Is your mailserver blacklisted?
Have you ever had your mail server blacklisted? It’s not a fun experience.
I’ve never been blacklisted before, that I know of, so I was shocked that SORBS was showing that I was blacklisted. When I got down to the final few pages of SORBS it turns out that I was blacklisted because my domain IP was within a range of 255 addresses, and someone in that range had been blacklisted!
Is there a solution? Well, for me, it means that it’s time to move hosts once again. One bad apple on your host can cause big problems with email delivery, and it’s not something you want to risk. Below you will find my favorite places I used to check my black listing, and the hosts that I recommend.
To check and see if you are blacklisted, you first want to find the IP address of your mailserver. Using a reverse DNS lookup can usually work, but only if you have your reverse lookup pointing back to your server (which you really need to do, if you are delivering email from that server). More info on how to do a reverse lookup on your IP address/domain is below.
To check your blacklisting status, have a look at these sites (in the order that I recommend their use):
- http://www.e-filtrate.com (a paid service, but well worth it, it includes the ability to check your email contents against spam content, let’s you re-phrase your content, and check for bounce backs. I’ve used this service for years and am quite happy with it, yes it is my affiliate link).
- http://www.mxtoolbox.com/blacklists.aspx (a free service that does something others do not, it will check your domain’s IP in a range of IP addresses, just in case). I found this useful recently when it seems my IP address was within a range of a recent spammer!
- http://www.blacklistalert.org (a free service that also does something very useful, not provided by others services, it makes sure that your Forward DNS listing matches your Reverse DNS, this makes sure that your Forward-DNS and your Reverse-DNS are consistent).
You can check your reverse lookup IP (make sure your site’s IP addresses does a reverse lookup to your domain name) at 3 places I recommend:
- http://www.mxtoolbox.com/ (a free lookup, but also shows you the DNS lookup (the A record for your domain), the NS lookup (the nameserver definition for your server, the MX lookup, the mail server records for your domain, and the WHOIS lookup, the domain registrar records for your domain).
- http://www.robtex.com/ip/ (make sure that you click the link to your IP on the second page of this site to find all of the details on your Mailserver IP address.
- http://dnstools.com/ (a more ‘techie’ oriented approach, but this one will show you everything about your IP address/domain, free).
The hosts that I like to use, and recommend for email hosting include:
http://www.jtlnet.com (dedicated servers for as low as $49.00/month, and yes I’ve used one for over 1 year and they work just fine, if you are mailing larger volumes though you may want to go for more horsepower).
http://www.servint.com (one of the best in the industry that has been around a long time, their VPS hosting can serve you just fine, as well as their dedicated hosting)
If you need help integrating and setting up your mail server, please see my BGS Web Design company website and contact me there (Brett Simpson), I can provide you full setup/installation of mail server hosting/software.
Win7 File Explorer Replacements
I’m loving Windows 7. The 64-bit Home Premium version I am running is stable and fast. But, there have been a few problems with finding software that works good (or good enough) for me to consider using on my new machine.
I have been using PowerDesk for years, probably almost 10 years now, and I’ve loved some aspects of it so much, that I’m going to test it again, even though Avanquest clearly states that this version is not Win7 compatible. So, I did a little research on what else is available and surprisingly I found some very good alternatives, here they are:
- XPlorer2 – this $29.95 option is similar in price to PowerDesk, it seems to have everything else included, except for one little utility I use all the time in PowerDesk (Dialog Helper).
- Q-Dir -a Freeware alternative that looks very promising.
So, it appears that any of the alternatives above will do the job of almost everything I use PowerDesk for, but that remains to be seen, I will post an update after some testing is completed.
Comparing Autoresponders – GetResponse raises prices
I’ve been using email to market for over 12 years now, and most of that time I have used my own mail server to do it. Recently I started exploring what it would cost, and how much different it would be to use one of the paid services: would my click-throughs, or deliverability change, or would I get a higher number of subscribers?
