Is AWeber The Best Autoresponder Service? An AWeber Review

When it comes to building a profitable relationship with customers, email marketing is not only the best way to stay in touch, and is relatively inexpensive as well. I've experimented with literally dozens of scripts, contact forms, capture engines and auto-responder services, both hosted on my server and third-party servers. I've tried i-Contact, GetResponse, AutoresponderPlus, Interspire Email Marketer and AWeber as autoresponder options.

Now, to be frank, I stuck with Interspire for quite a long time as I could host it on my own server and I had complete control over the code of the software. What I've found is that it can be pretty good for you if you're starting out and for a list upto a 1000 people. It's got awesome professional designs, interfaces and compatibility with web templates.

But if your business is scaling big and you need some organization dedicated to handling the software, without overloading the cron timer of your server, AWeber is undoubtedly the Rolls Royce of autoresponders.

I've used AWeber as well for a long time and it's been an awesome choice! So here's my honest and kick-butt AWeber review for you...

It's external, so obviously no load on your server. Plus, you just setup the campaign and select the form, no fiddling with the code if you don't have a clue about design and programming. Following are the main features I really liked:

1. A Good ROI (return on investment)

I figured out the math, when I started with their original plan and standard subscriber limit, I was averaging a very nice ROI every month. This can be huge when you're just starting out, because you're testing the waters in your business and email marketing is nothing but a huge split test in the beginning.

When you upgrade to more subscribers and more lists, you'll be paying more but you'll be earning more from a larger list as well. So the ratio of profitability persists.

2. Quick Creation and Sending of Email Newsletters

You can import your existing email templates or even create those that fit your needs. Then cycle between those to see which ones are getting the best response using AWeber's tracking features and campaign statistics. The best part is, it's easy and gets done at the click of a button.

3. Scheduling of Mail Campaigns

If you're planning ahead or are unconfirmed of the future time chart of your JVs, then just schedule the ready campaigns for a time in the future with their date feature or use the dropdown calenders.

You can even set an entire sequence of emails to be sent out during a content reception plan or a launch sequence of videos that you want your list to be.

4. Easy List Management

You can start a separate list for all your campaigns and even merge your lists. Further integrate lists with your RSS feeds to deliver new content from your AWeber account directly into the browsers of all your subscribers.

You can also easily segregate and filter contacts from your lists to send special communications. Unsubscribing is easy for the contact as the mail will NOT end up in their spam box and can be done at the click of a button.

5. Awesome Optin Form Designs

AWeber autoresponder services offer you tons of email templates to choose from according to the design and feel of the webpage you will use the optin form on, so that it can easily blend in with the visuals as well as the code on that page, without looking extraordinarily out of place or UN-professional.

Fast List Building With an Auto Responder

Most people that use an auto responder are utilizing it to send out a sequential message over a period of time. Frankly that is the intended use of an auto responder. But most of the articles you read neglect to tell you how to get a list of email addresses into your auto responder in the beginning. Of course once you have a list you must have messages to it. It seems that most of the people telling you all of the wonderful information about how to utilize your list do not tell you how because maybe they just don't know.

List Building Basics

So what do you need to do to build a list of people that are willing to fill out your online form and click submit? This is definitely only the first step in working your list of interested prospects but everything else that follows will fall on deaf ears if there is no one on your list. OK let's state the obvious. You need to have people visit your lead capture page as the first step. Once they are there you need to give them a reason to provide their contact information. There must be a "call to action" You need to paint a picture of what their particular problem is and how you are going to provide information that will help heal their woes. Simple Right?

Three ways to get them on your list

1. Pay for traffic to your site using ad words

2. Build an optimized website that attracts visitors organically

3. Send direct email using an auto responder

Paying for traffic using ad words is a quick way to get traffic immediately to your website but it is usually very expensive depending on your niche. If you have a lot of competition the keywords that you are targeting get very expensive. If you bid too low for your ads then you will not see any traffic or it will not be enough to accurately gauge the effectiveness of your lead capture page.

Building an optimized website that will bring you organic search rankings is my preferred method but it is also expensive and the biggest downfall is that the learning curve to do this is large and sometimes it takes months to build the content needed to succeed.

