Today I received notification that Constant Contact is changing their policies and will no longer have unlimited trial usage for mail lists with under 50 subscribers (useful for some of the non-profits or clubs that I’ve worked with). Now any list from 0-500 subscribers is subject to the $15 per month rate.
Also changing recently is the Express Email Marketing service that we resell through our YNot Shop. This service once was extremely affordable- as low as $9.95 per year! – but now the lowest we are allowed to offer it is $3.99 per month.
With all these recent pricing changes, I thought I’d take the opportunity to resummarize some of the autoresponder and mail list services I’ve previously recommended (see May 26, 2006) with their current 2007 monthly and yearly rates.

Service	Lowest Monthly Rate	Lowest Annual Rate	Restrictions at this price
AWeber	$19.95	$179.40	10,000 subscribers/unlim list
Constant Contact	$15	$153.00	500 subscribers
Express Email Marketing	$3.99 $7.99	$43.00 $86.28	250 emails per month 500 emails per month
Email Aces	$8.95	$107.40	2500 subscribers/1 list
GetResponse	$17.95	$145.40	unlimited/unlimited list

For the smallest lists, Express Email Marketing still wins out as the economical choice, however for larger than 250 but less than 2500 subscribers/emails Email Aces jumps into play, with GetResponse being the best value for large list owners or business with needs for unlimited lists (both Express Email Marketing and Email Aces cheapest plans only allow for one single list).

Okay, having the same question come in from several different clients is a sign that I just need to add the answer here. 

Question: How do I Share files with clients/colleagues/prospects when it is too big or gets blocked from going through email?

Answer: By using one of the many File Sharing Services available on the web.

File Sharing Services are basically renting space to host files specifically- sometimes for backup purposes, sometimes for sharing and collaborating with teams, sometimes to just make a large file available to someone who cannot receive it through email, etc.

You are probably familiar with places that specialize in photo sharing so your friends and family can see your vacation pix, etc. That is just a basic use.

True filesharing sites are more secure. The one I sell through the YNot Shop lets you upload files to a secure location and then email them to your recipients (instead of emailing an attachment, it emails them a link to download the document).  Here’s the link to read more:
Online File Folder (as low as $5/year )

Other file sharing services allow you to set up several users that are allowed to share and view the same space with the option to set some accounts with upload abilities(you) and some with download abilities (your clients). If you’re not a YNot Web client, or prefer one of these other scenarios, here are some other providers off the top of my head:

XDrive (free – $10/month)
GoDaddy ($6/year, go to Email options to find File Folders there)

Now granted, this is not the only way to share files.  Most web hosts will let you set up passworded FTP sites or you could also set up a password protected directory on your web site that holds files and such for downloads.  You then give the password to only those people you want access.  However, I have found this method seems overly complicated for most my clients and the small expense of a third-party file sharing service is worth it for ease of use for both them and their intended file recipients.

As a followup to a post I made last year (Beware Fake Listing Services, March 18, 2006) , I wanted to remind people about fake bills that come via postal mail to domain name owners.  I received another one just today on a domain I purchased recently that is exactly the same as the ones they were sending before, but with a new company name.  This year it seems they are going by DLSCORP.NET/Domain Listing Service Corp. and the top says “Domain Listing Service” instead of “Website Listing Service”.  Same company address as last year’s batch of mailings.

This sort of thing is just one of the reason’s most my own domains are registered via proxy (sometimes called “private” or “unlisted” registration.)  For only a few bucks more a year, I can avoid more spam, confusing or deceptive phone calls, and these ridiculous ‘fake’ bills.  I recommend this service to anyone concerned about their privacy and especially anyone who runs their business from their home (otherwise anyone can find your address and phone number via the public whois service).  In fact, this was a reminder to me to add private registration to the domain that was targetted for this mailing!

Okay, I started a blog entry about the reasons you may choose to post content on your website in PDF format rather than creating an HTML or other type of web page. It turned out to be a rather long write-up so I chose to post it in the Articles section of the website. Check out the final results at “Five Reasons to Use PDFs on your Website.”

