The single most important piece of your E-Marketing campaign is the mail server, or smtp server. This is the machine that actually does the work of sending out your email.
In a small operation, to a confirmed opt-in list of people (<500), it is probably ok to use your own ISP email server and account to send out the mail. However, if your ISP limits you to a certain number of emails per hour or per 24 hours, you will need to make sure your AR has the ability to throttle your campaign.
For example, with Mailbox Studio, you can send a certain number of emails, pause for a specified time, and then send more. Or, you can send a batch of emails, then shut down for a period of time, reawaken, and start sending again. At first glance, these may appear to be the same thing, but in reality, they are quite different. In the first instance, the throttle limit applies to each campaign individually, while in the latter, the limit applies to the total number of emails sent out.
Your AR should give you the ability to send out email using multiple smtp servers. You could use your own ISP for contacting your own friends or current customers, etc. and use an external ISP for mailing to your lists to recruit new customers.
Your smtp server has a very important IP address attached to it. It is imperative that you take steps to protect the "reputation" of the IP address, because spam filters use the reputation to decide if they will permit your message to reach it's intended recipient. You can check your server's IP reputation here: www.senderbase.org
Some of the larger ISPs will employ proprietary methods to determine the reputation of your server. And, big ISPs like hotmail (MSN), AOL, and Yahoo have very specific rules you must follow to get your email delivered.
For example, one rule they use is that you cannot have more than 5 simultaneous connections to their server. (TECH TALK: An SMTP connection is one "HELO" session with the target MX server). What this means is, it is difficult to get mail delivered to these domains if you are using a LINUX mail server running sendmail. Sendmail has no easy way of limiting the number of simultaneous connections. A Windows server, running IIS, however, can be configured to limit the smtp server to 5 connections per domain.
In my mailing operations, I always try to send out hotmail, aol and yahoo emails using a Windows server, and use a linux server for everything else. The explanation for this will be in another lesson.
If your server gets blocked, there are ways to detect it, and in most cases, get removed from the block list. But, if you are spamming, you will just get added back, and eventually, you will get a permanent block and you can never send mail to that domain (and if you get a SpamHaus RBL block, you might as well close that server down.) Here is a good place to check the various spam lists to see if you are on one: www.MXToolbox.com
Later lessons will explain how to get off most of the block lists, and how to avoid getting on them in the first place.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
4. Writing your message
Nothing says you as much as the emails you send to people. When constructing an email message for an autoresponder, you have to consider your audience. Mail merge fields help some, as you can fill in the tags with information from your database.
For example, if you are sending out a reminder notice, you can say: Your invoice for {ordereditem} was due {invdate}, and we would appreciate payment as soon as possible. This is a pretty basic example. There are literally hundreds of pages on the internet about writing effective letters and emails, so I won't waste the space here on all the different tricks you can use to write effective sales letters. Google it.
That being said, there are some things that you need to do on all your letters, especially those sent to a "bought list".
1. The first letter in any email series should remind the recipient why they are getting the email. I recommend you do not include any prominent links to your website in this email. A link in your signature is acceptable. Make sure they know how to get off the list. This can protect you in case of a spam complaint (at least on the first message).
2. I recommend you put the recipients first name in the subject, using a tag. This helps get the recipient's attention. If appropriate, you should also include the date, but not all autoresponders allow a date tag in the subject. A date in the subject can lower the spam score on the message.
3. EVERY email you send out needs to have your name, your address and your phone number. In addition, you MUST include a prominent link to unsubscribe from the list. These are all provisions of CanSPAM 2003, the law that covers sending email to people with whom you have no personal relationship.
4. AVOID PICTURES! I cannot say that enough. The best email has NO pictures, or at best, only a small logo near the bottom. Modern email clients won't show the pictures by default anyway, and the pictures will need to be stored on a website somewhere, and who needs the bandwidth hit? The email should have both text and html parts, and if your autoresponder supports it, you should know in what format the recipient prefers to get the mail. Send both text and html versions if you don't know.
5. Spam Check your email message template or newsletter. SiteSell has a good tool for testing your messages. Avoid words and phrases like Home Business, Free, income from home, click here, etc. Avoid a lot of !!! and BIG text. Also, avoid using red and blue font colors. All these things have spam scores attached. SpamAssassin, the most commonly used spam filter, defaults to a spam score of 5 before rejecting, but many users turn that down to 4 or even 3.
6. Also include, at the very bottom of every email, a "footer" that goes something like this:
This message is intended for John Doe (john.doe@internet.com) and may contain a commercial message.
Of course, use tags for the name and email address. I have found this to be useful in tracking down bounce messages, as often the original email is forwarded to one or more ISPs, and it is difficult to track the bounce message without the original email address.
