I love my Aweber account. Ever since I switched over to Aweber from 1ShoppingCart and GetResponse autoresponders, I’ve seen the service improve both in terms of usability (a lot of AJAX-based features), deliverability and most importantly in terms of reporting.

It gives me total control of my mailing list and allows me to do things my friends on GetResponse seem to have a hard time doing; stuff like sending out emails based on country (or even city), RSS broadcasting features, integration with FeedBurner and split-testing emails.

From the screenshot above you can see how just 4 different statistics can give you a complete picture of my mailing list health:

• Bounces – How many emails didn’t reach the subscriber’s inbox, probably due to fake email addresses, space limitations, or other reasons.
• Complaints – How many people report the email as SPAM. I hate those guys.
• Opens – How many people who received your email, actually opens them
• Clicks – How many people clicked on links in your email message (I found using HTML works best for this)

In fact the only thing I regret about Aweber is that I didn’t use it earlier. When I made the switch I had about 500+ subscribers in GetResponse and 8,000+ in 1ShoppingCart. I estimate that only 25% of these made it into my Aweber account when I imported their names. The rest will probably never be recovered.

As per standard procedure, Aweber will send a opt-in confirmation email to everyone you add using the “import” feature. GetResponse and 1ShoppingCart, as well as any other reputable email marketing service, have similar terms as they seek to avoid their service being abused by spammers.

This is why I always tell every one I coach to get the best autoresponder service when getting started, and stick to it. If you try to cut costs, you end up losing out in the long run when you switch services. If you cannot afford Aweber, then at least use GetResponse.

A good email marketing management service is perhaps THE most important investment you can make to ensure success in your home based Internet business, so don’t shoot yourself in the foot by succumbing to the illusion of false economics.