[epub] Re: Software to handle lists

[Joe Reinbold <webmaster@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi everyone,

I have been watching the latest discussion about lists and
had a couple of comments. By the way, like some others
I am enjoying this discussion list since it appears to
be targeted very well and all the discussions are on point.

Let me introduce myself as some others have. I have been
on line for just over 4 years and was involved in mail order
prior to that for about 6 years. My main site, The
Entrepreneur's Home Business Link has been up since
I started online and I also have a newer site, 123response.com
which is a free and paid autoresponder service.

I publish an ezine with 11,400+ subscribers which is targeted
to small home businesses and online marketing and goes out
twice a week. So I have, as I indicated in an earlier post, over
a period of time used several type list techniques, starting with
mailing it out with my own email program, Eudora, then cgi
scripts and then several list services.

One thing that you need to evaluate when you are looking at
a list service to use is the size of the messages that you are
allowed to send in order to get their cheapest rate. Let's say that
they advertise that you can get a rate of $1.00 per 1000 for all
messages up to 10k or less.  Based on my experience, 10k
isn't a very big ezine. My own, with generally two articles, a Feature
Ad, Middle Ad, 3 - 8 regular classifieds plus some editorial
comments/procedures, averages between 16 and 19k an issue.
So you should take a look at your average size issue. Just take
an issue and mail it to yourself and se what your email program
indicates is the size of the message.  Also consider that some
email programs/services will convert certain size emails to
attachments. I belive AOL does it when the message is 20k
or larger. A lot of people including myself don't open attachments
when I am not sure what they are considering all the viruses.

So if you think you are getting a real good deal on a list service
rate, make sure you know that you are going to stay within
the size that fits the rate. Otherwise it is going to get a bit more
expensive for you. Also look at what the minimum per month is
if they have one. Some have a minimum of $50 a month paid in
advance by the quarter. If your list has 5000 subscribers and
you mail four issues a month, it is not going to cost you $20 per
month when the service costs $1 per 1000, if there is a $50 a
month minimum. Another thing to compare is what the setup
cost is between the various services.

I am not evaluating any specific service here, I am just pointing
out some things to consider when you are shopping for a service.

Hope it helps a bit.
Joe Reinbold
The Entrepreneur's Home Business Link
http://www.homebizlink.com


-----

EPUB archives: http://Ezine-Universe.com/archives/

-----
Attention EPUB readers:

List-Universe subscribers have been asking us so many questions
about co-registration and PPS (pay-per-subscriber) programs
over the past few months that we've decided to jump in with our own
co-registration service. Call us at 1.877.547.8864 or 1.920.490.8553,
or click here for details: http://Opt-Influence.com/c/pl.cgi?pps1 


........................ EPUB Discussion List .....................
Post:                                 mailto:epub@list-universe.com
To Join:                         mailto:join-epub@list-universe.com
To Remove:             mailto:leave-epub-721690Q@cool.sparklist.com
Digest Mode:             mailto:epub-digest@lists.list-universe.com
Comments:                    mailto:epub-feedback@list-universe.com