Next time: SMTP Servers and email delivery
For example, if you are sending out a reminder notice, you can say: Your invoice for {ordereditem} was due {invdate}, and we would appreciate payment as soon as possible. This is a pretty basic example. There are literally hundreds of pages on the internet about writing effective letters and emails, so I won't waste the space here on all the different tricks you can use to write effective sales letters. Google it.
That being said, there are some things that you need to do on all your letters, especially those sent to a "bought list".
1. The first letter in any email series should remind the recipient why they are getting the email. I recommend you do not include any prominent links to your website in this email. A link in your signature is acceptable. Make sure they know how to get off the list. This can protect you in case of a spam complaint (at least on the first message).
2. I recommend you put the recipients first name in the subject, using a tag. This helps get the recipient's attention. If appropriate, you should also include the date, but not all autoresponders allow a date tag in the subject. A date in the subject can lower the spam score on the message.
3. EVERY email you send out needs to have your name, your address and your phone number. In addition, you MUST include a prominent link to unsubscribe from the list. These are all provisions of CanSPAM 2003, the law that covers sending email to people with whom you have no personal relationship.
4. AVOID PICTURES! I cannot say that enough. The best email has NO pictures, or at best, only a small logo near the bottom. Modern email clients won't show the pictures by default anyway, and the pictures will need to be stored on a website somewhere, and who needs the bandwidth hit? The email should have both text and html parts, and if your autoresponder supports it, you should know in what format the recipient prefers to get the mail. Send both text and html versions if you don't know.
5. Spam Check your email message template or newsletter. SiteSell has a good tool for testing your messages. Avoid words and phrases like Home Business, Free, income from home, click here, etc. Avoid a lot of !!! and BIG text. Also, avoid using red and blue font colors. All these things have spam scores attached. SpamAssassin, the most commonly used spam filter, defaults to a spam score of 5 before rejecting, but many users turn that down to 4 or even 3.
6. Also include, at the very bottom of every email, a "footer" that goes something like this:
This message is intended for John Doe (john.doe@internet.com) and may contain a commercial message.
Of course, use tags for the name and email address. I have found this to be useful in tracking down bounce messages, as often the original email is forwarded to one or more ISPs, and it is difficult to track the bounce message without the original email address.
Next time: SMTP Servers and email delivery
Sunday, April 27, 2008
3. How does an autoresponder work?
No matter which type or brand of autoresponder you use, they all work basically the same way. Of course, some have more bells and whistles than others, but there are a few core features that mark a program as an autoresponder.
1. A database list of names and email addresses
2. A library of email message templates
3. A composition engine that merges 1 into 2
4. A scheduler that sends out the right message at the right time
5. Email accounts to do the sending/receiving of mail
Nearly all ARs have mail-merge fields, which came into the lexicon about 40 years ago when form letters started to be produced on Wang office equipment. A Mail merge field takes the content from the database (minimum of name and email address), and inserts those into the appropriate places in the library of messages, according to how you scheduled the messages. Then, each email is sent out individually, to each person on the list.
Good autoresponders have more than 2 mail merge fields (lets call them tags, for short) that can be used in the letter templates for things like the date, information about the contact such as the state they live in, what product was ordered, etc. Very good autoresponders allow you to create your own tags. Excellent ARs allow you to use one tag inside another (a very powerful feature).
Most ARs will allow you to import both your contact list and your letter templates. Many also have a full HTML editor for updating templates, as well as a contact manager for manually entering or editing contact information.
Groups of contacts and groups of templates are arranged into campaigns. A Campaign editor should allow you to specify in what order the messages should be sent, when to start sending them, and how long to wait between messages. Do not invest in an autoresponder if you cannot control the interval or the order of the messages. Very good ARs also allow you to throttle the message rate, either in terms of emails per hour, or limiting the number of emails sent in a batch. If you are using your own ISP email account to send your newsletter out, this is crucial to avoid having your ISP shut you down.
A good AR should allow you to specify more than one email account for outgoing messages (SMTP account). A great autoresponder will allow you to use multiple email accounts, change the PORT and credential settings, and specify different email accounts for different campaigns.
So far, we have covered what ARs do for bulk mailing, but where does the "AR" part come in? Well, if you have a web based AR, there is usualy a form post target as part of the application, that will collect the data (name, email addy, etc.) that someone enters on a form on your site. If you are using a machine based AR, then you will need to collect that data via email, usually from a FORM_MAIL program. (form mail programs collect the data from a form post and email it to a specified account. They are dangerous and you need to use them with care - more about this in another article).
The machine autoresponder has to parse the data in an email, pull out the appropriate fields and data, and add (or remove) the entry in your contact list. Good ARs also can parse bounce messages from mail servers thus removing invalid data from your records. All AR's should parse unsubscribe messages, and stop all emails to that person.