Well, the answers are still up-in-the-air right now, but I should have a definite answer in the next month or so.I’m exloring a few of the main autoresponders: Xmailpro, GetResponse, and I’m still using my own mail server. Things are going to change a lot, now that GetResponse updated their software to v6.0, unfortunately they raised their prices considerably – as I expected to come up to what Aweber is charging.
Keep in mind that I’m now paying $15.00/month (with 12 month prepay) for Xmailpro, which is a Aweber white-label, that does not offer some of the newer features of Aweber such as ‘email only to non-opens’, etc. Aweber, and now GetResponse have increased their pricing to ‘premium’ ranges as far as I’m concerned, and 80%-90% of internet marketers do not need the extra features.
Here’s what you really need to think about when you are considering autoresponder services:
- Do you really need to spend the extra dollars the high-end benefits of GetResponse (surveys, video marketing, split-testing)?
- How much are you paying now, and should you consider stepping down to a white-label alternative?
- What are your deliverability rates?
- What are your click-through rates?
- Can you do this on your own server?
So far, I’m finding that having your own server, if it is setup properly, is definitely the way to go. I currently run my own mail server with over 50,000 contacts, I can do pretty much anything that the ‘premium’ services (Aweber, and now GetResponse) are charging very high monthly prices (in my opinion) – for example, I can pull out lists of people that did, or did not click on a link, that’s not a problem.
There’s only one area I am lacking at this point: the ability to email someone a followup message within 1 hour of when they originally signed up. For example, if you come to my site and sign up at 2:00PM, there is no way I can send you a followup message (3 days later), at exactly 2:00 PM, Aweber, and the white label both claim that they can do that within an hour or so either way… So, it comes back to if that is worth the extra money, or if I should consider keeping the white-label (Xmailpro) just for that capability. Right now, I’m going to keep Xmailpro for a while longer and see how it goes.
I cannot say that I do any worse, or better as far as deliverability is concerned. I’ve used emailreach and found that my deliverability using my own mail server is excellent. So, there’s no need to worry about that. The main point here is that if you want to get the best deliverability, and not spend 100’s of dollars a month, you may want to consider running your own mail server – mine runs me about $40.00/month, much less than the premium services now offered by Aweber and GetResponse.
That’s my opinion for now, I should have a definitive answer in the next month or so, but I can’t see it changing much. I’m going to keep the white-label Aweber alternative: Xmailpro, and I’m also going to continue on using my own mail server to fill in. Basically even if I wanted to consider moving my entire list to Xmailpro, it would take a very long time, because Xmailpro requires that you do a ‘opt-in’ confirm when you import email addresses into a new list, and that my friends can slow you down more than you would ever think…
For more information on having your own Mailing List server setup, contact BGS Web Design.
Watch for an update to this post in the next month or so, until then… keep on promoting!
Recession and Payment Processors
I’ve had a huge lesson in Payment Processors the last few months, I hope this helps you out as well. Because of my interest in processing credit cards for my membership websites, I decided 2 months ago that I would move to a new payment processor that was supposed to be better for handling the recurring credit card payments that membership websites demand.
I thought it would be no big deal, that I would make the change and not notice a thing. Boy, was I in for a huge surprise when my sales fell 30%-50% for an eight week period. I scrambled to turn off AVS, and did everything I could, but the sales would not recover. In the end, I had to move back to my previous processor which had been serving me well for the last 12 years, and the sales seemed to pick up again.
What is the lesson here?
Be very careful about how you choose payment processors. If you have used the same one your entire life, consider switching to see if it makes a difference. If you keep all settings the same across processors, you should not notice any drop in sales. If you do notice a drop in sales move quickly away from the new processor and back to your old one.
Why would this occur?
My speculation is that the new processor I tried had much stricter credit acceptance policies and was restricting payments to my previous shopping cart purchasers. I have many purchases from outside of the USA and losing those sales makes a huge difference in overall sales volume.
So, there you have it… pay very close attention to how your payment processor is working out, and be cautious, but switch if you feel that you are losing out on sales. If the sales pick up, it’s likely your old processor may have been restricting the credit allowed on purchases that the new processor allows…. I know, it’s ridiculous, but true.
