A lot of people come to my blogs looking for advice and help to start their own online marketing for their business. In order to help you make more informed decisions I’m producing a series of reviews of the software, web services, e-books and other online resources I use to manage my business and educate myself.

GetResponse Email Autoresponder

Name: GetResponse
URL: getresponse.com
Purpose: Email autoresponding, list management

I’m starting my review series with probably the most important component, the glue that keeps my business together – my email autoresponder and list builder.

This article is intended to help you reach a decision on whether GetResponse is the right email autoresponder for you and whether you need one in the first place.

 A Brief History

The reason why I first decided I needed an autoresponder was two fold:

1. As I educated myself in online business I realized that I needed to build lists of my customers and prospective customers so I could keep in touch and soft-sell my services. Thinking long term, if I wanted to sell my business my customer list would be one of my most valuable assets, so I needed to be collecting the email addresses of my target market from day one.
2. My marketing was running with a rudimentary text-to-email contact form which I was manually printing to keep contact records. This was not an efficient manner to control my client files and it made it very difficult to email all my clients at once.

I went out looking for an autoresponder and was blown away by 1ShoppingCart. What excited me was how all-inclusive the service was. It includes a shopping cart, autoresponder, affiliate manager, a click-tracker and much more, all linked together. It’s basically the best all-in-one online marketer solution. As you would expect there is a hefty monthly subscription fee broken down into different tiers.

My problem was that I really only needed the autoresponder but I didn’t let that discourage me and figured eventually as my online business empire grew I would make use of all the extra tools. I signed up for the cheapest plan at $29 USD per month and used that for about a year.

A Mini Review Of 1ShoppingCart

I know this is slightly off topic but it should still be relevant for you if you are deciding on which autoresponder to go with because 1Shoppingcartshould be a major contender. There is really only once question you need to ask yourself (and no, it’s not “do you feel lucky, punk!”) -

Do you need just an autoresponder or all the other modules that 1ShoppingCart comes with?

If you have products you can affiliate sell, if you need an online shopping cart and an autoresponder and you want it all nicely linked together under the one system using the one database then 1ShoppingCart is for you. It’s a good system, used by some of the top online marketers (including Perry Marshall who I recommend a lot on my blog) and it’s very convenient to have all the services under one roof.

However if you break each module down individually they do have issues. It’s not the most intuitive system to use, although there is extensive documentation and instructional videos when you need help, and I found it a bit “clunky”. As a whole you can’t compare it but when you break it down module by module there are better options out there. This is one of the reasons I eventually decided to switch to GetResponse.

Why I use GetResponse Autoresponders

In a nutshell there were three reasons why I choose to move away from 1ShoppingCart.

1. I wasn’t using all the extra features.
2. Therefore I was being overcharged so I wanted a cheaper option.
3. I heard good things about another autoresponder called GetResponse and I noticed many of the newsletters I signed up for from professional Internet marketers seem to be using GetResponse mailing lists. The “street cred” was good.

As usual I did some due diligence first and looked around forums to see what people were saying about GetResponse and it was very hard to find a negative comment. Most of it was glaringly positive, in fact it felt in most cases that GetResponse was the de facto standard email autoresponder, which only happens when a product keeps its customers very happy.

Email Deliverability

I have no way of proving this, but since I read it in many places from different sources, I’ll mention it here. There is a big concern in email marketing circles about mail deliverability, which refers to whether emails sent (broadcast) to your lists make it through. The problem is a lot of mail servers block mass emails sent out and unless the email responder service provider has pre-arranged to be whitelisted your mail won’t get through. That’s pretty detrimental to any online company.

GetResponse has the enviable record of the highest percentage of email deliverability, which means GetResponse is doing a pretty good job to make sure your emails make it to your customers. This fact alone is enough of a reason to choose GetResponse.

Functions

I won’t lie to you, there is a learning curve to using an email autoresponder, but you will find that with any system and you just have to learn your way through. I find GetResponse’s system a lot less clunky than 1ShoppingCart. It’s simple in design with all the core features available through tabs at the top. It took me about an hour of playing with the system to get the hang of it.

 One of the best features is when someone unsubscribes for one of your lists. Yes this is not a good thing but what makes it a good thing is that they are given the opportunity to leave a comment telling you why they choose to leave your list. As a business owner I’m sure you know how valuable feedback like this can be. It’s so nice to know why someone doesn’t find what you do satisfactory and often leads to some big improvements in what you do simply because you didn’t realize there was a problem until someone told you about it.

How I Use GetResponse

Currently I use GetResponse for all my online promotions and it controls all my email lists. I use it to distribute any of my free reports, which collects the email address of any person who downloads the free report and I then keep in contact with a series of autoresponse emails. I also collect the details of anyone who submits the contact form at any of my lead capture campaigns.  

GetResponse is behind my latest project, The Card Emporium.  GetResponse allows me to distribute my traffic tips newsletter to all my subscribers on a week-by-week basis and I can do once-off broadcasts whenever I need to.

Another feature GetResponse recently implemented is an RSS-to-email service. This service is very helpful because I can create an email mailing list for people who want to stay up to date with my blogs via email. I just plug in my RSS feed, tell GetResponse how many blog articles to send out in each broadcast and it will automatically control the mailing list. The service is not branded either and I have complete control over the presentation of the broadcast emails which makes it superior to almost all the other RSS to email services out there.

I also have various other small lists to keep in touch with certain groups. It makes it a lot easier to control your email contacts. From a sales point of view it’s a very powerful resource because it keeps you connected with your prospects and clients.

How Technical Is GetResponse?

It took me about 1-2 hours collectively to master GetResponse. I’m not a programmer. GetResponse has been built to be as “cut and paste” as possible and you certainly do not need to know HTML to implement it. Most of the interface is simple forms you fill out and once you have a play you will understand how everything works. Of course there is a very good helpdesk and live support if you need it.

 Price

You can find Getresponse’s pricing here. Since I knew I was going to use email lists extensively in the future I chose the yearly option with the heaviest discount (it works out to be $15USD per month). There is a money back guarantee so if I didn’t like the service I knew I could get a refund.

Choosing An Email Autoresponder

I don’t think of email autoresponders as the most complex programs yet they are a vital tool for successful online business. The main considerations for me are email deliverability, reputation and ease of use – GetResponse satisfies me on all counts.

I recommend before choosing an autoresponder you do your own due diligence and read forums and ask for opinions from current customers. Narrow down your list of potential providers based on your most important criteria and then test one out. Remember making a purchase doesn’t lock you in, most online companies offer 30 day money back guarantees (just make sure there is one before buying).

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