Newsletter Subscription Services??

[Kathytnt]

I wasn't sure if I was going to stay with my current subscription service. I don't recall having been told it would be automatic renewal. Imagine my surprise to have a charge to my PayPal account I am not happy. I have already e-mail them but haven't heard back yet. I just had my renewal go through for my website plus I was also debating changin service. Now I am just irritated that they did this automatically.

 

[pamperedlinda]

Which service are you using? I signed with a service a few months ago and I need to check and see if I'm an auto-renewall too. I don't remember seeing that when I signed and I'd be peeved too.

 

[Kathytnt]

123 By Request I went back to the website and I don't see an autorenewal

It's a nice service but sending out the newsletter is time consuming since I have to send 8-9 at a time and I don't get much feedback from them. I was debating whether to continue or not and then I get this automatic charge

 

[pamperedlinda]

Oh no! That's who I signed with too. I'm not as happpy with them as I thought It would be....it's a nice service, but a lot more work that I thought it would be to update all my info into it.....plus I'm having trouble letting go of doing my own. I do use some of her stuff in mine too so I guess it does help me out a bit.

Just remembered, I paid her by check since I was having trouble with my pay pal at the time, guess she won't be able to auto-renew me afterall....whew!

 

[Jewel]

I use vertical response. It's a little work to figure out at first, but my customers really like the results. And you only buy xx amount of emails, you get to choose, not auto anything!

 

[pamperedlinda]

I use vertical response. It's a little work to figure out at first, but my customers really like the results. And you only buy xx amount of emails, you get to choose, not auto anything!

I've never heard of them. Do they have a website?

 

[stacywhitlow]

I use Constant Contact. I just started but love it! You can get a free 90 day trial. It tracks who has opened the emails and when. It even tracks direct links to website. Check it out!

 

[chefann]

That's what I use as well. I just signed up this week. I've got separate lists for my customers and my team, so I can use the same account to send updates to them. And now I know that when I call my team members and ask if they saw the note I sent, that they're lying when they say they did (because I can see who opened it). So far, I'm very pleased with their templates.

BTW- if anyone is thinking about using Constant Contact, let me, Stacy (above) or Colleen (finley1991) know. They have a referral program and both the referring member and new member can get money off a subscription.

 

[Kathytnt]

I still have not heard from them and I sent them a bill for the return of my money. Especially since they haven't bothered to even communicate with me

 

[missyciccolella]

123 By Request I went back to the website and I don't see an autorenewal

It's a nice service but sending out the newsletter is time consuming since I have to send 8-9 at a time and I don't get much feedback from them. I was debating whether to continue or not and then I get this automatic charge

Me too! I've only been with them a couple of months, but I love the professional look to the email, and so easy to work with! I've also heard great things from my customers about the emails as well.

I do hate sending them out in batches as well, but I trying to figure out other alternatives to that...If I find one that works and I like I'll let you know.

 

[lacychef]

For those of you that do subscibe to a service, I'm just curious how much it costs? And do you find the cost worth it? Is it sent as an attachment & do your customers ever have problems opening it?
Just curious! Thanks...

 

[stacywhitlow]

If you pay at once with Constant Contact you get a discount. I paid $81 for a 6 month subscription. It is even cheaper for 1 year. I really like it!

As Ann stated- "if anyone is thinking about using Constant Contact, let me, Stacy (above) or Colleen (finley1991) know. They have a referral program and both the referring member and new member can get money off a subscription."

 

[chefann]

That's what I did, Stacy. I paid for a year, and it ended up to be about $140.

I've got about 200 active addresses on my list, and it's SOOOO much easier to just click send once than to send them out in batches of 10. Their notes go out as a formatted email, with a text version for people who can't/don't view HTML email. If you get email from Lyn Conway or various other websites, then you get things through Constant Contact. (Look at the bottom of the note - if there's a little "flying envelope" and it says Constant Contact, then the sender is using them.)

I've got my October newsletter partially done - some of the info is place holders until I go into my records and double check (like the Top Host info). But if anyone wants me to send them a draft, I can do that. Just PM me your email address.