Keep your chin up, your eyes forward, and keep moving: with recessionary consumer spending habits in place, things are going to tighten up for anyone marketing to the consumer online, especially if you are in a impulse sale market.
Best of luck… post your comments, or stories below and we can continue this discussion.
Stomping Search Engines and The Net Effect both available again!
I’m excited because these are both great products to have. I’ve been a Net Effect subscriber since issue #1 and this is the best Internet Marketing magazine around. Up until a week or so ago, you couldn’t subscribe, even if you wanted to. Now the folks at Stomper Inc. have opened up subscription again and I highly recommend you get signed on.
You will get the Stomping The Search Engines 2.0 for $1.00, and The Net Effect subscription. This is a great combination that you must have if you are an online entrepreneur. Head over now and grab your copy.
Here are the links:
The Net Effect signup:http://stomping2.com/
Stomping Search Engines 2.0 Review of What is Included: http://www.stomperblog.com/seo/stse2-2/
Why XSitePro is my favorite ‘Graphic’ Web Designer
When it comes to graphic web design software, you really want to have something that will produce a great layout in a short amount of time and XSitePro does this job perfectly. As I mentioned on my rating page, I like XSitePro web design software the best. It is my number one rated editor and for good reason.
The faster you can get your design work done, the sooner you can get moving toward marketing and promoting your website. XSitePro is excellent for doing that. Here is why…
1.) It comes with a ton of pre-loaded Templates and they are great templates. Usually it works out that I’m excited about a new website I want to create, but, if you are anything like me (a design idiot), it can takes weeks to get a decent design setup, or if I decide to purchase one it can cost 100’s of dollars. What’s the easy way out? Fire up XSitePro and pick from one of the included templates. Your site is built and even loaded up (with it’s built in FTP software) in minutes. This one process makes creating a new website as easy as opening a document and typing, it’s that easy and I love XSitePro for that. The designs are well done and there are so many that they are not over-used either.
2.) XSitePro comes loaded with additional wizards. If I want to add audio/video to my website I don’t want to monkey around for hours trying to find the code, so once again XSitePro comes to the rescue. I open my website and follow along, answering a few questions and bam, my audio/video is inserted into my website in minutes.
3.) SEO Page analysis. That’s almost all I have to say here. I’ve paid hundreds of dollars for services like this in the past. But, these other services always need to be updated (at an additional cost), while XSitePro updates itself automatically, for free. The analysis is worthwhile and a great choice when getting started setting up a website. I like to use it before I even think about looking at competitors in the SEO market, it’s good, and it is included in XSitePro.
4.) Scripts are included, more than you wouuld ever want. A huge timesaver is when I can start up my design software and get the scripts already built in. I really can’t stand monkeying around with scripts trying to setup split-testing, a countdown timer, or even scheduling content to be uploaded. XSitePro provides all of this already, and the scripts are already tested and they work! It’s a no-brainer…
I could go on and on about the great features that XSitePro website design software has, but it’s easier if you just go check out their website and see for yourself. If you’re also amazed at what you see there, comment on this post, because I’d like to hear how you are using it to achieve great Graphic Website results instantly like I have… If you want to see a website I designed very quickly in XSitePro have a look at this one: http://www.dreampublishers.com
Here’s a link to XSitePro web design software where you can see all of the features, when I say ‘this software rocks’, I mean it, and I’ve been doing website design for over 12 years now.
Selling Memberships and Continuity
I’ve been around the block a few times – my main website has kept food on my table for over 12 years (the anniversary was a few days ago), so when it comes to everyone claiming that membership sites are the wave of the future and that you have to learn to turn everything you do into a membership – they might be right – here’s my opinion.
The hardest part of doing business online is keeping the customers flowing in. It’s not easy, and sometimes downright frightening. Traffic, list building, articles, and SEO are just some of the methods you can use. With Web 2.0, through in social media, audio, video, and you’ve got a basket of ‘time consuming’ tactics that could have you wasting away, while you try to provide content, so what do you do?
