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  • #16
    Originally posted by kennyny
    We require an email address for our customers to receive a coupon on our website. All we use is a simple form with no more then three quick questions, an option if they would like to receive future mailings, and a valid email address. We use an auto responder email account for coupons so if the address they supply is valid then they receive the coupon instantly in their inbox.
    kennyny, do you have a URL you can share so that I may look at your form? Where can I find such an "auto responder email account" ?

    Comment


    • #17
      This is the Autoresponder I use
      http://www.GetResponse.com/index/55656

      If you go to my new website http://midnighteviltv.com
      you can see how it works.

      The form on my site was made with a tool on
      http://www.GetResponse.com/index/55656
      Gary
      Midnight Evil Productions
      www.MidnightEvil.com
      Owner/Operator of www.CoffinCreek.com/
      www.Twitter.com/CoffinCreek

      Comment


      • #18
        The best way to get people to give you there email address is to
        have them sign for a free newsletter. Your AR (autoresponder) will send
        it out for you when ever you like (every day, once a week, once a month or what ever)
        Just set up your AR with your newsletter and it sends it out for you (set it and forget it)

        With a newsletter sent, say every other week, you will be on the minds of your list
        all year long. Then when it's time to promote your haunt just go to your AR and send your ad
        to your list

        I'm creating a newsletter of ghost stories to go out every other week. If anyone would
        like to use this on there website to collect email address let me know. I can help you
        set up your AR with the newsletter on it.

        You can email me if your interested. I should have It ready by the first of the month.
        Gary
        Midnight Evil Productions
        www.MidnightEvil.com
        Owner/Operator of www.CoffinCreek.com/
        www.Twitter.com/CoffinCreek

        Comment


        • #19
          That's pretty sweet, Midnight Evil! Someone's been busy.

          Comment


          • #20
            Very cool Gary! I'm reviewing the website right now and it looks like an excellent tool! I was just reading the following:

            Payment Plan Price You save

            Monthly $17.95 -
            Quarterly $47.85 $6
            Semi-Annually $87.70 $20
            Annually $145.40 $70

            The above plans include unlimited mailings to up to 10,000 subscribers. For every additional 5,000 subscribers, an extra $4.50 per month will be charged, in arrears, after 30 days. I figured this is probably a question many will be ineterested in knowing the answer to and it took me a while to find the information on the FAQ site. Seems like a great deal!

            Kel
            Chris Riehl
            Sales@spookyfinder.com
            (586)209-6935
            www.spookyfinder.com

            Comment


            • #21
              It's a little pricey for us, Kel. So, I'm trying to find an alternative.

              Comment


              • #22
                You can take a look at our form at http://www.terrordome.com/html/coupon.htm. Feel free to request some coupons to see how it works. Most web hosting companies offer auto responders with their packages. We set up a dedicated email account for coupon handling (coupons@terrordome.com) so that we weren't bombarded with requests on our general account. Then just set the email account to auto respond. Speak with your hosting provider on setting one up. It's very easy and simple.

                The form on my site unfortunately does not have validation which is something that you would want. I was in a rush last season and plan to fix it when the 2007 site is updated. I would say 85% of respondents completely filled out the form, but like I said no valid email address equals no coupon. I'd be more then happy to forward the code over to you.

                If you are looking for newsletters or content management you can check out www.hotscripts.com if you're comfortable with web design. They offer a lot of free scripts and if you're intimidated by coding I would suggest just paying a freelancer or friend (one time fee) to implement a script into your site rather then paying a monthly fee for a service.

                One last thing that you should do is use outlook or similar to download the email addresses and messages to your computer just in case you accidentally delete the email account or in the future switch hosting companies. All can be lost. In the future I plan on using a database driven solution for the coupons... Just haven't found a good one yet.
                Ken Darrigo
                ClearCut Operations, Inc.
                ClearCut Operations | http://www.clearcutoperations.com
                TerrorDome Haunted Scream Park | http://www.terrordome.com

                Comment


                • #23
                  kennyny,
                  the site is "under construction," but the info you gave is great. It just so happens my webs hoting company DOES offer auto responder. So, I've written to administration to give me some pointers on how to go about using it. Will let you know if and when I get it up and running.

                  THANKS!

                  Comment


                  • #24
                    Empress,

                    Sorry about that. The link above has a period at the end and is messing up giving an error. The link below should work. Good luck!

                    http://www.terrordome.com/html/coupon.htm

                    Ken
                    Ken Darrigo
                    ClearCut Operations, Inc.
                    ClearCut Operations | http://www.clearcutoperations.com
                    TerrorDome Haunted Scream Park | http://www.terrordome.com

                    Comment


                    • #25
                      Cool! And the coupon came up in a pdf file. Have you ever had any problems with people saying they couldn't access the coupon because they do not have Adobe Reader?

                      Comment


                      • #26
                        I don't remember any reported problems with customers not being able to access the pdf file due to the lack of Adobe Reader. If delivering the coupon to the customer via pdf format is a concern, then you could just as easily use an image file instead (jpg, gif, etc). The only thing is that some browsers resize image files now. An alternative is just making up a quick html page with your coupon image on it and have the customer print the page. I've never been a big fan of printing web pages and wanted to keep the integrity of the document. That is why I opted for a pdf file, but there are many options on the table.

                        Ken
                        Ken Darrigo
                        ClearCut Operations, Inc.
                        ClearCut Operations | http://www.clearcutoperations.com
                        TerrorDome Haunted Scream Park | http://www.terrordome.com

                        Comment


                        • #27
                          Ken,

                          thanks so much for all your help! I like what I see on your site and will be following suit. This is exactly what I was looking for when I placed this thread.

                          Thanks again!

                          Comment


                          • #28
                            Using a dedicated email address and the autoreply that comes with most hosting server is
                            fine if your just sending a one time reply (like a coupon) Your hosting server autoreply has
                            no auto follow-up. You must put all your emails into your address book, them send your
                            mesage through your own email address.

                            The problem comes into play when you start sending a large numbers of e-mail's from
                            your email account. Your hosting company may consider this spam and pull the plug
                            on your website. Also many hosting companies do not allow you to run 3rd party
                            email scripts, check your TOS.

                            Now with an autoresponder like http://www.GetResponse.com/index/55656 it is
                            double opting. Someone needs to ask to be put on your list, then must confirm
                            that they did request to be put on the list. This stops almost all spam complaints.

                            You have unlimited follow-up, what does this mean? You spend a few hours setting up
                            your autoresponse and all your follow-up emails. My ghost story newsletter will be set
                            up to send a newsletter every other week for 2 years. I will never have to touch it for 2
                            years unless I want to. Then when I have a special announcement I just send it with
                            no worries of being accused of spam.

                            The resin for a newsletter is to keep your name out there week after week. Make
                            your fans think about you all year long, not just October.

                            Now you could just sit down every other week and send out your newsletter and spend
                            about 3 to 4 hours a month. Or you can set it up like I do, for 2 years a time. That will
                            free up time for other things.

                            Isn't it worth $17.95 a month for freeing up 4 hours of your time each month and not
                            being accused of spam? What a disaster that would be after spending all that time
                            and money promoting your website to have it shout down for spam!
                            Just my 2 cents.
                            Gary
                            Midnight Evil Productions
                            www.MidnightEvil.com
                            Owner/Operator of www.CoffinCreek.com/
                            www.Twitter.com/CoffinCreek

                            Comment

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