First let’s get this clear. This isn’t an Aweber Bash Fest. It’s a really great company, with excellent service and a good reputation, indeed, I can’t recall the last time an online company called me from another continent to thank me for signing up for an account, that’s how customer-focussed they are. But I won’t be going with them for my email list services and here’s why:
I’m already with another broadcast email provider called iContact. I’ve been using them since the end of 2008 and my list of subscribers for various sites has steadily grown and while it’s not huge, it’s important to me. To move to Aweber, I’d have to email all of my list subscribers and ask them to start over and respond to a confirmation email they’ll be getting.
And that’s my Problem Number One. Unlike many bloggers / website owners, I grow my email list from many sources and the critical thing is this:
My list is not just from people who’ve ASKED me to send them information. I build my list pro-actively by using it to carefully add prospects to it that I know won’t be offended to receive information, but who I know would not bother with a signup process. After all, why should they? I want to sell something to them and supply them information, why should they be the ones who have to make the effort, however small? I know right now that these people will not respond to a confirmation email request, but at the same time, they’re happy to accept a non-offensive stream of news from me. Most of them gave me a business card and asked me to stay in touch. They’re what I’d describe as long term prospects – people who I might be able to do business with in the medium to long term and who I’d like to keep in touch with to remind them I’m there, no pressure, no strings attached.
Aweber’s business model is built the other way up. They supply a very good service based upon people actively finding a website or blog they like and deciding they’d like to join a list. The problem I have with that is that it doesn’t easily allow me to add the type of prospect I’ve described above. Step forward iContact. They’re my other broadcast email provider and the one’s I’ll be staying with. I can add email addresses of those long term, slow burn prospects by a simple cut and paste, without needing a confirmation email. In addition, on my website signup boxes, I can opt to ask for the confirmation process with a simple check box. This gives me the best of both worlds – a locked down, spam proof signup box where I need one, plus the trust in me not to abuse my powers by annoying people with unwanted emails.
So who’s right and who’s wrong? If you’re just starting out building your subscriber list, there’s virtually nothing in it. Both services claim industry leading standards of deliverability and competitive, sensible pricing structures. Aweber is undoubtedly the darling of the Blogosphere, but iContact certainly provides a very good service with excellent support.
Disclaimer – by clicking a link to iContact, I get a discount from my account if you choose to sign up with them, it helps bring down the cost of running my email list.