Should You Use A Free Autoresponder?
Should you use a free autoresponder? I’ve seen this asked a lot whether to use a free autoresponder or a paid one. The answer depends on a couple things. Are you running a business or a hobby? Do you want to be able to configure it like you want? Do you want statistics? Do you want a dependable service that you now can deliver your email?
Nothing Is Really Free
When you think about it a free service even has to make money somehow. Some of these free responders will place ads inside your email which will distract your subscribers from the message you are attempting to convey.
Besides having your emails loaded with ads you will pay for it with your time spent and reduced effectiveness due to limited features. This is true of almost any free service offers.
The free ones are also not all that configurable and some will not even allow their use for affiliate marketing. You even run the risk of losing your subscriber list if they go out of business. That would be devastating and very costly.
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It's Your Business
It's your business and every email you send to your subscribers is very important to you so you want to make sure it is delivered. You don't want it delivered to your readers spam folder either. You want it in their inbox.
The free autoresponders attract the spammers which can affect the delivery of your emails. Think about this for a minute. If you were a spammer knowing that your account could be shut down at anytime for spamming would you use a paid service or a free service? That's what I thought.
The free ones are not going to give you much for options and perhaps very limited statistics. And probably most emails delivered to spam folders.
Pretty Easy Decision
When it comes to your business there are just some things you absolutely do not want to skimp on. In my opinion an autoresponder is one of them. You can get a free trial to try them out and you can find a good one for under $20 a month. To me that is worth the piece of mind knowing your email is getting to an inbox and not a spam folder.
Your mailing list is important to you as each subscriber is money in your pocket so be very careful before deciding to go with a free service. It may end up costing you much more than the small monthly fee.
Recent Comments
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Craig I like how your headline points out the truth - "Nothing Is Really Free"
Too right, there is always a cost, it's just about whether we can see the cost or not and your post will help whoever reads it to open their eyes.
Thank you. ~Mark
Yep so true Mark. When you think about it there is some sort of a cost involved in almost everything we do. It may not always be a monetary cost but it will be a cost of time, lost productivity or something. There are places where we can skimp somewhat but others we should not take the risk for such a small savings
This is timely advice, something I need and relieved I did not get a free autoresponder to check out how they work, as I have not used one yet.
Do you have a suggestion for recommended autoresponder?
I would much rather pay for something that will work for me and with me, than have something for free that does neither. Thanks for further convincing me of this need. I'm looking forward to discovering a tried and true autoresponder next week.
All the best,
Sue
Especially something that is going to be safeguarding your mailing list. I'd sure hate to lose that list and I really want my emails to go to an inbox and not my readers spam folder never to be read.
I was surprised to hear about how a lot of the free autoresponders attract spammers. But, as you mentioned, why would someone that has risky sites pay for a subscription when they could get it for free.
Free is great, but it's up to us to take ownership of our sites and make sure that's the best option for us and our visitors.
and when they get shut down they just open up another free one with a different email address. That could get expensive if they are using paid ones.
Thank you for taking the guess work out of this Craig! Great job. Off to find one by next week. That means we are really ready to rock n roll here.. the biz is growing! Yay!
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Awesome, C. Yes, we have to decide if our 'hard work on our website' is for the thrill of a hobby moment or for a long-term business.
Great points and thanks for the meditative moment!
M
You're welcome M. Glad you liked it and thanks for your thoughts as they are always appreciated.