MailChimp vs GetResponse vs WP Newletter

[magicman]

Just wanted to drop back in to report a few things...

My personal preference does not lean towards Trafficwave. The only reason for me to use it is to sell it and I don't like it that much, I have used MailChimp before but not now (no real reason). Currently I'm on with Get Response and have found their support so far to be excellent.

GR has good looking templates for opt-in and is fairly simple to use once you get used to some of their terminology. Also has a nice plugin to integrate with WordPress. Even more impressed now with Dropbox. I even have a joint DB with a JV partner which we use a lot. The auto sync feature is really nice.

Good luck with whatever suppliers you choose. Hope this helps a little. -MM

[krackerjax]

I've been looking over MailChimp and GetResponse.  While I could host my own mailing list or AR, I prefer not to.  Being a web developer it's something that's quite easy to install and setup.  The problem is ensuring delivery.  Some hosts, especially on shared hosting, may limit outgoing email.  This can become an issue if you're trying to send a message out to 2,000 subscribers.  Sure, you could set it up in batches to send x-number of emails within a time frame, however, I'd rather just go with a remotely hosted solution.

I was looking at MailChimp due to the free option.  I'm just getting off my butt so I don't have a mailing list.  Therefore, I doubt I'd reach the threshhold very soon.  If I would it'd be great though.

What got me thinking of GetResponse is the integration it has with JVZoo.  According to JVZoo, you can have your buyers instantly added to your mailing list.  GetResponse does offer a 30-day free trial.

[Ron Seigel]

If you're in the Internet Marketing space avoid Mailchimp. They are notorious for shutting down IM accounts.

All the big boys will work with JVZoo (including Aweber).

My issue with GR was a service/technical one. They failed and I jumped to AW. It was the right move for me. They have a $1 for the first month deal.

Either GR or AW will do the trick for most.

[krackerjax]

There must be a decent number of non-IM folks paying for the MailChimp service for them to still be in business.  Did a quick Google search for MailChimp Internet Marketing and got a result from their AUP.  Their AUP states:

Some industries have higher-than-normal abuse complaints, which can in turn jeopardize the deliverability of our entire system. Nothing personal, but in order to maintain the highest delivery rates possible for all our customers, we can’t allow businesses that offer these types of services, products, or content:

• Escort and dating services
• Pharmaceutical products
• Work from home, make money on online, and lead generation opportunities
• Online trading, day trading tips, or stock market-related content
• Gambling services or products
• Multi-level marketing
• Affiliate marketing
• Credit repair and get out of debt opportunities
• Mortgages and loans
• Nutritional, herbal, and vitamin supplements
• Adult novelty items or references
  
• List brokers or list rental services

Most of those I agree with or can at least understand as being prohibited.  However, some of them are just plain deal killers for me.

• Work from home, make money on online, and lead generation opportunities - Unfortunately scam artists and overhype-type marketers have given the topic of working at home a bad name.  However, with so many things being done online, I see it as a viable option for many people that are willing to invest their time in creating an online income suited to their talents.  Just because someone is showing how to work from home doesn't mean they're setting up crummy envelop stuffing and other crap ideas.
• Affiliate Marketing - This is a great way for people new to Internet Marketing to get their feet wet in earning money.  With affiliate marketing they don't have to have their own product or deal with customers.  This is one of the ways of making money that's taught in the SBI (Site Build-It) course.  This topic is viable for the average blogger to big time Internet Marketers.
• Nutritional, herbal, and vitamin supplements - This is another industry that has a bad rep due to scam artists and overhype-type marketers.  This can go great with affiliate marketing for a person that has knowledge of health and wellness.  Not everyone is on the weight loss kick.  Some people might be in to using natural medicine over traditional pharmaceuticals.  A person could be a health expert as they may be a physical trainer, etc.

I feel it's very bad business to lump legitimate people in with the crooked.  For the supplements, they're basically saying that a personal trainer that has a website about health and wellness with vitamins is not welcome.  There's lots of legitimate topics that are related to health and wellness.  As I had previously-mentioned, people from all walks of life can do affiliate marketing.  It doesn't have to be Joe Scammer.  It could be Joe Smith with is own blog about kitties and taking care of cats.

[Ron Seigel]

At the end of the day they can nuke your account for any reason or no reason at all. I chose to simply not use them. I didn't give it nearly as much thought as you just did. 

Too many in the IM niche have had their Mailmonkey lists vaporized (a lot with no backups) and watched their income tank. They've made it clear that they want nothing to do with IM.

GR and AW (Aweber is especially IM friendly) are the best options.

[krackerjax]

A few Internet Marketers I'm on the mailing list of use aWeber.  I've been on their list for a few years now.  So that right there told me that aWeber is definitely IM-friendly.  Given that GetResponse is integrated with JVZoo, which is very much used in IM, I'd imagine GetResponse would be very tolerable (within reason) of IM-related sites.

[Ron Killian]

My issue with GR was a service/technical one. They failed and I jumped to AW.

That was my issue with GR as well. Quite poor customer support on the technical end, most every time they pretty much blew me off. This was for simple questions that any AR should be able to answer easily. Also, they lacked any kind of knowledge base or related, so I couldn't even help myself. Oddly some of the support materials were in some forum that I could not register for or sign up. Was strange.

