Can You Run an Autoresponder From Your Blog?

If you’re already using Aweber or GetResponse then you’re probably not aware there is a free autoresponder available for your blog. Today I had the opportunity to see the ARGWA Free Autoresponder in action and I was pretty impressed with the capabilities.

ARGWA is easy to install and setup. It’s a plugin for WordPress so all you really need to do is to use the plugin installer and then setup the software. It took me about 10 minutes to set it up and test it.

There is a free version and a retail version. At the time of this writing, the price of the retail version was $67.00. Obviously, the retail version has more features than the free version that I haven’t been able to check out and the retail version does not include the “power by ARGWA Free Autoresponder” on your list sign up form.

The pros of owning your own email autoresponder is that no one can take away your email list. I learned the hard way. I absolutely love Aweber, however, if you have an emergency and your can’t make your payment then Aweber will remove your list completely and you will be forced to make a new account. In the beginning I didn’t have a lot of cash to run my site yet I was able to sign up a lot of people. LIST GONE.

The bad part about owning your own autoresponder is that you have the potential of getting your domain and/or IP blacklisted if you send out too much email. Also, if your database gets corrupted you could lose that list so back it up daily. Using a source like feedburner is okay for collecting emails, but there is really no automation with feedburner unless you make some special blog and incorporate an rss feed with the blog. It sounds like more of a hassle because the blog is out there on the Internet for everyone to see. Feedburner also has the capability of removing all your emails without your permission and backing it up can be somewhat of a hassle.

By installing and using ARGWA, you can keep your own list and use it as an autoresponder that is not seen by the public website. It has an option to join the list on the blog sign up page so your members can easily optin without having to get the RSS feed as well.

Unfortunately, I didn’t see an affiliate program like Aweber uses. It would be nice to be able to resell ARGWA to my potential clients like I can with Aweber or GetReponse. Perhaps the developer of ARGWA could make the product available through ClickBank as well as PayPal so Internet Marketers can make a small cut. 🙂

With those issues aside, I give ARGWA very high marks. I’ve been impressed with it on other blogs that I run and I might be installing it here soon if the $67 is a site license and not a 1 domain license. I’ll keep you updated and I will have a demo soon.

Author: Geekmom