The easy question is, you find some way to draw in a loyal following and keep them on your website. But there’s way more involved than that – for example: How Do You Do It? You’ve got to keep everyone happy, and, provide some type of content, or access that will keep people coming back – one solution is a Memberhip Website (or Continuity in the marketing world).
Continuity – it’s been around for ages
Ever since ma bell (AT&T) started selling phone service, and big power companies offered up AC power to your home, people have been buying continual service at a monthly rate. The concept is not new. The methods for pulling it off in the Internet Marketing World of 2009 are a jumbled mess of theories, concepts and profit-hungry classes that claim to show you the way.
I’ve not seen the best one yet, but I’ve tried quite a few. Right now the word is still out on Continuity Blueprint which I just ordered a few days ago. I’m betting it will provide some answers, but I’m not sure yet…
So, what’s a person to do? As usual, I’ll find my way, but I’ll do it in a way that works best for me, and my customers. Provides a simple/easy to follow/’user friendly’ signup method, and gives my websites an advantage over others – ease of use, and less maintenance work for me.
Signup for my list (enter your name/email in the orange box on the top right of this page), as I’m going to be covering the details of all of this over the next several months. I’ll let you know what I found, what worked for me, and why, and what to do about it in your own marketing. It’s sure to be a wild ride, but I’ll get to the bottom of finding the best courses/classes and software to use to get Membership Websites and Continuity running.
Post your comments below – and let’s see where this takes us…
Multi-Media Blogging Course from Mark Joyner – Grab it for free?
Ok, you might have heard of Mark Joyner. Yeah, he’s been around a long time, and made a ton of dollars in internet marketing. Well, according to his latest blog post, he doesn’t know a thing about blogging, but he wants to learn – so what did he do?
He had his company (Simpleology) create a Multi-Media Blogging Course that he wants to get feedback on, so grab your own copy – following the instructions below, then pop back here and tell me what you think by posting a comment to this post – happy blogging…
I’m evaluating a multi-media course on blogging from the folks at Simpleology. For a while, they’re letting you snag it for free if you post about it on your blog.
It covers:
- The best blogging techniques.
- How to get traffic to your blog.
- How to turn your blog into money.
I’ll let you know what I think once I’ve had a chance to check it out. Meanwhile, go grab yours while it’s still free.
Best Website HTML Editors – Some Are Free…
So, you’ve finally made a step toward starting your online business. As part of that step, you’re probably going to have to roll your sleeves up and do some website design on your own, at least to get an idea of how it all works. Now, I hope that I can offer you the very best of HTML Website Editors since I’ve been busy doing my own Website Design for the last 11 years, I’ve tried quite a few website editors in my days.
Here’s a quick list of the Editors I recommend and how I rate them:
- XSitePro ***** ($197.00) – my favorite ‘graphical’ editor. This is definitely a force to reckon with. I purchased XSitePro about one year ago, it’s fabulous for created SILO (directory structure) websites, it comes with tons of built in templates and plug-ins available for adding autoresponders, popups, audio, video, create a mobile website (with phone capabilities), and just about any other type of feature you can think of adding to your page. It does all of it’s work behind the scenes, but you can switch to a code view to see everything if you need to. An excellent editor, and also recommended, it’s free Graphic Header File generator: XHeaderPro and the XSiteProClub website which features monthly videos, tutorials, templates and other goodies. Best all-around editor ever produced in my opinion.
- KompoZer ***** (free) – my favorite ‘dreamweaver’ editor. This used to be called NVU, but it’s been updated and stabilized. It’s almost exactly like using DreamWeaver, but with one difference, it’s free! A great editor with all of the extras you would want such as CSS/Stylesheet editor, WYSIWYG view, tables, template editing, tabs to switch between code/design view, color picker, spell checker, rulers, etc. It comes in Windows, Mac, Linux, Debian, Redhat versions so it’s sure to be available to almost everyone. A great editor available in 10 or more languages.
