Choosing Email Marketing Solution
Sep 24, 2008
how other people with large subscribers’ database (over 500K subscribers) manage their e-mail marketing needs.
We do have a number of different everyday newsletters and occasionally send surveys to customers (once in a couple of months). I do like the functionality and features that different e-mail marketing providers offer with their packages like Constant Contact, Icontact, etc.
However, considering the number of subscribers their services cost too high in our situation. Maybe there is a standalone software product which we can license and install to our servers and manage in house instead of buying a hosted application?
Quick update: I just found [url]. Does anyone has any experience working with them?
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Dec 11, 2008
I was wondering if VPS would be able to handle my double opt-in email marketing website?
If yes then what would be cheapest cost i.e provider that some of you would recommend based on previous experience and the best configuration that I need to go with?
I am looking at sending about 10,000 emails per hour with the list size about 50,000 emails.
I am not to keen with going dedicated due to not being tech savy to manage a full dedi server.
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Nov 20, 2007
an email auto responder/email marketing service to my website owners. I will install it on a new domain and offer it as a side service to help market their websites.
I found one I think is good: [url]
Here is what I want, beyond the standard features:
1. ability to bill users monthly with authorize.net
2. ability for user to import pre-created follow up campaigns
(so I can provide some value with default marketing campaigns they can be up and running with)
Is there any other services that you reccomeend or know of, or ANY reviewing sites?
There are Dozens of these scripts available and I don't want to make the wrong move here,
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Jun 3, 2008
My company wants to install an email marketing software that all our clients can use.
Unfortunately our own servers are windows based and do not support php and mysql which are needed for the email system. I would like some recommendations on good hosts where we can host the system and also allow a high volume of email to be sent every now and then by our clients who would be using the system.
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Aug 14, 2008
I currently manage over 1 million optin subscribers in outsourced email marketing solutions such as aweber or getresponse.
I'm looking to grow to a dedicated server solution, but I know is not as easy as just put the server and the software and just send the emails.
I know there are HUGE issues with the ISPs, complaint rates, bounces, deliverability, etc...
I'm looking if there is any company that specialized in providing management or any kind of solution to mantain a dedicated server for just sending emails (not spam) and solve all the issues to have a smooth email marketing server.
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Jun 3, 2009
Not sure if it's the best forum to ask this, but it's related to hosting.
I have a Windows hosting for our business and send a newsletter twice a week to almost 10,000 subscribers through the hosting mail server.
I'd like to move to google apps so we can use the gmail interface. The problem is that I see Google apps has some limitations for sending mails (500 per user per day if I understood right, no matter if it's free or premier account).
Does anyone send a newsletter through Google apps? What can I do?
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Apr 28, 2009
We are custom web development company and have created a email marketing software similar to constantcontact.com .. We need a dedicated server to host this application that will allow us to send mass emails for our clients. I have figured out that not every hosting company allow that..
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Apr 4, 2009
my main client wants to rehash his database. Now this is a 1.5m strong list. All legitimately collected with time/IP stamp, privacy policy, etc. These clients are from the online gambling industry (legally licensed).
The problem is many of these users subscribed to our services up to 4 years ago (not all are that old, but some are), and they haven't heard from us for up to 2 years (again, some heard from us more recently).
Anyway, I've never deal with that number of emails and potential bounces. Obviously, the first round of emailing will have a large number of bounces, but that will quickly subside.
So, can you guys point me to a quality dedicated server, with at least 4 IPs (hopefully 10) and that can handle this type of activy? I'll be glad to sign up under an affiliate link if I can get a good answer.
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Apr 17, 2007
If an email server needs taking offline for a while, is there a simple solution that can be put in place that can catch and temporarily hold the email until it can be released when the server is back online?
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Apr 18, 2008
Can any one recommend a good email hosting solution a bit like hivemail.com as after searching on google it looks like they have died. I did like the features of hivemail so if there is anything similar then please recommend I will continue my search and let you know what I have found ifI find anything.
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Apr 8, 2009
I use GoDaddy for my shared host and it limits me to 999 emails a day through my server mailhost and I use interspire email marketing to send emails to my clients and other opt-in leads (I am 100% spam compliant) but I can't seem to get around the 999 a day. I am forced to use a program I had to get to send the rest (I send 10,000 a day) and the program uses my isp's direct send but the thing is I want to use Interspire as it automatically unsubscribes and keeps statistics...
