[Hidden-tech] email marketing experiences

[Matthew Lampiasi]

On Jul 20, 2010, at 12:00 PM, hidden-discuss-request at lists.hidden-tech.net wrote:
>> Hello HTers,
>> Now that my new business is getting off the ground, I'm looking for some
>> suggestions for email marketing services (for example I've heard some talk
>> about Constant Contact). Any that you love or even those you'd suggest
>> staying away from. I'd be interested in the why you like them or why you
>> don't like them too. In advance, I appreciate your time in responding.
>> Thank you. Phil


Hi Phil,
Since I see you offer hosting as well, then you're likely familiar with Linux technologies, and running your own servers gives you lots of opportunities for self managing it (mailman as mentioned). OTOH if your business is small it can be way too much overhead and time wasted. I ran SugarCRM open source edition for years, and used that for my own outbound marketing. One day the lightbulb went off: as much as I like mucking around in large applications and troubleshooting issues, I realized my time would be better spent doing that for others, not my own CRM system. Sugar is more suited to a larger org, and I didn't like the direction their open source version was moving. And there are a few other reasons.... I jumped onto mailchimp as its free for under 500 subscribers as was mentioned (and up to 3000 emails per month). If I exceed that number I will definitely pay to continue using their service as I like it quite a bit. I can do he same things it could in sugar but far far faster with mailchimp. Nonetheless depending on time available , technical ability and budget, it wouldn't hurt to look into open source offerings. Gaiahost runs something open source I think. 

 
Thank you,

Matthew Lampiasi
Florence I.T. - solar powered, online. 
I.T. Solutions: florenceit.net
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