Sending direct email using an auto responder is the fastest and easiest way to build your list. Many people may wonder well again, who am I going to send my messages to in the first place.

Let me explain what an auto responder list that you purchase from a lead vender is. Home Business Lead Vendors receive thousands of different types of leads every week. One of the leads that they receive is an auto responder lead. These leads come with contact information from when they opted into a form online. These leads are unfiltered. This type of a list requires a lot of sorting to get to the targeted type of lead that you want. A targeted lead is someone that has read your specific email message and has decided to look further into the information that you are making available. "You're Information" Do you understand the power behind that? They are reading your message and are compelled enough to move forward to your website to learn more. This is a highly targeted lead. Now you have traffic to your website or lead capture page. And not just any traffic but traffic that wants to hear more about what you have to offer.

Are all Auto responders the same?

Absolutely NOT! Most auto responders today will only allow the addition of emails into your auto responder if they come from an online form that adds them directly to your account and they also require a double optin. This means that you have successfully had a prospect fill out the form but now you are asking that they confirm the first form that they already filled out. Most of the confirmation emails go into the junk mail and you have a high amount of people that never start to receive the most valuable information that you have to offer.

You know the information that will push them over the top.

The information that will get them to purchase.

The information that will finally make you some money.

You must find an auto responder system that will allow you to import leads directly into the auto responder so you can send out some basic email messages to attract attention and clicks to your website so they can fill out an online form. Once you sign up for one of these auto responder then you can start to build your list fast and see your business grow quickly.

The New Generation's Way of MLM Prospecting

Thanks to the internet, the Network Marketing industry has changed dramatically. It is the new generation's way of MLM prospecting.

It is no longer necessary for you to build your business by bothering your friends and family, or looking like a complete idiot or con artist trying to prospect strangers on the street, the supermarket, your church group, or anywhere with anyone and everyone you see. Mean-while most network marketers are used to struggling and losing money trying to build their network marketing business.

The thinking is that all businesses have overhead. But they do not have to be with the new generation's way of MLM prospecting. It is FAR easier to build your business than it used to be.

Which sounds like a more efficient use of time: Cold calling, and prospecting random strangers who think you want something from them or talking to only prospects that are already looking for an MLM opportunity.

With all the updated technology, and the illegal ramifications possible for solicitation, I am surprised that so few Network Marketers use the internet to help with their MLM prospecting skills. There are acts of congress and many initiatives to filter solicitors which is how most network marketers look for prospects. In this new generation, if your prospects do not want you to get a hold of them, then you're not going to be able to.

There is a way for you to actually build your down line from prospecting the new generations way and prosper.

Technology is the key to your success.

Because of technology I have access to millions of people every single day, generating 100's upon 1000's of new MLM prospects for my business and I can pick and choose who I want to prospect to join my MLM.

Here are few items that I use to generate all these MLM prospects. Of course it is first, The Internet where I use capture pages, auto responders, and social media to name a few.

It's 100 times faster and easier to build your business this way than the "old methods" of building your business.

Thanks to the new generation's advanced technology, I am able to EASILY capture limitless new prospects all automatically building a lasting relationship with them, and then easily converting them into new reps in my.

I have tried my hardest to recruit my friends, co-workers and family members, completed cold calling {God bless those whom I was cold calling} which I am sure you can understand what I am saying. You may have had more success that way than I did but I like it when prospects now come to me first.

It's really simple to increase your MLM prospects the new generation's way.

If want to learn how you can do this?

Simply follow the link, and I'll share all of my great techniques with you that will boost your prospects to unbelievable heights.

Auto Responders - The Basics

When starting a business online, especially making money online, an Auto Responder is a must. I use Aweber. Auto Responders are programmes that collect your potential customer's details such as name and email address among other things these assist you in marketing your business and contacting them.

Once it has stored these details you can arrange for adverts, newsletters, videos and any other information about your business to be sent out to a specified list at a specified time.

If potential customers have visited your website they are obviously interested in your business. Auto Responders allow you to stay in contact with these potential customers and build a rapport hopefully leading to selling them your products. If this process sounds complicated, it's not; it's very simple and very effective. It's all about is building a customer base or list as its known.

