Free Autoresponder Review
May 24th 2008 04:59 pm
One thing I’ve learned from Perry Marshall & Co. is that it is more important to build a quality customer database and establish a long relationship with them than to sell them a single product. So I’ve decided to try my hand at capturing opt-in emails via an autoresponder.
My goal is to offer my visitor something of value to collected addresses and then send time-delayed emails after that.
But, I’m still pretty poor. I can’t afford to pay a monthly fee, which gives me two options.
Read the details of my GetResponse review, free version.
Read the details of my Royal Responder review, free version.
Your autoresponder is your initial contact with potential customers. These are people that you are hoping will give you money. You want them to see you as a professional, trustworthy company. The ads in free autoresponders can immediately peg you as a spammer to a visitor.
Another reason to not use a free account: they’re all designed to make it hard for you to leave. None of them allow the export of your records. This means that if you start to build a good list and then you decide it’s time to start paying for a full-functioned autoresponder, you’re locked in to the software you’ve chosen or you have a very painstaking task of cutting/pasting the information for each person. And if you choose a full autoresponder that requires a double opt-in, you’ll be asking that same lead to confirm that you can send them something again, which they’ve already done once.
So, my tactic is now to review full-functioned autoresponders.
But, I’m still pretty poor. I can’t afford to pay a monthly fee, which gives me two options.
- Use open source software that sits on my own computer.
This means you’re sending out emails from your own domain. I remember reading an interview with Rosalie Dunbar once. She said when she first started out, she made this mistake. The problem is that if people think you’re spamming them, even if they opted in, your own domain is in jeopardy of being blacklisted. Not good. - Use a free account from an autoresponder service.
I’m leaning in this direction. They’re really good at sending your messages so that they aren’t viewed as spam.
GetResponse
Summary: Lots of internet marketing support, but also lots of ads for your visitor to see.Read the details of my GetResponse review, free version.
Royal Responder
Summary: The most invisible to your visitor, but no attachments in paid version and account expires if 45 days with no subscriber.Read the details of my Royal Responder review, free version.
Email Aces
Summary: Although this is the only free version that I’ve found which allows attachments, there is very little online help, the interface is tedious and a little buggy. Read the details of my Email Aces review, free version.Conclusion
In my quest to find a decent free autoresponder, I’ve come to an interesting conclusion. I don’t think free autoresponders are the way to go.Your autoresponder is your initial contact with potential customers. These are people that you are hoping will give you money. You want them to see you as a professional, trustworthy company. The ads in free autoresponders can immediately peg you as a spammer to a visitor.
Another reason to not use a free account: they’re all designed to make it hard for you to leave. None of them allow the export of your records. This means that if you start to build a good list and then you decide it’s time to start paying for a full-functioned autoresponder, you’re locked in to the software you’ve chosen or you have a very painstaking task of cutting/pasting the information for each person. And if you choose a full autoresponder that requires a double opt-in, you’ll be asking that same lead to confirm that you can send them something again, which they’ve already done once.
So, my tactic is now to review full-functioned autoresponders.
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