- AlleyCode *****(free) – my favorite ‘code’ editor. It’s lightweight, fast, features tabs and CSS Stylesheet editing that even beats a dedicated CSS editor I’ve used (TopStyle). Get the hang of code quick and easy with AlleyCode. Best for FireFox coding, as the layout produced with the SynchroView is FireFox, to get a good layout view for IE (Internet Explorer) see HomeSite Editor (below).
- HomeSite ***** ($99) – still one of my favorite ‘code’/HTML editors along with Alleycode. It let’s you get down and dirty with javascript coding, tabbed WYSIWYG editing, XML editing, code snippets and other great features. Unfortunately it was purchased by Adobe years ago and development has not continued in the last several years, even though there is still a somewhat active community of users – Adobe tries to steer everyone toward DreamWeaver – which doesn’t come to close to what HomeSite is capable of, in my opinion. The best design editor for IE design, for the best editor for FireFox see AlleyCode Editor (above).
- SeaMonkey Suite (formally Mozilla) **** (free) – based on Mozilla, the SeaMonkey(tm) suite now features more advanced editing that was lacking from Mozilla Editor such as full DOM (Document Object Model) editing, tabbed editing with WYSIWYG features and many more additional features which make Mozilla Editor obsolete.
- Mozilla Editor (formally Composer) *** (free) – previously called Composer, Netscape’s editor is now featured as the Mozilla Editor, it has all of the features you would want from a good editor but lacks a decent CSS, Stylesheet editor.
That wraps up my review of HTML editors/designers. Pick your tools wisely as you’ll find that you want something that can live up to what you ask of it. It’s my opinion that you want the best tool (regardless of cost) for the job. I have chosen XSitePro as my website editor, for mocking up full website designs and AlleyCode for use when I need a quick webpage update to make (such as adding a feedburner subscription code box) to my blog. It’s up to you to try out what you think is useful and see how it fits with your style. Leave me a comment below and tell me what your favorite editor is and why.
Niche Blueprint Review
I’ve just purchased Niche Blueprint, after previously owning Commission Blueprint. I’ve watched the first few videos, read through the PDFs and I am ready to give a short review of Niche Blueprint which had many waiting with high expectations. Here’s what I found…
Niche Blueprint
It is quite an amazing promise, the chance to earn millions online, while learning and setting up your own eCommerce stores to sell drop-shipped products and earn huge commissions. Can Niche Blueprint live up to it? Well, we’ll have to wait at least 3-4 weeks as the content for the entire course will be delivered one week at a time until I have it all. I can honestly say from the looks of the first two modules – “Yes, this looks like another winner” for Tim and Steve. The purchase routes you through a membership system where you setup an account and login immediately to begin downloading. The first two modules are available for immediate download, with the remaining 7 coming one week apart. I like the fact that they have staggered the delivery – it helps prevent you from becoming overwhelmed!
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UPDATE: March 12, 2009
I’ve went through all of the materials and Niche Blueprint is a superb product. Tim and Steve also provide you with a free drop-ship website for finding products, and: custom SEO information with specific details on how to gain top spots. Combined with their excellent customer service I rate this product a solid 4.5 *’s out of 5. I just wish there were a little more product in their drop-shipper directory, but other than that – if you can’t find a drop-shipper they will personally locate one for you – amazing….
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The course continues in typical Tim and Steve style! I really love it, basically it’s Tim walking you through everything, step by step on video. I blow it up to full screen, watch a little, then put it into action – doing the homework while Tim continues on. If the info comes to fast, I’ll pause the video, watch it again, then go back to my work on my local machine – I like to download the videos (you have a choice of download, or watching online) as it gives me excellent clarity and I don’t have to worry about a dropped internet connection. Ok, so, what do you get, a hands-on, and I mean very hands on approach which is taught step-by-step – it’s fun and even exciting to learn this way. If you have Zero Technical Skills – you’re going to find that it’s very easy to get a handle on. There is one software that you’ll want to consider purchasing as it’s used throughout the program, Market Samurai – which I have used myself for several months now. So far, other than that, nothing else is required, and everything else is included.