Not only can you send you customers information, you can also use the tool to ask them for testimonials which you can post on your website for new potential customers to read. Or they can request information from you. It's all about creating traffic which creates sales. They also work 24/7.

How do Auto Responders collect this information?

When you use Auto responders, you will be able to set up what they call an "opt in page." This is just a pop up box that will present the opportunity for your potential customers to fill in their name and email address. Most opt in pages are linked to a free gift that you are giving away. This could be anything form a video to an e-Book.

Once they have filled in the required information into Auto Responders they will store their details. It will then send a personalised instant confirmation link to their email which they have to click on. Don't panic, your auto responder will design this link for you, but you can decide what wording it contains. You can also if you want to send them to a "thank you" page. This is a nice personal touch.

This happens for two reasons. Firstly it confirms that the details that have been filled in are the details of the person that would like to receive your business information. Secondly it will stop any information that you send ending up in the customers spam account. You do not want the information to be missed.

What should I look for when choosing Auto Responders?

When starting a business it doesn't have to be a costly exercise. The one thing I do advise you spending your money on is one of the Auto Responders available. The paid programmes have some unique features that you will require when many of the freebies do not. It is an important tool so invest wisely.

Another good thing to look for is something called a link tracker. This is a tool that allows you to see what is working for you and what isn't. There is no point sending out information if it is having no effect on the customer list. It allows you to know what to change in your business, allowing you to progress well in the future.

If your business is affiliate marketing then the paid services almost always have an affiliate program. As you progress in building your list it will find people that need the Auto responder service. If they sign up using your affiliate link you usually get paid a commission of what they spend on their Auto Responders every month.

Make sure that built into the Auto Responders there is an option where your customers can opt out of receiving information. Obviously this is not what you want them to do but if they can't it could cause upset for the customer and problems for your business. You do not need any legal headaches; it's all about respecting your customer's needs. A good reputation is key in any business.

Check how many customers you can have on your list. Some Auto Responders have limits and may charge more if you require bigger list options.

Check how many lists you are allowed. Again this will vary. You may require different lists for different products.

Customer support. This is a must. It is always nice to know if you are having problems you have someone that you can ask to help you resolve them.

How do I create effective Auto Responders?

Make sure the information you are sending out shouts out that you are the best in your business and your customers are receiving what they requested. Knowledge sells, and trust keeps your customers.

There may be a mixture of newcomers and potential customers that are already "in the know" requesting information so make sure the information you send out is easy to read captures the customer's attention, understandable and easy to follow. It has to suit all abilities.

Make sure that the requested email that is sent out states clearly where it is coming from. In the past I have deleted emails simply because it has stated what the email contains. If this is happening, your customers will not receive what they requested and will maybe opt out. None of us need bad press, we may have businesses online, but people still discuss the good and bad in businesses.

How do I find the best Auto Responders?

Like anything these days, just go to your favourite search engine and type in auto responder services and it will bring up a list for you to look at. A few are as follows.

Thanks for reading

Squeeze Pages: 6 Pitfalls You Want to Avoid!

In the Make Money Online niche of Internet Marketing, marketing gurus of all levels of experience and credibility continue to repeat the mantra that, "The money is in the List." And guess what, it is the absolute truth. The simple reason is that if you do not have your own in-house list, there is no one to market to. This means that there are no sales and therefore the business of making money flops ab initio. On the World Wide Web, traffic runs at an incredible speed. To compile that all important list, you have to force the traffic to stop and visit your website to review what you have there and join you. What is used to arrest the reader within that 10 split second period when they are at your site is an important tool called the "Squeeze Page." It is synonymous to the "Lead Capture Page" or "Opt-In Box." It is a web page with only one aim: to sign up people onto your list by collecting their names and email addresses.

The Squeeze page is so important that to be able to create wealth online, you have to concentrate all your marketing efforts at directing people to it, where you can collect their names and email addresses. It is only then that you can convince them to buy the products that you recommend. It is a proven and known fact that most people will purchase a product on the 5th or 6th or even the 7th time of exposure to it. And that is the reason why a good Squeeze Page is so important.