That was about a year or so ago, maybe it's changed.

While Aweber is not perfect, I have almost always been able to find answers for questions in their support materials and if I did contact them, they went out of their way to help. Can't say enough good things about their support.

[Ron Killian]

There must be a decent number of non-IM folks paying for the MailChimp service for them to still be in business.  Did a quick Google search for MailChimp Internet Marketing and got a result from their AUP.  Their AUP states:

Some industries have higher-than-normal abuse complaints, which can in turn jeopardize the deliverability of our entire system. Nothing personal, but in order to maintain the highest delivery rates possible for all our customers, we can’t allow businesses that offer these types of services, products, or content:

• Escort and dating services
• Pharmaceutical products
• Work from home, make money on online, and lead generation opportunities
• Online trading, day trading tips, or stock market-related content
• Gambling services or products
• Multi-level marketing
• Affiliate marketing
• Credit repair and get out of debt opportunities
• Mortgages and loans
• Nutritional, herbal, and vitamin supplements
• Adult novelty items or references
  
• List brokers or list rental services

Most of those I agree with or can at least understand as being prohibited.  However, some of them are just plain deal killers for me.

• Work from home, make money on online, and lead generation opportunities - Unfortunately scam artists and overhype-type marketers have given the topic of working at home a bad name.  However, with so many things being done online, I see it as a viable option for many people that are willing to invest their time in creating an online income suited to their talents.  Just because someone is showing how to work from home doesn't mean they're setting up crummy envelop stuffing and other crap ideas.
• Affiliate Marketing - This is a great way for people new to Internet Marketing to get their feet wet in earning money.  With affiliate marketing they don't have to have their own product or deal with customers.  This is one of the ways of making money that's taught in the SBI (Site Build-It) course.  This topic is viable for the average blogger to big time Internet Marketers.
• Nutritional, herbal, and vitamin supplements - This is another industry that has a bad rep due to scam artists and overhype-type marketers.  This can go great with affiliate marketing for a person that has knowledge of health and wellness.  Not everyone is on the weight loss kick.  Some people might be in to using natural medicine over traditional pharmaceuticals.  A person could be a health expert as they may be a physical trainer, etc.

I feel it's very bad business to lump legitimate people in with the crooked.  For the supplements, they're basically saying that a personal trainer that has a website about health and wellness with vitamins is not welcome.  There's lots of legitimate topics that are related to health and wellness.  As I had previously-mentioned, people from all walks of life can do affiliate marketing.  It doesn't have to be Joe Scammer.  It could be Joe Smith with is own blog about kitties and taking care of cats.

Isn't that enough to steer clear? Is for me. And Ron is SO right, they don't like marketers and it's not worth the risk.

I do find it odd though. To provide a email marketing service, yet seem to dislike the very reason some one would want a AR service. If your going to actually pay for their paid service, you want a return on your investment, which means marketing to your list to draw in sales. They sure don't stay in business offering only free services. Doesn't make sense.

[Ron Seigel]

Yeah, I think JunkyMonkey (TM) - crap...domain is already gone  - I'm going with that from now on for Mailchimp - is just looking for the low hanging fruit.

Dentists and accountants that send monthly newsletters to their clients.

They don't want the risk that comes with IM - which is stupid since double opt-in negates that risk anyways. 

[snginc]

As they say...you get what you pay for!  If you pay nothing..you get nothing!

[krackerjax]

Isn't that enough to steer clear? Is for me. And Ron is SO right, they don't like marketers and it's not worth the risk.

I do find it odd though. To provide a email marketing service, yet seem to dislike the very reason some one would want a AR service. If your going to actually pay for their paid service, you want a return on your investment, which means marketing to your list to draw in sales. They sure don't stay in business offering only free services. Doesn't make sense.

Yes it's enough for me.  I won't recommend MailChimp to anyone, no matter if they're doing IM or not.

[Ron Seigel]

I have to admit it's getting really tiring that whenever there's a conversation about email services that you have to chime in with your affiliate link.

I, for one, for that very reason, would go out of my way to make sure you didn't get a commission out of it.

This has been one of those unwritten rules since the mid-nineties - DON'T SPAM YOUR AFFILIATE LINK! 

Thanks for listening....

Oh look - in the FORUM RULES at the toop of this page.

"3) No affiliate links in posts."

[SurfSmarter]

guess the best I can do is apologise, Ron.

[snginc]

Actually you could have simply deleted your post. 

guess the best I can do is apologise, Ron.

[jryates78]

 I used Getresponse briefly and it is easy to use and has alot of functions. However I didnt have a list at the time, so I felt like I was paying for something I didn't need. I had an issue with Getresponse however. When I decided to cancel, they gave me the option to "freeze" my account so that my info wouldn't be lost and drop my fee to $5/month. However, after about a month when I decided to fully cancel, the ONLY way I could cancel is by re-instating my account, in which they charged me the monthly $15! I have a problem with that because I wasn't able to use the account while it was "frozen". Needless to say, Im NOT paying for service I couldn't use.