When I first started, I thought Autoresponders were the same exact thing, an auto response so you didn’t have to answer your email manually! It’s nice to know I was alone there lol

Every AR has pros and cons. Aweber is quick to suspend, Mail Chimp doesn’t allow affiliate referrals, Traffic Wave doesn’t have Blog Feed feature and only allows you to mail each list once every 8 hours. I think it’s just weighing out what will work best for your goals, and which cons are acceptable for that goal.

Great post Guido, thanks for all the info!

I’m not doing much yet with videos… currently only screen recordings, most for software setup, usage and things like that… but I plan to go more into video marketing… it’s not only good for the conversion rates but also a
great tool for branding.

As techniphobe I use a hosted AR system but can definately see the advantage of running your own. Like when your list is your biggest asset and you place it in the hands of another company …

That said … until I can either pay someone to run and host my own AR … it’s a hosted account all the way.

Thanks for the post – new to your blog but not new to your Giveaway events!

Thanks for your comment and questions… let me try to answer some quickly.

As for Traffic Witch, I am currently thinking about moving the credits per page up, but that would also mean I’d have to drop at least one contest like the BootScootin Witch Codes, otherwise the credit flow wouldn’t be good anymore.

As for Traffic Wave… I can’t recommend them yet for any “results” as I haven’t been using them long enough to compare them to others. The email open rates are currently about the same as I had on Aweber but that’s about it what I can say right now.

I know there are some companies who tell you that they have special contacts with the ISP’s to get your emails delivered. If you ask me, that’s pure nonsense because it would be against the law. I’m pretty sure that the ISP’s must give every autoresponder company the same chance to get their emails delivered. What the autoresponder companies probably mean when they say that is that they play by the rules of the ISP’s. Things like Email Headers, Can-Spam law etc.

As for ease-of-use… I think that depends on what you personally like or what you have worked with for a long time. I must confess that I liked the Aweber control panel… the GVO control panel is also very easy to understand… Traffic Wave can be a bit more complicated but once you understand it it’s easy as well.

As for the Giveaway Events… yes they work like advertised but it’s not a free-ride. It’s kind of a Team Event where all contributors promote the event together. Basically, the more you promote the event, the more signups you get to your list as a contributor. If you run your own Giveaway Event, then you get all the signups on your list… I’d say it’s one of the easiest ways to get a foot into the market but you must do it the right way.

Your last point… that’s simple: Buy from me

No, seriously now… buy from the people who are creating good products themselves, this way you support them and help them to create more good products. Or buy from people who have helped you with certain things… people who give real good information away for free inbetween their promotions.

I hope that helps a bit.

Regards,

Guido

this is a great article about list building. Unfortunately, the importance of list building is overlooked quite often by people starting an online business. Most of them don’t know or realize too late that without it, there won’t be a successful business.

Thanks,

Hans

Well I have always been impressed with you as a marketer if less impressed with your TE, Traffic Witch and you have delivered a thoughtful/insightful post on the perils of Pauline when it comes to Autoresponders. (Traffic Witch credit per page views are just too low)
Autoresponders
Yes, Traffic Wave does have a cost merit but to be cynical for a moment I have to wonder whether you are recommending it for its affiliate program or whether you have carefully examined the trade offs in delivery rates and ease of use.
Everyone says that AWeber is the BMW of delivery rates. Is it really true?
And what are the actual comparative ease-of-use factors between say: Traffic Wave, AWeber, Get Response, Mail Chimp, List Wire and I Contact, Mad Mini? Ease Of Use = a) list setup, b) name migration c) squeeze page set up, d) bells & whistles, d) help desk suoport .

People who don’t have the mega lists need in depth comparative analysis because we have to make better decisions from the get go to have any chance of carving out a respective portion in th IM attention space bearing in mind that most marketers are on many many lists.

Thank you for your candor in explaining the trade offs between follow up and broadcast messaging. Please give us examples of best practice for both.
Hopefully, we will get more insight on this from Mark Ling’s Affilio Jet Pack as he has laid out a 1 Year autoresponder message campaign plan.

Giveaways: I know you love them. Do they really work as advertised? Are there alternatives?

My last point is this: don’t you agree that a goodly portion of the newbies in the IM Marketing Niche are avid if not rapid IM info hunters? Ergo they tend to be on multiple guru lists.
And gurus like yourself tend to cross promote the same products from other gurus that you have built relationships with.
No problem with that except that these clone promos with laundry list bonuses clog up my gmail account.
So, there are at least two problems: 1) who do we buy the product from if the same product is being offered from several gurus that we follow should we believe the product in question is worthy of purchase and how do we as marketers develop enough online clout to get our e/m open rate up there with Frank Kerns?
Based on your Autoresponder opening salvo above I hope you will write more about how to choose and use Autoresponders effectively now and in future.
Arigato & best wishes,
HAL

I almost think that the Gurus are going to have to start giving us spread sheets with detailed advise on how to start IM businesses with various increments of ca

I’m considering a change from AWeber at the moment and I’ve been having a look at Mailchimp which integrates a lot of cool web 2.0 features, like harvesting email info when people register for webinars or buy an item via Paypal.

As yet I’ve not found one that does everything so the search continues for the time being.

I can’t believe you were paying $400 per month just to send emails out … that’s worth bearing in mind as the list grows.