If you are not building a list, you will just have only one contact with each prospect. On that single occasional visit, can you convince them that you are knowledgeable, honest, trustworthy, and have a great product that is fairly priced? That will be too much to ask of a sales page in one visit. A much easier (and more profitable) way to create wealth with your online business is to build a list. Having captured their contact details, you can email them information and free reports on a regular basis. Through these regular contacts, they will come to regard you as a person who is knowledgeable, honest, and trustworthy. Then you can now intermix your regular mailings with offers for products.

A good squeeze page plays an important role in the marketing effort. Conservatively, it should convert into subscribers at least 30% of the traffic that visits your website. If your squeeze page is not converting much, it is a signal to you to avoid such a page. There are many of such pages to avoid and they come in one or a combination of the following factors. Here are 6 pitfalls that you should avoid in the making of your squeeze page!

It is not above the fold. This means that the information on the squeeze cannot be read at a go but rather the page demands the use of the mouse to scroll down.

There is low quality or no offer as a give away to entice people to release their contact details.

The headline is not arresting enough. In other words it is not attention-grabbing to stop the reader to read more and consequently respond to "the call to action."

The "what is in it for me" is not spelt out in specific benefit-rich bullet points to convince the prospects to surrender their well guarded contact details.

Are there more choices than to opt-in? Or the submit button is not written with an action phrase in their point of view such as "send my FREE Report" or "FREE Instant Access Now!" Words like, "Subscribe " should be avoided in the Squeeze page.

Lack of privacy statement should also be avoided. In other words, a good squeeze page should assure prospects that their email addresses will not be available to third parties

So to make your squeeze page to convert positively, make yours with quality offers that are so good that your visitors have no option than to give their details to grab it, or the headline is attention-grabbing, and there is a privacy statement and it is above the fold.

So the long-term winning recipe to create wealth through your online business is in your list. To create that list, there must be first, a converting squeeze page and secondly a good Autoresponder. Then to get further details about these important tools go to:

The Advantages of Using a VPN in Business

As more and more of a company's day-to-day business is conducted over the internet, more and more companies are looking for ways of protecting their data and interactions on the web. A VPN is a Virtual Private Network that can be used to do this. VPNs are, in simple terms, a way of transmitting data securely over a network. The internet is a public resource and as such you do not know much about its security - this can be problematic if you are working with private or confidential data. Virtual Private Networks are used by all kinds of people the world over. Individuals can utilise them when using Wi-Fi hotspots to ensure their security while schools and universities can use them so that students can connect to the institution's intranet. This article, however, aims to outline the ways that using a VPN can be advantageous to a business.

The most obvious benefit for businesses is the enhanced security that comes with using a VPN. When connected to a network through a VPN your data is encrypted so if any unauthorised persons attempt to take control of your data they will be unable to understand it or do anything with it. This aspect can be particularly important for those companies that deal with personal or confidential data. Besides the obvious and important security advantages of virtual private networks, there are a number of further benefits for businesses and companies.

A VPN will also add flexibility to a company or business. Through using a VPN employees can connect to the company's network and access resources, data, and the company's intranet. Without a VPN they would not be able to securely connect to these services. A VPN will allow remote workers and workers away from the office to access the resources they need. This increase in flexibility can in turn lead to an increase in productivity. Employees can work outside office hours if they wish or while they are travelling or on the move.

In a similar vein, if employees use a virtual private network it can lead to saving time and money. Being able to work from home will save the cost of commuting to and from work and time spent commuting could be more practically used. VPNs can also be money saving when compared with the older alternative of a leased line. Previously in order to connect securely to a network a leased line had to be used which could be expensive, especially when the lines had to be long-distance. A virtual private network can easily and cheaply connect networks that are geographically very far apart. In addition, the maintenance costs of VPNs are fairly low once they are set up and implemented.

Finally a VPN can be advantageous in terms of scalability. Businesses change size constantly and as they change and grow, their network and internet needs are likely to change. With a VPN, instead of having to build dedicated networks between the different offices and branches of a company, branches can easily connect to the main internal network. In short, VPNs can extend as companies expand. Also, importantly a virtual private network can, in many cases, have better performance. Once a company starts using a VPN the efficiency and bandwidth of a network can be improved - this can be particularly important as companies expand and gain more employees who will need to use the network.