To sum up, as this post is running long: An AR needs data records, email templates, a scheduler, an email engine, and a parser, with editors to properly configure all the elements. It is complicated, to be sure, but most ARs come with a basic configuration that let's you do the simple stuff easily.
Next time: Creating your messages
1. A database list of names and email addresses
2. A library of email message templates
3. A composition engine that merges 1 into 2
4. A scheduler that sends out the right message at the right time
5. Email accounts to do the sending/receiving of mail
Nearly all ARs have mail-merge fields, which came into the lexicon about 40 years ago when form letters started to be produced on Wang office equipment. A Mail merge field takes the content from the database (minimum of name and email address), and inserts those into the appropriate places in the library of messages, according to how you scheduled the messages. Then, each email is sent out individually, to each person on the list.
Good autoresponders have more than 2 mail merge fields (lets call them tags, for short) that can be used in the letter templates for things like the date, information about the contact such as the state they live in, what product was ordered, etc. Very good autoresponders allow you to create your own tags. Excellent ARs allow you to use one tag inside another (a very powerful feature).
Most ARs will allow you to import both your contact list and your letter templates. Many also have a full HTML editor for updating templates, as well as a contact manager for manually entering or editing contact information.
Groups of contacts and groups of templates are arranged into campaigns. A Campaign editor should allow you to specify in what order the messages should be sent, when to start sending them, and how long to wait between messages. Do not invest in an autoresponder if you cannot control the interval or the order of the messages. Very good ARs also allow you to throttle the message rate, either in terms of emails per hour, or limiting the number of emails sent in a batch. If you are using your own ISP email account to send your newsletter out, this is crucial to avoid having your ISP shut you down.
A good AR should allow you to specify more than one email account for outgoing messages (SMTP account). A great autoresponder will allow you to use multiple email accounts, change the PORT and credential settings, and specify different email accounts for different campaigns.
So far, we have covered what ARs do for bulk mailing, but where does the "AR" part come in? Well, if you have a web based AR, there is usualy a form post target as part of the application, that will collect the data (name, email addy, etc.) that someone enters on a form on your site. If you are using a machine based AR, then you will need to collect that data via email, usually from a FORM_MAIL program. (form mail programs collect the data from a form post and email it to a specified account. They are dangerous and you need to use them with care - more about this in another article).
The machine autoresponder has to parse the data in an email, pull out the appropriate fields and data, and add (or remove) the entry in your contact list. Good ARs also can parse bounce messages from mail servers thus removing invalid data from your records. All AR's should parse unsubscribe messages, and stop all emails to that person.
To sum up, as this post is running long: An AR needs data records, email templates, a scheduler, an email engine, and a parser, with editors to properly configure all the elements. It is complicated, to be sure, but most ARs come with a basic configuration that let's you do the simple stuff easily.
Next time: Creating your messages
Saturday, April 26, 2008
2. What exactly IS an autoresponder?
The term autoresponder has come to be used interchangeably with "Bulk Mailer", even gaining precedence over the more correct term as "Bulk Mailer" has spam connotations. But, it's not the program, it's the user, that makes it a spam tool.
Ideally, an autoresponder is a program that will capture a contact's information, and then start sending an automated series of messages to that contact. If the autoresponder first sends out a confirmation email, and the contact confirms by clicking the link, the contact is said to be "double opt-in" or "confirmed opt-in".
In general practice, autoresponder users tend to buy lists of contacts from companies that collect information, so they really are being used more as a bulk mailer than a true autoresponder. Even so, almost all of these programs, whether web-based or standalone, have the capability of capturing information from a form posting, mailing a confirmation link, and then starting on a series of emails (commonly referred to as a "campaign".)
You see all these web sites with a little box for your name and email. These are forms that "capture" your information. You may be getting something free, but the owner of the website is getting your name and email address, and you can bet you will start getting a series of emails until you decide to unsubscribe or "opt out'.
There are two kinds of autoresponders - web-based and machine based. A machine based program resides on your computer (such as Mailbox Studio™) and a web-based autoresponder is one you use by going to a website (such as ConstantContact, etc.) There are advantages and disadvantages to both.
Machine based autoresponders require an SMTP server (usually your ISP, or a remote mail server you use), and a fast internet connection. The contact list resides on your computer, the program runs on your computer and all the email originates at your computer. You have total control of everything. There is usually a high startup cost (program, setup, etc.) But, you can use leads from any source (more about leads sources in another chapter.) The major downside is the relatively high complexity, and you have to do all the maintenance yourself. Machine based responders also cost more to run, but generally deliver better results.
