and yes, even spending $3 or $5 a month, on a crappy
hosting account, would NOT be within the budget, sadly, but that's
exactly my point. We don't know what the situation is, so it's easy
for us to say something like "anyone can afford X or Y" because, NO,
not everyone CAN. And again, perhaps one could find enough, if
that were the only thing needed, but, everything else has to be
taken into consideration as well. Most of the time, it's not JUST
an autoresponder fee, but then a hosting fee, paying someone
to do the stuff we can't or don't know how to, etc. and so on.

OK, I have rambled on long enough, and probably upset some people,
but I just had to get that off my chest.

Thanks for listening to me rant, LOLOLOL.

[EDIT] Funny, after writing my post I noticed I received an email from Aweber. Announcing a new system. So far doesn't look much different or better than GT, but maybe. I'll have to check it out more. Any one see the new system as incredible?

I am actually about to cancel my current AWeber account and try out
GetResponse. Their (aweber) "new" system, really isn't anything spectacular,
in my opinion anyways. It definitely isn't even enough to make me want to
stay with them, LOL.

 

[savidge4]

So I am going to be the goof of the bunch I can see it now.. he uses what? LOL I use a few... none that have been mentioned... I don't use Mail chimp either btw. I pretty much use 2 platforms and jeeze I feel like I am bragging or something.. but I use Infusionsoft, and 1automationwiz. To kind of clarify things.. LOL My day job as it were ( its 10:30pm and I am taking a break ) I am a service provider for a few different aspects of online as well as offline marketing. So both of these platforms suite my needs a bit better than some of the other solutions. The aspect I like MOST about both of these is the integrated commerce ability.

What really seals the deal tho, is the ability to migrate a user from one list to another based on an action, and not me doing it manually. An example would be if a customer buys product A, they get migrated over to product A's e-mail series. If later they buy Product D.. it moves them right into that sequence. The automation of that is just the cats meow! haha.

In recent years I have moved out of the more traditional services - SEO, Web Design, etc... and moved into Conversion Rate Optimization ( CRO ) These platforms are simply mind boggling in terms of tracking the end user,what they are opening, what they are looking at, how they are contacting me etc etc. It sounds out there but with Infusionsoft, you can start tracking the response rate on a postal mailer piece if you have trackable contact points. How many called, how many went to the site... it really brings the ability to market effectively to a whole new level.

Enough about all that... You asked I answered

 

[Developer]

Developer

I am a fellow Infusionsoft user myself. Yes, it costs a "little" extra, but the advanced features and functionality far out-weight anything Aweber offers... BUT just a little clarity for others who may be reading this as well. As for the automation aspect, as you mentioned above, Aweber does offer that function as well.

 

[Ron Killian]

No, not a long another long winded post JK

Sorry to hear about the crash, I can only imagine.

I know what your saying and no offense taken. None at all. You are right, in some circumstances, even pulling together a few bucks can be a struggle. I've been there too, my wife and I barely getting by, some times not sure how to get enough food. Most people have been. Heck, even struggled at times after having an online business for years. Like relying to much on google, getting slapped and the income gone.

But...

You and I know, there are even more people that could skip things to come up with enough with enough cash for hosting and/or an autotresponder. Skip a coffee, skip a fast food night out. Most people have stuff they can sell, like on craigslist. Dig for change, or even work a part time job.

I am not trying to make light again. Just that we know FAR TOO many people make excuses, why they can't, they don't have the money, and so on. I've done it. Too many people with too many excuses, and not finding success because they get in their own way.

Not saying it's easy, not at all, but it's like you already said, "If you really believe you will find a way..." More people need to think that way, instead of coming up with reasons why they CAN'T do something. Not that I am Mr Positive every day, far from it. Only saying.

One of my favorite quotes is, "If it's going to be, it's up to me". If I have not succeeded, I only have one person to blame, and that is myself.

When I started online I was working full time and money was real tight. We even lived in a crappy mobile home with 3 small children. But I was determined, nothing was going to stop me, and nothing did. I quit the day job after about 6 months. Was alot of hours, many nights of no sleep. And I am not rocket scientist, or genius. No one whispered secret marketing tactics in my ear.

Don't remember what I even paid for hosting back then, but I know it was alot more. I found a way.

And not to argue... but hosting can be gotten for $5 and autoresponder with GR for $15. So $20 a month expenses. As for as outsourcing and anything else, don't need, keep it real simple in the beginning. You can do alot of damage for $20.

As for Aweber...

I only watched their recent video, and frankly I don't see anything that unique. Pretty much the same stuff you could do before with them and other services. Though might be easier? And it looks like you can move people between lists. That will be a nice feature.

That was a big pet peeve I had with Aweber. I remember asking them about it and they said you couldn't do it, to move subs to a new list they have to double opt-in again. To me if they double opted in, why couldn't I move them to a different list. Guess they changed their stance. Finally waking up? Too much competition?

They hint at new stuff coming.... wonder what it will be and how long to come out.

Okay, long winded enough for me

So I am going to be the goof of the bunch I can see it now.. he uses what? LOL I use a few... none that have been mentioned... I don't use Mail chimp either btw. I pretty much use 2 platforms and jeeze I feel like I am bragging or something.. but I use Infusionsoft, and 1automationwiz. To kind of clarify things.. LOL My day job as it were ( its 10:30pm and I am taking a break ) I am a service provider for a few different aspects of online as well as offline marketing. So both of these platforms suite my needs a bit better than some of the other solutions. The aspect I like MOST about both of these is the integrated commerce ability.

What really seals the deal tho, is the ability to migrate a user from one list to another based on an action, and not me doing it manually. An example would be if a customer buys product A, they get migrated over to product A's e-mail series. If later they buy Product D.. it moves them right into that sequence. The automation of that is just the cats meow! haha.