VPNs are being used more and more frequently - they have even cropped up in the news. In countries where internet censorship is particularly heavy, many people have been using VPNs to get around the blocks and to protest political incidents taking place. However, in the business world there are a number of benefits: VPNs can be cost effective, secure, and scalable. They can also improve employee flexibility and productivity and can make connecting to internal networks far easier.

Website Security Audits - One Stop Security Solution For The Website Owners

The safety of web sites is one of the main ongoing battles for a large number of website owners, particularly when there are multitudes of treacherous viruses and smart tech asses present over the internet. Securing your website is not a piece of cake and a large number of website owners neglect this part. Even if your website does not have a transaction base and is just a normal informative site, it might still be prone to the dangers of web world. Therefore, the owners have to pay special attention towards the website security rather than on the operations of websites. There are various ways to get your maintain the security of a website and one of the main widely accepted mediums include website security audit.

Website Security Audit examines the pages, applications as well as servers of your website in order to spot the probable weaknesses and vulnerabilities of your website security that can invite the hackers to cause some serious damage. The security audit identifies all the key security issues of the website, including the Cross Site Scripting (XSS) and the SQL injection, and helps you in securing the website in the best possible manner. The audit procedure will not hamper the visitors from accessing the website. They can easily surf the web page and carry on the desired activities without any obstruction from the auditing process.

A large number of people recommend third party security audit on annual basis and in a number of instances, this recommendation is more than sufficient. It is just a periodic check to notice any probable changes that may have occurred between this audit and the previous periodic check. This will surely reveal any pot holes in the security of your website that may have widened in the period of interval. Website Security Audit is a simple and fast susceptibility assessor that will reveal the exact weak point of your website in an accurate manner, rate the level of risk of each loophole and will provide the best solution for handling the problem.

Website Security Audit consists of six simple steps. The vulnerability assessment test begins with the Port Scan. All the services available on all the ports of your web server including FTP, SQL and web are investigated and all the open ports are detected within no time. After that, a Vulnerability Scan is done in order to identify the services available at each open port. These services and their configurations are matched with the vulnerability database for finding the potential ones and an active test is performed to determine any existing weakness.

This is followed by thorough scanning of each web page for identifying the vulnerable entry points. Detailed reports of all the risk discovered along with their severity are delivered to the owners. Each of these reports includes certain recommendations about improving the security of the website. You can guide your staff in the direction of proper and safe actions and carry on the repairing process. Finally a security certificate is provided to the website owners, which makes the 100% secure tagline appear more realistic.

So, if you wish to own a fully safe and secure website, then website security audit is an ultimate solution.

The Pros and Cons of Free SSL Certificates

A free SSL certificate means that you don't have to pay for the security it offers. SSL stands for "Secure Socket Layers" and this is the encryption that assures the security in a website. The encrypted information can only be deciphered by your browser and the secured server.

With a SSL certificate, all the information between the two is encrypted and is kept from the public eye. The idea is to make a third party unable to access and decipher the information, like credit card and checking account numbers and personal information like Social Security numbers and home addresses. SSL certificates have to be verified and authenticated, meaning the sender and receiver both have to prove they are who they say they are.

SSL certificates are available for free, but don't offer the same level of security as certificate that's paid for. There are more downsides to having a SSL certificate that is free than a paid certificate with a higher level of security. But at the very least, a free certificate can provide simple verification of the domain name of the sender.

Free certificates aren't trusted when they pop up on a site, but even if they are trustworthy, they can be made to look like a site that can't be trusted. They seem to run slower and the perceived reliability factor is much lower. Utilizing an unpaid SSL Certificate for secured payments is not recommended, but it still might be considered safer than having someone steal credit card information in a store. It's not uncommon for these certificates to come with unwanted bundles of Internet applications that the user might not want.

Paid certificates offer greater security. They will verify the physical reality of a company. Only corporations can be given a higher level of comprehensive background checks and are the most expensive certificates that are sold. These certificates check the name of the domain and the associated telephone number and authority of the individual making the transaction.

Better SSL certificate service providers are quick to resolve issues, provide a seal (to assure customers that the site is secure), give vulnerability assessments to avoid hacking, prevent blacklisting by search engines (when malware is found on a website), offer warranties, and have refund policies.

