Outside Email Service

[susansavad]

Hi Everyone,

We are in the process of building an opt-in mailing list to send out a newsletter which already has over 1,000 people and will probably be much larger.

My boss feels that the best way to handle a large list would be to use an outside email service which specializes in large lists, handles the double opt-in, opt-out etc. while we supply the database of email addresses and names and the newsletter each month.

Right now I'm trying to find out some names of legitimate email services (it's sometimes hard to tell while doing a Google search whether it's a legitimate business or they're just bulk mail spammers and being associated with them would make us look like spammers also.)

Have any of you sent out a newsletter or specials using an outside email service? If so which one have you used and have you been happy with them?

Thanks for your help.

Susan

[Buck]

Why not use the ez-MLM mailing lists built in here at FutureQuest?

[kitchin]

I've seen two recommmended here, and they are both in this thread:
http://www.aota.net/forums/showthread.php?t=18716

[Evoir]

Now that FQ has upgraded to the new ezmlm software, I''d reccomend using FQ email list servers. Pop them an email and see if the larger list will work...

[sheila]

Harry also recommended listmessenger.com in this post:
http://www.aota.net/forums/showthrea...424#post129424

In the "fwiw" category Sparklist.com is a long-time apparently reputable mailing list provider. They've been around for quite some time, have required confirmed opt-in as part of their TOS since long before it became common. I've never used their services, but have researched them as part of a project I did a few years back.

[susansavad]

Thanks for your replies.

1. I asked in a previous email if there was a simple manual for ezMLM and was told it didn't exist. Does someone know of a link to a manual that I can understand (I don't understand the telnet commands I've been looking at so far)

The third party mail places, like the Constant Contact Marketing place mentionned in another thread, look like they have a simple WYSIWYG wizard to work with.

2. How large a list can FutureQuest handle? Right now our list is a little over 1,000, but we seem to get at least a dozen new opt-ins per day and in a year or two the list could be pretty big.

I've been trying to find it, but somewhere in the Knowledgebase I remember reading that over a certain number of emails in a day, you have to let FutureQuest know and something about only being able to send these emails at certain times of the day? Maybe I'm wrong. Does anyone know anything about this?

3. Isn't there a problem getting email through some of spam filters used by ISPs like AOL?

These third party places claim a high delivery rate because they have established relationships with ISPs. Do you think this is true. Have any of you using ezMLM found that some of your emails weren't delivered?

Right now my boss seems to be leaning towards a third party solution as the most likely way that a large emailing list would get through and that's why I'm researching this.

Thanks again.

Susan