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Feb 4, 2009
Hello all....I use an email blasting software for my clients and newsletter and this is what happened: I was at my mother's house and accidentally used the wrong server (I do my marketing on a diff. smtp server) and after I did that when I sent emails to my mother's email address (with the isp she is with) she would not receive my emails.
I called my domain's company and they said there was no problem on their end as I did tests and my emails went through. I called my mom's isp service and they said there was nothing wrong but to email this email address for "blocked" accounts and they never responded but the weird thing is when I send my mother email's, they go through if I send it from the "online backend" of godaddy rather through my MS Outlook.
To make things worse...I have a client who uses TimeWarner and he doesn't get my emails now either! Again...it works if I log-in on the backend but not through my outlook. Is there a port being blocked? I appreciate the responses as I don't know what to do and I need my main email address to send to clients.
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Jul 3, 2009
Something not many people know when choosing a web host is the importance of choosing a host that will aid your marketing and your website’s niche. This can be very important if you are running an online store depending on the geographic region you are focusing on. So first let’s start with an explanation of why this all depends on who your site’s visitors will be.
Most internet connections are very fast but it still matters where the physical server is hosted in terms of speed. If I was starting an online store focusing on customers in Texas the site is going to server faster to people from Texas if it is in Texas. Similarly if you are building a site aimed at United Kingdom residents you don’t want the server to be in the United States or even Europe in some cases. By hosting in a location near your customer base you are speeding up their access time to the server. This might not seem like a big deal but in a number of studies the importance of a quick loading page can mean a big difference in the number of conversions. Or if you are hosting a game server ping time will obviously matter when you are shooting your next zombie.
In terms of marketing it is also important in the eyes of Google and other search engines. One of the many factors for knowing whether they should rank you in a country specific search engine is dependent on your IP’s location as well as your domain name ending. By using a host in the country your site is serving you is sending one more indication to Google of where you should be ranked.
We have had plenty of customers at UK2 who came to us from USA based hosting and after they started using our servers which are in the United Kingdom they found that conversions increased and they had lower shopping cart abandonment rates. Which when you are running an online store are two very key factors. This is also why we offer our customers dedicated server hosting in both the United Kingdom and USA, we want to be able to give them the best of both worlds.
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May 14, 2007
I know absolutely nothing about these operating systems and am going to be solely relying on lxadmin or cpanel to manage my website.
However I would like some suggestions as to which OS I should choose (i.e. which is the fastest, most stable, etc.)
Here are the possible choices:
Mandriva
CentOS 4
OpenSuse 10, Slackware 10.2
Debian 3.1, Debian 4.0
Fedora Core 3, 4, 5
what is meant by VPS hardening?
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Jan 4, 2009
Im planning to put up a gameserver with a website for a mmorpg and i dont know how powerfull processor should i choose, what control panel, what operating system, 32x or 64x bit, what bandwith...? I was thinking about choosing iWeb Quad core Xeon, 100mb uplink, Windoes server 64x with cpanel.
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Oct 19, 2008
I've an original post with thread number 727551 which has date got old (forgive me for coming back late). So I decided to post a new thread here. But really thanks for all your helps, and I found I'm lucky to find a good place to ask my questions, as I see lots of valuabe responses when I come back.
I have some further questions about having "multiple domains" with a single hosting plan. Forgive me for not having much concept about this:
1. Does it mean that the "multiple domains" will all be sharing a single IP address (or should I say if I go to Shared Hosting plans, websites from all other people who share the same hosting machine with me will have the same IP)?
2. Would there be negative effect for my search engine rankings of each of these domains, if I have my domains sharing the same hosting (and if they really share the same IP)?
3. In case people know one of my domain name, would there be any way to check for my other domains in the same hosting, so that means they will know all my other websites?
I ask this because I'm thinking to launch different websites on a same niche.
And after looking into different hosting companies and their reviews, I found there are really different (and quite confusing) opinions around. Actually I expect I do not need much at the very beginning. I found there are lots of cheap offers, price as low as $1 per month, but I just afraid there will be problem later on. I'm thinking may be just go to those big and more famous one, say host gator, to avoid any unnecessary headaches later on.
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Jun 17, 2008
I am about to start a website in which I will feature lots embedded video clips from sites like youtube, toudou, etc.
