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AWeber Autoresponder Program Review

 

Product: AWeber Autoresponder System ( Internet based system) Usage: Management and development of opt-in based customer email communication.List management Publisher/Owner: AWeber Communications, Inc.

Overview:

AWeber has been in business for at least as long and most likely longer than Home Business Research which means it is at least 10 years.  They have been a main staple of the Internet marketing world for a long time and still command a very high percentage of market share among those who use autoresponder email communications.

As far as I can remember they have always taken the "high road" within the email marketing sector of the Internet.  I am not saying that they are the only ones to do so but in my own dealings with them they have always operated above board.  I have been personally dealing with them for several years now so I have a very good understanding of how their system works.  I have no other business relationship with them with other than as an affiliate for their system.

The AWeber autoresponder system is an Internet based system, that is it is housed on their servers not yours.  In a nutshell you supply opt-in names through forms or pop-ups on your site(s) and they manage the opt-in process and deposit the opt-in name in your account under your specific autoresponder name.  That is a very simplistic definition of what AWeber actually does.  They do not source names, you do.  They do not write email copy, you do. They do not design forms, you do. 

The legal way in which to get an opt-in email name is as follows:

• You advertise on your site that you have a newsletter, or some other publication or just a mailing list.
• You have a form (Easily designed on the AWeber site) that asks for an individuals name and email address.
• This form is sent to AWeber Under your account.
• AWeber retrieves the name and email address and asks the individual to confirm that they are interested in receiving this information or interested in joining your list.
• The individual must respond to this request.
• Once the individual responds they have subscribed to your list or in other words they have opted in. .  They are now CAN SPAM compliant.
• AWeber deposits the opt-in name into the autoresponder account that you designated.
• You can now freely send this individual information about your site or your products.
• This does not mean that you can send them ten emails per day for several months.  It means that you can now communicate with them about what you sell on a regular basis.

In this review I will evaluate AWeber on three levels: Ease of Use, Service level performance and Customer Service.

Ease of Use: Rating 9 out of 10

The AWeber interface is clean and very easy to use.  Your main page consists of your autoresponder lists of which are unlimited, which means that you can have as many as you need.  An autoresponder file is anything you wish to create for example if your site is Mike' s Bike Shop.com you could have a form on your home page that asks the viewer if they would like to be on your mail list for general news about Mikes Bike Shop.com.  This form would be created on the AWeber site and you would paste the html into your web page software. 

When someone fills out the information, generally Name and Email address, and submits it, AWeber receives the request and sends a confirmation email to that individual asking them if they requested information from Mikes Bike Shop and if they did to please confirm that by clicking on a hypertexted link within the email.  This is called the OPT-IN process.  Once they confirm the request the name is put into the appropriate database within your account.  You can have an unlimited number of these accounts, which is a great feature of AWeber.  Other accounts might be a newsletter, sale notifications, new products.  Each of these autoresponders would have separate messages, written by you, set to be mailed at specific intervals, daily, weekly, monthly or anytime for a full 365 days.

This process is very easy to set up.  The message writing function is just like a word processor's.  You can also write your messages in plain text or html or both with the system deciding which one is better for each individual on the list.  If you are sending a newsletter, AWeber provides quite a few template designs that are easily incorporated into your newsletter.

Even if you do not have any experience with autoresponders, AWeber makes it very easy with plenty of tutorials, a blog and 24/7 customer service.

Service Level Performance: Rating 9 out of 10

In the 3 years I have been using AWeber I have never experienced a break in service.  autoresponders are mailed on time for all of the lists I have.  The broadcast feature allows mailing to all lists or one list at any time.  For example if you are having a special offering and you need to get that information out quickly you can broadcast it immediately.  I have never experienced a lag in service for broadcast messages either.

Customer Service: Rating 9 out of 10

I have usually found the answers to questions that i have had directly on the site.  I have called Customer Service several times over the past three years and was able to talk directly with a CSR within a few minutes hold time.  The CSR's I have spoken to or communicated by email were responsive, courteous and knowledgeable about the service.

As I had stated earlier AWeber is a first class service and indefensible as an Internet Marketer's tool.  You can test out the service for free for a specified time as well.

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