When using a web-based autoresponder, you are sharing someone else's computer, and IP address. You have to upload all your leads via the web. Also, most commercial autoresponders will force a "double opt-in" by resending a confirmation email out to every batch of leads you load in, even if they had previously confirmed. The major downside is the shared IP space and lack of control over when the messages go out. If someone on your shared server spams, and gets blocked, then you are also blocked, even though you did nothing wrong.
Of course, there are hybrid situations. You can buy a web-based autoresponder program and load it on your own website. You can buy a machine-based autoresponder and load it on a remote Windows Server, and run it via Remote Desktop. These are special situations and won't be covered here until much later.
Post any questions you may have or email me.
Ideally, an autoresponder is a program that will capture a contact's information, and then start sending an automated series of messages to that contact. If the autoresponder first sends out a confirmation email, and the contact confirms by clicking the link, the contact is said to be "double opt-in" or "confirmed opt-in".
In general practice, autoresponder users tend to buy lists of contacts from companies that collect information, so they really are being used more as a bulk mailer than a true autoresponder. Even so, almost all of these programs, whether web-based or standalone, have the capability of capturing information from a form posting, mailing a confirmation link, and then starting on a series of emails (commonly referred to as a "campaign".)
You see all these web sites with a little box for your name and email. These are forms that "capture" your information. You may be getting something free, but the owner of the website is getting your name and email address, and you can bet you will start getting a series of emails until you decide to unsubscribe or "opt out'.
There are two kinds of autoresponders - web-based and machine based. A machine based program resides on your computer (such as Mailbox Studio™) and a web-based autoresponder is one you use by going to a website (such as ConstantContact, etc.) There are advantages and disadvantages to both.
Machine based autoresponders require an SMTP server (usually your ISP, or a remote mail server you use), and a fast internet connection. The contact list resides on your computer, the program runs on your computer and all the email originates at your computer. You have total control of everything. There is usually a high startup cost (program, setup, etc.) But, you can use leads from any source (more about leads sources in another chapter.) The major downside is the relatively high complexity, and you have to do all the maintenance yourself. Machine based responders also cost more to run, but generally deliver better results.
When using a web-based autoresponder, you are sharing someone else's computer, and IP address. You have to upload all your leads via the web. Also, most commercial autoresponders will force a "double opt-in" by resending a confirmation email out to every batch of leads you load in, even if they had previously confirmed. The major downside is the shared IP space and lack of control over when the messages go out. If someone on your shared server spams, and gets blocked, then you are also blocked, even though you did nothing wrong.
Of course, there are hybrid situations. You can buy a web-based autoresponder program and load it on your own website. You can buy a machine-based autoresponder and load it on a remote Windows Server, and run it via Remote Desktop. These are special situations and won't be covered here until much later.
Post any questions you may have or email me.
1. Domain Names
If you use email marketing in your business, or tried to use it and failed, or are someone who is toying with the idea of starting a mailing list, then you should start here. Over the next several weeks and months, I will share with you all the things I have learned about E-mail marketing in the past 6 years, from how to write letters to how to avoid the spam filters.
So check back often or add me as a feed, because you won't want to miss a single post. A note to spammers: This blog won't help you. It is for people who want to do permission-based email campaigns.
Today's lesson: Domain names.
Before you do ANYTHING on the net, you have to have a domain name. I recommend godaddy.com because they are inexpensive and fast to set up. You will want to get several domain names NOW. Use one for the product/service site that matches up with what you are offering, and get a couple for redirect/mail sites. They can really be anything. Avoid a .biz TLD like the plague. (A TLD is Top Level Domain, such as .com or .net.) It is important that you get the domain names NOW, because you won't be able to use them for a while. Like cheap whiskey, a domain name needs to be at least 3 months old before you start using it.
So, go think about some domain names and register them now. Register them for 1 year only! There is not much of a break for registering multiple years, and if the domain name gets trashed, you are stuck with it.
Check back in a couple of days for lesson 2.
So check back often or add me as a feed, because you won't want to miss a single post. A note to spammers: This blog won't help you. It is for people who want to do permission-based email campaigns.
Today's lesson: Domain names.
Before you do ANYTHING on the net, you have to have a domain name. I recommend godaddy.com because they are inexpensive and fast to set up. You will want to get several domain names NOW. Use one for the product/service site that matches up with what you are offering, and get a couple for redirect/mail sites. They can really be anything. Avoid a .biz TLD like the plague. (A TLD is Top Level Domain, such as .com or .net.) It is important that you get the domain names NOW, because you won't be able to use them for a while. Like cheap whiskey, a domain name needs to be at least 3 months old before you start using it.
So, go think about some domain names and register them now. Register them for 1 year only! There is not much of a break for registering multiple years, and if the domain name gets trashed, you are stuck with it.
Check back in a couple of days for lesson 2.
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