I am new this, so I'm wondering how I can choose a proper web host for my site, so that people can always reliably view the videos and at decent speed. I'm not looking to spend a fortune as this is my first website.
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Jul 16, 2008
Choosing the right host is a very important decision. I've compiled a short list of do's and don't when it comes to web hosting.
1) UNLIMITED features. Rarely trust companies that offer unlimited space/bandwidth etc. as this is blatant overselling. When was the last time you saw an unlimited hard drive?! Companies that offer unlimited hosting features may not be around long and their other services tend to suffer - e.g. support.
2) Free hosting. Be wary of free hosts, particularly ones that seem to be giving far too good a deal to you - they probably are. The Webmaster-talk forums are regularly spammed with free hosting, and one that keeps cropping up is called ********.com. I urge you to ignore this as a highly reputable hosts do not spam forums!
3) Your ACTUAL needs. You might be excited by hosts that offer 5GB of storage space and 1000GB (1TB) of bandwidth for very low prices, but you should at the very least be wary of such companies. Besides the con issue, ask yourself - do you even need such large resources? For most small companies and individuals starting up, a maximum of 500MB web storage space and roughly 5GB bandwidth will be adequate. Once your site is up and running, you will be able to see whether you do need more or not and if necessary, you can upgrade. Some hosts (hostmonster.com being an example) seem to offer incredible packages for very low amounts of money. However, companies like this are often unreliable and may end up throwing you off their server if you start using these extreme amounts of resources. See tip no. 5 for solution.
4) Do your research. It's very important to do adequate resource on whichever host you choose: don't just take their word for everything. Check what the technology experts are saying on the issue (e.g. look through reputable technology magazines for reviews). BE CAREFUL WHEN SEARCHING REVIEW SITES - THEY USUALLY EARN COMMISSION FOR EACH SIGNUP SO WILL PUSH THE HIGHEST BIDDING HOST!! While it sounds infantile, type queries like "..... .com sucks" and also search through their own support forums (assuming they have them) to see how quickly issues are resolved. Try contacting their support or sales departments with questions to get a good perspective of their response times. Remember, if their sales department take a while before they have your custom, imagine how long they may take when they do have your custom!
5) When your needs outweight most plans. If you've outgrown your current plan and you are using very large resource amounts, it may be time to think about renting out a VPS (Virtual Private Server) or a Dedicated Server. I emphasize that this will not be necessary unless you are receiving a lot of visitors (traffic) and unless you are storing a very large amount of data (e.g. hundreds of photos, movies or software downloads). VPS' are now relatively cheap and combine reliability with speed and of course more space and bandwidth. A typical entry VPS may offer you 10GB storage and 100GB bandwidth. If you have extreme needs and you are already running a very busy site, you may even contemplate renting out a Dedicated server from a hosting company. Dedicated servers are computers entirely dedicated to your own web site and are very reliable (if you choose the right host) but are overkill for the vast majority of people.
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May 1, 2007
I'm moving from shared to VPS. This forum is helpful, but I seem to notice everyone recommends the hosts that advertise here. That makes me wonder about conflict of interest.
Anyway, I'm looking for a company that has great customer service and will walk me through the first baby steps of having my own VPS for the first time. That and uptime. Everyone else seems to have the same features. So how to choose?
I called 3 hosts today: JaguarPC, LiquidWeb and Spry. Jaguar sounded okay. The sales kid at Liquid didn't seem to be able to answer any of my questions that weren't on his cheat sheet. And Spry had me on hold forever (with good music, though) and dropped my call a minute in.
Also, will they help me lock my VPS down like a fort so it's ueber secure? Will I have to install PHP, MySQL, phpMyAdmin, and all the other programs I didn't know I needed myself? I have no experience, so it would be good to know. I'm a graphic desiger turned web designer turned noob PHP developer -- I'm scared that I'm not geeky enough.
Anyway, does anyone have the same feeling that all hosts seem the same when you're shopping around? I know I'm going to have to give in, close my eyes and jump at some point (very soon). But this is no fun.
