What if You Don't have an auto-responder but you have a list?

[Phyllis Wolfe]

Good Day Everyone

 

I know building a list is an important part of running a business, however, I presently do not have an autoresponder.

I do have a list to some extent. Is their an autoresponder, that it is possible to put the names on my list into one at a time?  How do I put names into an autoresponder which are sent to me from another company in file format?

 

If I do not have an autoresponder, would I be able to send mail directly from gmail or is that considered spam?

 

These may seem like silly questions, however, if I don't know I am sure someone here does.

 

Thanks for your knowledge

[Darren Olander]

Most autoresponders have a strict policy about importing leads... they generally will require to each person verify again that they want to receive mails from you by sending a confirmation email with a link they must click on. For the most part very few people will click that link, so that is not likely to work well.

 

Spam is any solicitation sent to someone who did not request to receive it from you - so just sending to email addresses you received would be considered spamming. It is highly likely if you received a list of leads that it was shared with a bunch of other people as well and they are not happy to receive emails, making it more likely they will report your mails as spam.

 

It's never too late to start building a proper list and in my opinion should be done asap since it is so important. There are many systems that hook into autoresponders to help you list build, or you can build your own opt-in pages so when someone fills out the form they will subscribe to your list. And then sending broadcasts will never be a problem no matter how large your list grows because it would be through an autoresponder system.

[mistracy39]

You can sign up for my lead system and add your list to it and then email your list with one click.

There is a one time $7 upgrade if you want to earn commissions too.  It's free I'll leave a link;

http://www.mylistgiant.com/257238

[Guest mrclean0325]

Darin is almost 100% correct. The law does allow ONE email, the first one you send unsolicited, any after that if they don't give you permission to send more is considered SPAM. So the first email better knock their socks off. They can still mark it as SPAM, and you will legally be fine; BUT it won't stop your ISP, email provider, program or others from black listing you or cancelling your accounts.

 

You can run a list from your email account. It is a PITA but possible. It does take a lot of time and when your list gets bigger is almost certain to drive you to drink. As long as you have a "If you don't want to receive emails anymore, please reply and put UNSUBSCRIBE in the email" or something similar in each email. You do run a greater risk of getting your account hit with a SPAM complaint and closed.

 

There are scripts and plugins for WordPress that are true autoresponders. You can import any addresses you want. Problems arise if your hosting has limits on how many email you can send in a certain time or has a bandwidth limit on the account level you have. If your domain gets blacklisted on the SPAM list, it could be very bad since you have no options to take your list elsewhere.

 

There are also a glut of "free" autoresponders out there and bulk email programs. Some will let you import lists. These come and go quite frequently (shut down when they get too many SPAM complaints) so you take your chances. The bulk email programs have the limitation your ISP will allow since you have to do it from your desktop email client (usually). There are a few online ones but few are "free" and charge per email to send or you have to buy the software.

 

Though it sounds like you are getting a list either from a program or buying leads in bulk, neither is ever a good idea since you have no way to know how these leads were actually gotten or if they are even good addresses. Every single time I have done this in the past, even from supposedly reputable places - it ended badly. The emails could have been scraped from sites and you will get into hot water from a deluge of SPAM complaints. So just say no....

 

It is really not that hard to build a list of your own people. There is a HUGE amount of information for free online to do it. There are a lot of good autoresponders out there. Most have a free 30 day or have to have so many subscribers before they charge (I prefer the number of subscribers as it isn't a quick process to build a good list usually) Then you know where the leads are coming from and are legally protected from SPAM complaints since they did opt in. Well, as long as you use a double opt in that is.

 

Building a list is like getting married, once you are in an autoresponder you are pretty well stuck with it for the duration of your list. So you need to make sure you can "cover the nut" or the expense of it with your list building or you will go broke pretty quickly before you build it up enough to create and income.

 

Lastly, don't choose one for the commissions. There was a study I read a few years ago that over the long haul, they pay about the same. You need to make sure you can afford the monthly bill until your list starts paying for itself or just covering your cost each month. You also want to look at what the price increases are for certain levels down the road. You can tell who is making money with their list (or just blowing money in large qualities) by who does their list. Some are several hundred dollars per month even with a small list because of the extra features they provide.

 

Hope this helps!

[Phyllis Wolfe]

Thanks very much for all your information.

 

  The list I do have, just to clarify, are from my capture pages, however,

the person's name goes to the program and then are forwarded to me. 

 

When your leads go into a program and the program sends them to you in a file, are those leads allowed to be put into

your autoresponder?

[Guest mrclean0325]

Depends on the autoresponder you are using and what they allow, most commercial ones do not allow importing.

[Phyllis Wolfe]

Thanks for your reply. Appreciate it! 

[Norman Plouffe]

Thanks for your reply. Appreciate it! 

Hello Phyllis

 

I have exactly done this process manually enter my prospects

In my autoresponder Trafficwave

 

My prospects came from a program where I could not contact them

From this program. So I used gmail to stay in touch with them

 

 

As said Daren Trafficwave sent an email to my prospects

To ask if he accepts to receive messages from me!

 

Bye Bye!

[Phyllis Wolfe]

Thank You Norman!  I did belong to Traffic Wave at one time, however, at the time,

I just didn't think I was using it enough to justify the monthly payments.  Just goes

to show, hang on to your autoresponder.  Good to know.

[grygry]

You would need those leads to confirmed sometimes call double opt in, it would be better if you use capture page that are included in the autoresponder you are using now and capture new leads who can then confirm they are willing to receive further mailing, as for those on the list you asked about perhaps you could Gmail them and to remind them they responded to the capture page 

Ask them if they are willing for you to send more information and to white list your email so it doesn't get marked as spam

[Phyllis Wolfe]

Thanks Grygry!  Good ideas. Don't know why I didn't think of it but brain storming works. 

 

That's what great about Marketing Checkpoint.  Get ideas from everyone else.

[market101]

All good ideas.  But, I have one suggestion that has something to do with retention.  Getting a list, whether or not you use autoresponders, is one thing.  Retaining membership is another.  I have a list that has taken several years to build.  I promise the people on my list that I will not bombard them with emails.  I send out 1 email per month and they can cancel their membership at any time.  My retention rate is phenomenal.  When people join me in affiliate programs, I have no control over how often the admin of that program will send info to them.  But, I have total control over how often I send info to encourage and or teach.  Think about it.

[weblord]

try getting mailchimp.com it's free to send up to 2,000 people.

a list is useless if you can't send to them.

Thanks Grygry!  Good ideas. Don't know why I didn't think of it but brain storming works. 

 

That's what great about Marketing Checkpoint.  Get ideas from everyone else.