When a free certificate can't be trusted, the firm that issues it has a revocation list, which invalidates the certificate. When the firm that gives free certificates is no longer trusted, their entire string of certificates is invalidated by a browser and failure to trust occurs. For this reason, free certificates are thought to be trusted because their browsers know who to trust.

What it boils down to is how much protection do you need to run a profitable business? If you have high volume sales, the cost of a high level SSL certificate will pay for itself in cost savings from fraudulent credit card use, electronic theft of customer information, and other forms of online interference that can negatively affect a business. If you don't have vital information worth stealing, a free SSL certificate can still offer minimal protection.

A Private Proxy Server for Internet Privacy

There are those who would say that the private proxy server is among the best proxy servers there is to improve your Internet security. From the phrase itself, it is a private server, to be used only by one person or a handful of Internet users (that could be acting as one entity). This proxy server is considered as the best kind of proxy server because of its advantages that will be enumerated below.

First off, we have the speed of the Internet connection. With only one person or a handful of users using the server, the user or users will be able to set the speed of the connection to its maximum level. When compared to a public proxy, the private proxy will not lose in terms of speed because the public proxy is often used by hundreds of Internet users at the same time.

Other advantages of the proxy server include the common purpose of protecting our personal information and privacy whenever we go online. The proxy server will change our IP address every time we log in and hide our real IP. This allows us to surf anonymously online. Thus we can surf the Internet without worrying about hacker threats and proceed to shop on the online stores and visit your favorite websites. We can also assure ourselves that we can make safe transactions and manage our financial accounts online. We can also keep our Internet service provider or ISP from tracking our web history and recording our tracks. The search engines and other Internet users will also be kept from accessing our personal information.

There is also the issue of connecting to the Internet via a hotspot or Wi-Fi. With a public Internet connection such as this, Internet users near you will be able to see you online surfing activities. With a private proxy server, however, you are sure to be protected from them and establish a secure tunnel for your own browsing activities.

We can also keep the cyber criminals and hackers near you from connecting to your network and try to dig into your personal information. Now we know how dangerous it can be for us when malicious hackers try to get into our system and steal our files. With a private server, though, we can avoid this worrisome threat and eliminate the possibility of becoming a cyber crime victim. For our internet privacy, using private proxy is definitely a big help.

What Do I Need to Know About SSL Certificate Validation?

The purpose of an SSL certificate is to secure the transfer of information sent between a web server and web browser. Checking to see if the requester of a certificate is legitimate is beneficial to the user and a business. When SSL certificates are purchased, there are three ways to perform the validation.

Organizational Validation

Multiple sources of information are checked for a business. This is done to ensure that information found about the names of the business and who owns and runs the business (the whois record) matches with registration of the business. Another check is done to ensure that these details match with local business listings. When all of the required information matches, the business is issued a certificate. A certificate that is issued using an organizational validation method will ensure the certificate is properly verified. This allows an online user to see any information that is needed to verify identity of a business. The user will see an indicator on their browser that a site has been issues an SSL certificate.

Domain Validation

One of the most affordable SSL certificate validation methods is by domain validation. This is a type of validation that is done at the domain level. The process is started by sending an email to an account that is associated with the domain. This is to check if the recipient is the person controlling the domain. The use of email does not guarantee that this person is the legitimate owner of the domain. A phone call can also be made to a person associated with the domain name to perform the validation. Information that is contained in the registrant or whois record is used to contact the domain owner. Issuance of a certificate using this method ensures that a company or business has been properly verified. A user will also find a specific type of indicator in their browser.

Extended Validation

This is a popular method for completing SSL certificate validation. A user will see a green highlight for a website and a business name appearing in the browser's address bar. This is a special emphasis that is given to companies that use this type of validation method for SSL certificates. The required details for a business are first verified using the organization validation method. Contact is then made to a domain owner to ensure all of the information is verified. The phone number used is obtained for a local phone directory and not from a whois record. The issue of an SSL certificate that uses this validation will take up to two weeks.

Additional Information

Another option for validating an SSL certificate is to use a self-signed certificate. When this option has been used, a warning is displayed in a web browser asking the user if they want to proceed.