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Feb 23, 2009
I am starting a small ecommerce website, initially selling 10 to 20 items but obviously hope to grow in the future. Since I don’t know much about web hosting, web design, etc., I need referrals to a webhosting company that provides easy to use professional looking templates which would allow me to design my website fast and start operation right away. Obviously, I need to get shopping cart/merchant account and all that goes with a e-commerce website (and I have no idea what all that might be but I am sure there are so many things that I will discover in the process). Anyway, I have visited many hosting companies out there and they are all so confusing to me. I wish they would allow me to see sample websites they host that used their templates but I haven’t been able to find any.
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Jun 29, 2008
I just saw two quite nice deal in the VPS offer forum with CheapVPS and Crissic.
They both around $15/month after discount with 512RAM and 20gb(Crissic's is 70gb) harddisk and 300gb+(CheapVPS is 600gb) bandwidth.
The harddisk space is more important to me at the moment but after a search in the forum I can't find any possitive feedback on Crissic, and both nice/bad feedback on CheapVPS. Seems more people are using CheapVPS.
I am wondering if anyone can help me to choose between them in terms of the reliability and stability of their server/service?
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Mar 1, 2007
I'm planning to move my co-located server to a cabinet soon. We are adding dedicated web & database servers to take the load off of the main box. I will get one GigE drop in this cabinet, so obviously I need a switch.
No routing is needed on my end, so my guess is that the regular GigE switch would do just fine. But I have few concerns about my setup.
All of my servers have dual GigE port. My plan is to connect one to the internet, and another to a local private lan for SMB, database, SNMP, and such. Jumbo frame is enabled on a private lan.
Is there any 16-port switch that allows me to assign 8 ports into one virtual switch (1500-byte frame) and another 8 into another virtual switch (9000-byte frame) ?
On the internet side, I expect to be pushing around 300-400mbps, a bit higher on the private lan. I need a very stable switch that won't choke or crash at this rate.
I'd also like to be able to limit throughput on each port, and probably do port/ip filtering on this switch instead of iptables on each box. (Am I asking too much for a switch?)
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Oct 3, 2007
i was recommended by a good friend to come here for advice. i'm looking for a web hosting service that will allow multiple domains & do php for my zen cart ecommerce website. i am currently spending $200 per year for web hosting just for my ecommerce website alone. does anybody know of any good reliable and cost efficient web hosting service that will allow me to do this at the same cost or slightly higher than what i'm paying?
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Feb 22, 2007
We're ready to setup 3-4 42U racks for servers and are in need of choosing Ethernet switches. What do you guys use and why?
I'm looked at Cisco switches, but lost in their product forest. I'm looked at Express 500, 2960 and 3750-E models. Is there any more difference (in exception of stacking, cli and hot-swap fan/psu) that I need to consider? Prices differentiate too much.
I'm also looked at Linksys/D-Link business products and they seems to have the same features as Cisco Express series, but only 50% cheaper.
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Jul 19, 2008
I'm new to SSL certificates and the like. I am switching to VPS hosting soon and I would like to buy an SSL certificate to go along with an (Ubercart / Drupal) e-commerce site that I am hosting. I'm looking for a cheap but good one. Does anyone have a recommended vendor / certificate type that would work well for me?
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Oct 30, 2009
How much more would you pay a month for dedicated server with a Cisco Master Certified Managed Services Provider?
In addition, would having the entire company's support staff CCNA certified influence your decision for choosing a dedicated provider?
Would certifications influence your decision to buy a server?
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Apr 20, 2009
my company's current hosting contract expires in May and I'm in need to find another one that will hopefully suit me better and cause much less headache.
I'll try to list some basic needs I got:
10gb bandwidth
10gb space
Mass email marketing ability! This is important!
I have a member list of about 30,000 who I email twice a week! These people are opt-in recipients of these emails.
On top of that I'd like to start mining and sending out opt-in requests of about 50-100,000 a month to NEW emails that I don't have direct permission to email.
I obviously have software to manage, clean, send out in batches, and do whatever else you have to for proper email marketing.
From some research I got the idea that I would be better off with some offshore VPS/dedicated host that won't shut us down for emailing. We will do our best to keep the bounces at minimum as well as keep up-to-date blacklists/unsubscribers.
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Jul 30, 2009
We are too small needswise for even a half rack. Even a 1/4 rack would be overkill but nontheless, options in the area are limited to even *owned-enclosed* 1/4 racks from the colo facility itself.
The local facilities that would fit our needs spacewise are probably going to fit this in a full rack with space that we purchase against.