In recent years I have moved out of the more traditional services - SEO, Web Design, etc... and moved into Conversion Rate Optimization ( CRO ) These platforms are simply mind boggling in terms of tracking the end user,what they are opening, what they are looking at, how they are contacting me etc etc. It sounds out there but with Infusionsoft, you can start tracking the response rate on a postal mailer piece if you have trackable contact points. How many called, how many went to the site... it really brings the ability to market effectively to a whole new level.

Enough about all that... You asked I answered

Awesome input

Great example of why it depends on what your doing or what you want to do. For the average joe marketer, Aweber and Getresponse are probably more than enough.

But, as I said, if you want to really step it up and do the amazing things you've mentioned, there are services out there.

And if one has the means, using a advanced platform could really step it up. Like you said, it can boggle the mind what could be done with some of the bigger systems.

Some time back I read a friends blog post about Active Campaign, and it can do some really cool tricks.

Though might be too mind boggling for people like me

 

[Developer]

But...

You and I know, there are even more people that could skip things to come up with enough with enough cash for hosting and/or an autotresponder. Skip a coffee, skip a fast food night out. Most people have stuff they can sell, like on craigslist. Dig for change, or even work a part time job.

I am not trying to make light again. Just that we know FAR TOO many people make excuses, why they can't, they don't have the money, and so on. I've done it. Too many people with too many excuses, and not finding success because they get in their own way.

Not saying it's easy, not at all, but it's like you already said, "If you really believe you will find a way..." More people need to think that way, instead of coming up with reasons why they CAN'T do something. Not that I am Mr Positive every day, far from it. Only saying.

One of my favorite quotes is, "If it's going to be, it's up to me". If I have not succeeded, I only have one person to blame, and that is myself.

When I started online I was working full time and money was real tight. We even lived in a crappy mobile home with 3 small children. But I was determined, nothing was going to stop me, and nothing did. I quit the day job after about 6 months. Was alot of hours, many nights of no sleep. And I am not rocket scientist, or genius. No one whispered secret marketing tactics in my ear.

Don't remember what I even paid for hosting back then, but I know it was alot more. I found a way.

Couldn't agree with you more, and that was something I wanted to point out previously, but I figured I had breathed enough hot air already, LOL...

You are absolutely correct when you mention things like "some people could skip a think or two". I had a customer once who invited me over to discuss some upcoming changes she needed for her site. While I was there, one of her dogs kept barking in the other room. She kept apologizing by telling me that Sadie's groomer, Sadie being her pooch, Sadie's groomer was trying to give her a hair cut for the upcoming warm weather. Anyways, we talked for a little while and then during the end of our conversation, she hinted towards wanting to pull back on some local promo's we had worked on and that were WORKING. Her "reason" (spelt E-X-C-U-S-E) was that she couldn't afford the exorbitant fees. Mind you, every dollar she spent, she was probably getting $7 - $10 back, so, the ads were obviously working...

She couldn't afford the ads? I'm sorry, did this woman just say that? The SAME woman who is paying some stranger to "bath" "Sadie", really? Are you f*cking kidding me?

So, yes, you are absolutely right Ron. All too often, some of those who complain that they can't afford it, are the same ones who say stuff like "Excuse me while I run into Star-schmucks for my $30 4 oz cup of shit flavored water." LOL.

Those people, DO, deserve a bitch-slap right back in to reality, LOL.

 

[Developer]

Like relying to much on google, getting slapped and the income gone.

OH GOD!!! Please don't bring up those times again. I just started getting over the nightmares and terrors from those massive google slaps, LOL

 

[Sandra]

I used aweber for a while. It was fine, but didn't like the communication. I used ICotact for a project. I am using MadMimi right now. It starts small and grows with your business. It has all the features I used to have in the other two for 10 bucks a month. It works for my small lists, and the setup is smooth.
I've seen infusionsoft working in most of the health and wellness one week long seminars that are popping all over the place. It seems to be very efficient.

 

[rshunter27]

I have had the best luck with getresponse. If your building a speedlist they allow you to turn off double opt in. However at the same time if your building a quality targeted list it still works in your favor. Plus they have video capture pages.I love videos

 

[Equady]

I use the built-in vacation responder in my gmail when needed with no problem whatsoever.

Nice to know about different perspectives on the matter.

 

[Web Marketing Tool]

I use my own autoresponder, but for clients I've worked with Aweber is by far the most common paid subscription autoresponder for marketers and would say iContact or Constant Contact is most popular with brick and mortar businesses.

 

[Rob Whisonant]

I have been using Sendy and Amazon SES for a long time now and it works great. I still use Aweber and Getresponse but mainly for testing purposes.

Re's
Rob Whisonant

 

[binelus]

I know it's endless debate. For me, I am using Aweber's autoresponder. It's helped me reach my emails directly to my subscriber's inbox.

What is yours? and why you choose it?

I've been using aweber for 3 years now and never had a problem. You segment your lists and track what's really going on.

On thing I don't like is the price increase when your lists grow and no automated segmentations.

When I get more advanced, I may consider infusionsoft because they offer automated segmentation and you can have different sequences depending on how people engage your emails.

I just now heard of Sendlane which is apparently really easy to use and they have updated templates. Might check it out!

 

[telisman]

Personally,
I've used quite a few autoresponders and my favorite so far is GetResponse. Not only is their interface easy to use, but their deliverability is great and they're easy to work with.

 

[dbs00]

I like get response, they have a cool free guide on how to do email marketing
I even entered my contact data for a 1on1 with their staff, and forgot about it
next week they contacted me regarding regarding the email automation 1on1 help I registered to
was quite interesting