Coming soon, I will also document some ways to create PDFs without buying expensive products like Adobe Acrobat (although I highly recommend Acrobat for people who need to create PDFs on a regular basis).

Ok, in attempt to even out my comments between Yahoo and Google advancements, I decided to check out ‘Yahoo Answers after I made the post about Google Answers.

Wow, these two couldn’t be more day and night. Where Google Answers has pre-screened researchers to answer your question, Yahoo leaves it open to the masses– even encouraging multiple people to answer the question by awarding points to the answer either deemed ‘best’ by the asker or by an open poll (note, I did not say ‘right’, I said ‘best answer’).  Also, since Yahoo doesn’t charge for asking a question and the only requirement is that you have a Yahoo id, there are an overabundance of inane, jokingly asked questions.

I will say, it did hold my attention for a long time.  Perhaps my desire to ‘help’ people (I found myself saying “wow, these are HORRIBLE answers” alot and adding my own comments), makes this a place I actually need to avoid so I don’t waste hours on end.  Just now I found myself compelled to answer someone who was asking “what is there to do in Sacramento?”
I do see some potential for market research opportunities but the quality of answers could be all over the board, depending on your niche.  I’d say check it out at your own risk (or if you’re looking to kill two hours).

There is often no need to ‘reinvent the wheel’ when it comes to features you might want to put on your website. Time IS money when you’re thinking about how to get those special features on your website. This is why I often recommend a variety of 3rd party products and services and even have a Reviews & Recommendations section (more to be included) rather than ‘custom programming’ every option that someone wants for their site. If you can get the feature you want by purchasing an existing product, this almost always saves you money over having someone program the same feature.  Generally it also offers a more stable (tried and tested) platform as well as gives you features you may not have requested but could use.

I am often asked about email newsletters or mailing lists, how to manage them, or what software is needed. You can find several articles on newsletters in general in the ‘Conversion” category of my Article archives. I have also intended to write more in depth reviews of the mail list service options, but haven’t yet had time. Since the question came up again this week at a networking group, I am going to post some of the options now and worry about the in depth information later.
Here are some links to newsletter or mail list services:
Constant Contact – You can run the trial unlimited with under 50 subscribers, but it starts to get pricey after that. I’ve gotta say, its probably the most user-friendly service though.
Express Email Marketing- this is one you can buy through the YNot Shop(under Marketing tools). There’s now a $9.95 per YEAR (not per month like Constant Contact) option (under 250 emails) which you can upgrade to the $29.95 per year for 5000 html newsletters (has templates etc). For a strict newsletter, its a really good deal.

I’d actually recommend AUTORESPONDER services instead because they do OH sooo much more. These are my top three of those:
AWeber Unlimited Autoresponders . I use this one for my “YNot Succeed Online” Newsletter and other things. Unlimited autoresponders and mail lists, has html templates, lets you bounce subscribers from list to list, have up to 10,000 subscribers. They have a trial offer and the yearly price is really good.

My second choice was: GetResponse. Aweber eeked by them with one minor feature I wanted for my list, but probably would not concern most people. GetResponse is actually somewhat cheaper than Aweber for some really cool features. They also have a trial offer.

Here’s a new One I haven’t been able to check out as much yet, but has good reviews and was recommended to me:
Email Aces. Its $8.95 per month for up to 2500 subscribers/1 list which is better pricing than a lot of them. Believe it or not, most these types of services charge $20 per month and UP (waaaay up).

Then here’s the list of other companies I send for comparisons, as they each have features or pricing that may work for someone in certain circumstances:
Internet Mail Manager-pay per email sent
MailOut- okay prices for bigger than small list but not big lists
MailChimp- cool name, pay per email sent- They have email templates to download no charge!
MailerMailer – pricey except you get 200 emails per month No Charge in their trial (where Constant Contact limits to 50 subscribers but doesn’t count how many times you mail them)
Trident- has a kind of funky ‘points’ system, but may work for some needs.

** See our 2007 update on Mail List Services and rates.