Another nice thing about Constant Contact is that you can have multiple lists. I've got one set up for my team, and I've sent a couple of weekly updates to them already. I work on them when I get info throughout the week, then I schedule it to go out, so it's in their inboxes when they wake up Monday morning. I plan to send out birthday coupons to my newsletter subscribers, and will make lists for each month.

 

[ChefBeckyD]

So you pay $140 a year for a once a month newsletter service?

Wow! and people complain about the price to have a PWS!!! That is a 24/7 all year deal for less!

 

[chefann]

It's not once a month - I can send as many notes as I want, to many different groups. It tracks who opened it, whether they clicked through to my PWS, etc. I can easily see which addresses are bouncing and remove them, which eliminates the chance of future messages being marked as spam by internet service providers. And people who receive it can still opt-out - plus they can forward it to their friends who can opt-in to receiving it.

 

[Jules711]

I LOVE constant contact too. I sent out an email in August regarding the "Clearance" section on my website (the Outlet) and got $200 in orders. That paid for the newsletter service. Yes, I can email through normal routes, but I KNOW that people are getting and opening my emails now. Granted, I don't know if they are reading them, but now if someone hasn't opened anything from me, I can contact them to see if they are receiving them.I love seeing what links they click on too. That let's me know what looked interesting to them. Plus, putting pictures in but not making the email a larger size it wonderful. Love, love, love!! Try it for awhile and see if you like it. Definitely let someone know before you sign up so that they can get the referral benefit. I think it's $30 and would then pay for more than 2 months!!

 

[ChefBeckyD]

It's not once a month - I can send as many notes as I want, to many different groups. It tracks who opened it, whether they clicked through to my PWS, etc. I can easily see which addresses are bouncing and remove them, which eliminates the chance of future messages being marked as spam by internet service providers. And people who receive it can still opt-out - plus they can forward it to their friends who can opt-in to receiving it.

Oh, I'm not debating the value of the service......I was just trying to point out what a great value the PWS is for those who have balked at the price!:thumbup:

 

[chefann]

Oh- absolutely. I've found that the customer connection area in PWS leaves a LOT to be desired, however - at least the way that I want to use it. That's why I was willing to shell out the additional money for a different service.

 

[ChefBeckyD]

Oh- absolutely. I've found that the customer connection area in PWS leaves a LOT to be desired, however - at least the way that I want to use it. That's why I was willing to shell out the additional money for a different service.

My biggest frustration with the PWS is the fact that there is no "counter"....so I never know how many people are actually visiting the site.
And I agree - the customer connection area can be frustrating......i am always wishing it was more user friendly.

But I do love my PWS - even with all of it's imperfections!

 

[SillyChef]

I actually use - Custom Newsletter Designs For Consultants

The newsletters are great, you can edit them. You also get a year of service for ONLY $18.00. Mike will forward you the newsletter with everything linking to YOUR PWS and email. and then you BCC it to your email list. You can have him email them out for you for $60.00 a year. But I don't like giving away my email addresses to anyone. HTH!

 

[feather18]

do any of you have samples ? to see what they look like? That sounds great when i get more business and have more addresses!

 

[tpasto]

hi i am new, first posting. i am very intrigued with both vertical response and constant comment. can any of you that have these give me why you went with one vs. the other
teri

 

[chefann]

Welcome, Teri.

I went with Constant Contact because I know someone who uses it, and I get a lot of email from companies/mailing lists that use it. I never even checked out any of the competitors.

 

[mzwizard]

send a copy?Hi! Can you maybe email me a copy of the "real" thing? I got his samples just now, but I'm having a hard time realizing how that would actually be as a PC newsletter....

 

[Stampaholic1961]

I work with a professional coach for another direct sales company & he recommends Constant Contact over Vertical Response. It has more features & is more user friendly. I love Constant Contact. It's nice to see who is opening the email. I think there is a special right now that if someone refers someone else, they both get a $30 bonus.