While considering the purchase – I did have to wonder if this would be as good as purchasing another ‘well known’ drop ship package such as the one offered from World Wide Brands. I can’t say from direct experience as I do not own the World Wide Brands package – but it does seem well supported and documented and offers a 30 day money back guarantee for $297. It also features access to a drop-shipping/import/wholesale database of suppliers, which is another major feature of Niche Blueprint. I’m not really at a place to make a comparison yet, but I’ll do that over the next several months when I do try out the World Wide Brands package. I can say that working with Tim and Steve while using Commission Blueprint has been nothing but pure joy – the support requests to the forums get answered immediately and they are always right on target with what I need… since in the forums (support desk for Niche Blueprint) you are working directly with the creators of the package, it would be very difficult to imagine anyone being able to match the support. This alone makes Niche Blueprint unique, and well worth it.
Also included free database access to a supplier database, and if that’s not good enough, they will help you directly locate a supplier to get your business moving. The videos/PDFs are extremely well done – the videos are clear, conscise and right to the point: they walk you hand in hand through each process – it’s top-notch, and shows why the Commission Blueprint course (the product before Niche Blueprint) did so well in sales.
Regarding the ‘Commission Blueprint’ course that in 2008 took the internet marketing community by storm. It sold over 15,000 copies in just 8 weeks. The success stories have been coming in, I’ve played with it myself, and consider it a viable option – but, you are still required to come up with an AdWords campaign budget to get started with Commission Blueprint (you are NOT required to have this for Niche Blueprint) so, I know it does put some people off – myself included, either way the sequel to Commission Blueprint expectation has been very high.
“Niche Blueprint” is an comprehensive course (Video and PDF books) that reveals the exact strategies they use to generate hundreds of thousands of dollars each year from setting up simple niche E-commerce sites selling physical products. This is done exclusivey through drop shipping, and since I got my own start in Internet Marketing that way, I know it is a viable option.
Tim and Steve have teamed with David Hermansen and Michael Hermansen who have years of experience with the E-commerce business and the ability and desire to teach this brand new material to others. The course includes 23 videos and 26 manuals (PDF format). Some of their own successes in this area have been featured in the New York Times and on television for Fox News. They have some incredible proof of income from a number of sites making huge amount of cash in very obscure markets such as ‘Sewing Machines’ and ‘Train Horns’ – I know it sounds bizarre, but you want to see that kind of sub-niche (micro-niche) success to know that the system works.
You’ll see an example of a simple website selling ‘Bird Cages’ (even a child could setup) that was recently sold for $173,000. Yes, that’s right, and that is a lot of money! Basically you’ll learn how to sell the websites for about the amount the earn in one year (annual profit), or if you like, just run them and keep earning the dough – it’s your choice.
From what I have seen so far, I can tell you that Niche Blueprint eliminates many of the problems that most of internet marketers will run up against when trying to get started creating an income online. How does it do that, well – it makes things a whole lot easier because: it doesn’t involve selling digital goods such as ebooks, software or promoting other peoples products such as affiliate products. In most cases then the competition is almost non-existent.
The good news for most people (and what really sets ‘Niche Blueprint’ apart from other internet marketing products) is that to make money with these methods, you don’t need a list, a product, any affiliates or even joint venture partners. You also do not need any additional investment, website skills or any online business experience at all. In other words, literally anyone can become successful with this – with very little setup time.
I have also heard that they have gone so far as creating a new hosting company and replicating a number of other services so that there is literally nothing else to buy once you have access to the course – short of having your own domain name ( you will want to purchase that, but they run about $8.00/annually). Every one knows that 2009 is going to be a very tough year financially. There are going to be a large number of job losses no matter which county you live in and as a result there could be a very strong possibility that you will need some sort of financial back up if something bad happens to your job, or any other type of financial unthinkable occurs.
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Since Tim and Steven have made this a ‘risk-free’ proposition (they will refund your money within 45 days if you are not happy), it’s really a no-brainer. I highly-recommend it, REMEMBER: the last time they offered this it sold out in 36 hours, so I recommend that you get over there right now and get signed up – do it now… Check it out at: NicheBlueprint.com
Find Out More Here: NicheBlueprint.com
