Autoresponder Service

Hi Ebru,

Well done for getting your freebie up and running so quickly :o)

Did you mean one of the “content” messages that you’ve created or the message that has “RESPONSE REQUIRED: Confirm your request for information from changing-...@aweber.com” in the subject line?

If it’s a message that you’ve created, you could play around with the content and see if you can figure out which words or phrases are causing it to get blocked. I’d begin with the simplest (text only) message you can think of – see if that gets delivered – and then add more content from there if need be.

Deliverability is a constant challenge, and it’s another reason why I’m leaning toward hosting “freebie” content on your website and mailing out simple messages (which are less likely to get caught up in spam filters) with links to those pages.

If it’s the “RESPONSE REQUIRED” message that’s getting blocked, you could push that request back to aweber – the person who responded to you was thinking you were talking about your own personalised messages.

If Yahoo is blocking these messages, then it’s as much a problem for AWeber as it is for you, and they should be keen to investigate it. If all else fails, you could try a competitor (e.g. www.getresponse.com)

Hope this helps,

Niki 

Hi Niki,

I sent a message to postmaster@yahoo.com and got a reply in 3 days ("not bad" I thought). But when I read their reply, I realised that they thought I was reporting a spam message that I received to my yahoo account ! Either my English is really bad or they have not read my e-mail.

Anyway, I sent another e-mail to them and am awaiting their reponse.

Hi Ebru,

Yeah – let us know.

... I also wouldn’t be afraid to push back on AWeber a third time if you get no joy from Yahoo. I’d say it’s really AWeber’s responsibility to get those messages delivered - rather that something you should have to take up with Yahoo. It’s not like the messages are coming from you personally...

If they don’t play ball it's easy enough (at this stage) to switch provider.

Niki 

 Hi Ebru & Niki,

 I can predict that I will have problems with Spam filters as well. Yahoo & hotmail accounts are particularly prone to problems in this respect. I check my spam file in Outlook every week, and always find wanted Emails in there. Presumably Yahoo & hotmail people do not get the chance to check their spam file, or are you just assuming they won't bother (a fair enough assumption).

You will probably be aware that Financial Freedom for Doctors,  while being a great name & niche market, will immediately be swallowed up by spam filters. I am not even sure if putting finan*cial fr*eedom will get through nowadays - they must be wise to that one! My business cards now say on the back, "Setting doctors free! sign up for our free newsletter at www.financialfreedomfordoctors.com" although that was just a phrase, not necessarily intended to be the name of the Ezine - it does sound good, but is again likely to get caught up in spam filters.

Meanwhile I reserved the email address & url for info@fffd.co.uk to use for autoresponders, rather than the obvious info@financialfreedomfordoctors.com which would again lead to exclusion. Trouble is, someone else has fffd.com, & as the main website is .com (although financialfreedomfordoctors.co.uk also filters through to my site) the issue is getting more & more complex.

Good luck with you dialogue with aweber. I have just changed from JAC to Aweber for my Ezines, & am in a state of flux at present. Concerned at the double opt-out requirement though, likely to lose a lot of my current 100 ezine subscribers from thenaturallyhealthy pet.

KR

Alison 

Hi Alison,

Yeah – e-mail deliverability is a major headache these days...

In your case – if you’re doing newsletters – I’d probably shift as much of your content as you can online and keep the messages short and sweet (a short teaser and a link back to your website).

If you’re doing HTML mailshots – you could have “Financial Freedom for Doctors” loud and proud as an image in the masthead at least.... I guess the key is to get a Yahoo / MSN / Google account and experiment with what causes messages to get blocked. I always send test messages to each of these three before any mailshot...

Yeah – the opt-in CAN SPAM regulations are troublesome with the likes of AWeber and GetResponse. It’s a big barrier to moving your list to a different provider – but I’m discovering there are companies with less stringent requirements (provided you can prove you have a genuine opt-in list)...

..,. for example, a client of mine is moving to www.profcs.com – and it’s looking like if you just give their IT department a call – you can import your e-mail list without having to get each and every prospect to opt-in again...

Will let you know how we get on :o)

Niki

... hmmm - looks like they're cracking down on this kind of thing... I can't find any company (inc. www.profcs.com - who we've now spoken too) who are willing to allow you to import a list without going through the full opt-in process :o(

Niki