My concern is the security of *our* -- the customer equipment. Read alot of horror stories and would hate to end up one day finding out that whatever provider we choose was behind on bills, etc and we have X days to grab equipment from the facility, etc.
I am looking to colo SAN equipment, which is almost a triple digit box.
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Jul 28, 2009
As per the last thread, I cleaned this up a little more, I welcome more comments as we make this the best it can be!
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Top Ten Things to Consider when choosing a Datacenter
Redundant Power
A minimum of N+1 power on critical systems (UPS and Generators) should be an absolute requirement for your business; however this doesn’t mean there aren’t points of failure. Not all power distribution is the same so demand a copy of your provider’s power map. 2N or greater systems is the only practical way to prevent failure. Definitions of redundant power can vary so demand to see a map that shows what it is truly redundant to. True B power should be redundant to the street.
Redundant Cooling
Redundant means more than just N+1 CRAH or CRAC units. If the facility has chilled water demand either a loop feed bi-directional system or a completely redundant pipe. This allows for maintenance on the pipe without taking the system down. Other considerations include redundant chillers, pumps, valves, controls, and electrical.
Network Carriers
At a minimum you should require a facility with multiple on site carriers. Competition drives pricing, therefore; by being in a carrier neutral facility with access to multiple providers, you increase your bottom line and decrease risk. Fiber should have diverse entrance paths to the building as well.
Location
The risk of system outage is significantly reduced by placing your servers in a datacenter that is located in a disaster free area. The threat of natural disaster such as tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, and wildfires can be easily thwarted by choosing a datacenter that does not reside in a coastal or storm centered region. Also consider the cost and availability of power when selecting your location.
Security
It is important to demand accountability from your Datacenter Operator. While two-factor authentication is good, the most secure datacenters enforce three-factor authentication: something you have, something you are, and something you know. Man traps to avoid pass-back and tailgating at all points of ingress and egress should also be high on your list of requirements.
Support
Do not risk your business to an unmanned facility. Require a minimum of 2 remote hands engineers and ensure the datacenter has certified professionals on site at all times. Don’t be fooled by datacenters who hire “button pushers.” Remember that your infrastructure lies in their hands during critical moments.
Flexibility to meet your business needs
Don’t pay for a datacenter that is everything to everyone; in other words, avoid paying for services you don’t require. And do plan for growth, as your business grows, you want a datacenter that grows with you.
Vendors and Partners of the Datacenter
Often times the datacenter operator has relationships established with vendors. Leveraging these relationships can save you time and money compared to working with solution providers.
Service
Be sure to consider any other services the datacenter may offer you with regard to office space, engineering services, consulting services, customer accessibility, remote hands, etc.
Standards
The datacenter you choose should be SAS 70 Type II compliant. If your business deals with online payment transactions ensure that the datacenter meets the physical and environmental controls necessary for Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standards.
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Jun 13, 2008
I'm in the process of preparing to install CentOS 5 on my server, and was wondering whether most people recommend going with the 64bit version or sticking with 32bit. My server's CPU is 64-bit capable (Xeon 3060 at SoftLayer), and I have previously run CentOS 4.4 64bit on it, though I did have some struggles from time to time getting things to work (following setup guides that tend to assume 32bit more often than not).
I'll be running just a standard setup of PHP 5, MySQL 5, and Apache 2, powering several moderate-traffic sites that run on the Drupal CMS (e.g. about 7000-10000 visitors per day total, though hopefully more in the future of course). I don't plan on running a control panel other than Webmin, though I might get DirectAdmin or similar in the future to make hosting some friends/clients a bit simpler.
Will going with 64bit offer any worthwhile advantage with this setup?
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May 6, 2008
From testing, I've come to the conclusion that I get extremely fast page downloads from a host in the Equinix Center in VA. I'm in Western NY. I don't know if this data center is better than most or if I just happen to be in an ideal location for their service.
I have a business that gets orders from the whole U.S., but a majority are in the East, especially the NE. Visitors come from everywhere in the U.S., but I'd like to keep the buying customers happiest.
Page download speeds are very important to me and I'd like to keep them as fast as possible for my customers. How important is the data center used by a host going to be to my decision? Also, is there a way to find webhosts from a particular data center? Manually going to webhost sites to find out if they have servers in the Equinix center has been painfully slow.
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