Email Marketing

[BabyHopes]

I'm in the process of relaunching my site and would like to have an email marketing account set up and running before the debut. I've spent the morning looking at different programs and systems and am feeling a little woozy with data.

The companies I'm looking at:

Fresh List http://www.freshlists.com/
Agency Access http://www.agencyaccess.com/
Constant Contact http://www.constantcontact.com/index.jsp
EMMA http://www.myemma.com/

I haven't had a chance to really break it down on the price point, but right now I'm feeling a bit nickled and dimed just reading about all the fees for email template design, contact list maintenance, and per email costs. (Not to mention subscriber fees...)

I did find a free service through www.emailmarketingprofessional.com. However, I've spent a better part of this early afternoon trying to fiddle around with it and can't seem to get anything to actually send. Blah!

Any personal experience with any of these companies? Similar companies? Options for free or nearly free email marketing services that work?

[CallMeAl]

Check out Marathon Press.

I'm not sure on their prices, but they have great marketing products and services.

www.marathonpress.com

[Aric C. Hoek]

I use Constant Contact. You can view my last email by visiting my site then click on the archived email link.

I love it.

[toverman]

Constant Contact is one of the more popular versions that even cities and school districts use to send out their e-mails. It's a powerful tool that works well.

[BabyHopes]

Aric,
I couldn't find the archived emails. But I did sign up for your newsletter. :)

I did want to add that I found a few other resources. AWeber, Get Response and MailChimp. I was on the fence between Aweber and Constant Contact, but then decided to check out MailChimp. Turns out, I like what they have to offer, and for price-point, I haven't found anyone that can beat it. So, I went ahead and signed up with mailchimp. It's free for small businesses (under 100 subscribers.) The trade off is that you do have a link at the bottom of your email stating the newsletter is generated through mailchimp.

For right now, that's okay. As things take off, I should be able to upgrade either through mailchimp or through another email marketing company.

I'll let you know how I like it. :)

[Cajungaltx]

I've used Constant Contact for emails for NILMDTS - but got sick of the issues with creating them - so I just switched to what I know best - Outlook.

And just for the record - 100 people is going to go WAY quick....

[Shelby Lane]

I have used Constant Contact for several years and I have loved them.

[BabyHopes]

Originally Posted by Cajungaltx

And just for the record - 100 people is going to go WAY quick....

Yeah, that's what my husband said when I was talking to him about it. He also mentioned the fact that I might want to "start as I mean to go on."

So now I'm back to wondering...

So far I've really liked what MailChimp has to offer. Maybe I'll download the trial for Constant Contact AND the trial for AWeber and just compare all three at the same time. I do know that once they hit 500-2,500 subscribers all three default to the same price. But before that point, Constant Contact is $15/mo for 0-500, AWeber is $20 for 0-500, and MailChimp is $10.

I'm trying to figure out what makes one stand out above the other. I know that MailChimp does unlimited image hosting and a preview of the newsletter before send off. (A comparison according to MailChimp.) Anybody know what Constant Contact or AWeber offers that makes using them that much more beneficial in the long run?

[Shelby Lane]

You can do a preview on Constant Contact. One thing to look at (because I haven't looked at your other options) is how easy is it to back up or download your mailing list, if you allow people to sign up on their own. I put in my first few hundred, and then let clients sign up themselves after that. If I ever canceled my account, I wanted to know that I could pull those addresses out easily to transfer them to another mail client.