Aweber, the industry leader in Mailing List Management, recently announced a complete redesign and the addition of an impressive Email Analytics package. With those updates came a new pricing model for their services. The topic of that new pricing model came up during our Brainstorming Hour today...
The comments were that Aweber went from $19.95/month to $150/month. Knowing what a hassle it is to move an email list, the assumption was that Aweber would have people trapped into the new pricing model out of fear of losing most of their subscribers in the move.
Being a happy Aweber customer, and it being a service I frequently recommend, I decided I'd better check into it. You'd think I would have already heard about this considering I log in to Aweber several times a week. Ironically the notice & option were there when I logged in today...
Originally the price was $19.95/month for up to 10,000 subscribers. It is now $19/month for up to 500 subscribers. I was paying $29.90/month for my Aweber account, having gone over the 10k limit some time back. With the new pricing model, my account would now cost $149/month instead.
-> See Aweber's New Pricing Structure
Before you completely freak out, current Aweber customers are not automatically upgraded to the new features and the new pricing structure.
Whew, I'm glad I got in early 😀 LOL
Seriously though, while I am hearing a lot of buzz about the price increase I havent heard anyone mention the cool new features Aweber rolled out with. The new pricing reflects an entirely new product - and a cool one at that.
The new & improved Aweber offers an extensive Email Analytics package. It will tell you who clicks what, where they go on your website once they click the link in your email, and basically let you micro-segment your list and send laser-targeted messages to individual segments.
New Features include:
- See exactly when subscribers click on links in your message so you can focus on the right time to send your message.
- Send a broadcast only to subscribers who didn’t open or click on your previous broadcast.
- Send an extra bonus offer to people who clicked your last email, but didn't purchase
- Track sales revenue generated by each subscriber and send emails directly to your highest-value customers
- Send related offers to people who clicked in your last email - or each of your past few emails
- See what pages of your site subscribers go to after they sign up - even if they don't use an email link to get there
- Segment your non-responsive subscribers and re-engage them (or if you prefer, remove them from your list)
- See which subscribers are responding to your campaigns — which messages they’re opening, which links they’re visiting, and where on your website they’re going after clicking through...
That's a pretty powerful package, and those are just a few of the new features! Basically the new Aweber system lets you tailor your campaigns to segmented groups of subscribers, increasing your conversion rate and lowering your unsubscribe rate. You'll be able to develop a closer relationship with your subscribers by customizing the messages that they receive.
Only new accounts automatically include all of the Email Web Analytics tools. Again, existing customers have the option to keep their original account & pricing. They still offer a package that is under $20/month. And if you have over 10,000 subscribers and you actually use their email analytics... your Aweber account will be well worth the $149 per month that it costs 😉
The bottom line is that Aweber is going "upscale". They are keeping their current customers happy, but are targeting a higher end type email marketer with their new system.
I hope this helps clear up some of the confusion...
Best,
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About Lynn Terry
I'm grateful for being grandfathered in Lynn. I think the new tools sounds pretty darn cool but I don't have the time right now to dig into that kind of analysis so I wouldn't be making good use of them anyways.
Someday though - I can see it being a great upgrade for me.
Thanks for clarifying that! I have no where near 10,000 subscribers but the price increase initially sounded scary. Although I agree with Kelly that the features are very powerful and as my list grows, they'd definitely be a plus.
Thanks again!
You're welcome - what I was hearing concerned me as well. I was relieved to find that Aweber was not increasing the price on current accounts automatically.
I can relate, Kelly - I have not yet upgraded for that very reason. But I intend to, and look forward to making great use of all those new features!
I'm pretty stoked about the new features, personally. Haven't had time yet to upgrade my account and dig in but plan on it soon.
Theoretically, I can understand if an individual marketer has one of these legendary 50-100k lists that will cost a left....arm... under Aweber's new model - I get that it sucks to suddenly be looking at a cost increase of several hundred dollars a month that comes directly out of your profits if you want to take advantage of the new analytics (and admit it, you want them).
But COME ON... IF you've really got 87,000 subscribers on your list and aren't making WAY more than enough money to underwrite the infrastructure that creates the whole income stream... Something just doesn't add up.
Tom Kulzer has definitely stated that despite the clamor, there's really not very many Aweber members at all who actually have the numbers so many are bitching about. I tend to believe him. Frankly, I have no reason NOT to believe him and lots of reasons to question the rhetoric of the peanut gallery.
Hope this doesn't sound too cranky. Sometimes my fingers can sound so angry...
As always, your blog rocks, Lynn.
Best,
Brian McLeod
Miami, Florida
http://www.twitter.com/LoudMac
Dear Lynn,
Just stopped by and wanted to say how much I am enjoying your blog! You have an excellent, content-rich resource and I am excited to have discovered you.
In fact, I just listed your blog in my summer review of Women bloggers to Watch for 2008 at http://virtualwomansday.blogspot.com/. Please stop by and leave a comment.
Many thanks…keep up the great work!
Heidi Richards Mooney, Founder & CEO
Women’s eCommerce Association - http://www.wecai.org
Thank you Heidi - great resource!
Not at all Brian, and thank you - excellent addition to the discussion. Interesting point addressed by Tom Kulzer. I would love to read more on that if you have a link handy?
Like Merilyn and Kelly, I have nowhere near that number to be worried about and the upgrades are a bit too involved for me at this point. I'm glad to know they are there though.
I appreciate that they kept things flexible enough to allow smaller marketers to benefit from the service as well, without charging an arm and a leg!
Thanks for the great post Lynn...it's the only one I've read that actually explained what's going down there.
Hi Lynn,
http:www.RazorrConnect.com is one of AWeber's resellers who will still offer the "grandfathered" deal - 10,000 leads for $19.95/month. Just in case your subscribers don't need all the analytics.
Warmly,
Rita
Lynn dear, put a warning label on your emails if clicking the link may cause temporary heart failure. 🙂
It didn't last long though as I realized I would have gotten an email for sure if Aweber was lookin for more money lol.
Ok, can someone please give me a map. I just logged in and got nuthin....no new page, no hints whatsoever; just my normal account stuff.
Well, I guess I am lucky. My web host provides an autoresponder service along with the hosting package. They built the program themselves to be as good as or better than Aweber. You also get unlimited subscribers. So, whether you have a list of 200, or 200,000 it's included in your hosting package. It's worth the $44.95 a month in my books.
All the Best,
To Your Health, Wealth & Success.
Claire Poulton
Do you also get unlimited mailing lists, or just one with unlimited subscribers? That's more than I'm paying combined - for multiple sites with multiple lists, by the way... (Aweber + HostGator)
@ Courtney
Thank YOU for saying:
I appreciate that they kept things flexible enough to allow smaller marketers to benefit from the service as well, without charging an arm and a leg!
I'm thanking you because it made me go back up and re-read what Lynn had said. I totally missed that the first time and I was extremely disappointed in Aweber for this.
So I am glad that they still offer the $20 package. However, I am disappointed that they scaled it back from 10,000 subs to 500.
I too am a very happy Aweber user but not only that - just like Lynn - I'm a happy referrer also.
The $20 package is perfect for the group I am usually recommending their service to. While the analytical package looks very attractive, most of the people I am recommending their service are no where near needing all that and neither am I for that matter.
Aweber is/was an awesome service and very affordable for what they offer. I think it's awesome that they are targetting a more "upscale" customer - that's fantastic.
However - don't forget the little people in the meantime 😉 I think offering different packages to fit everyone's needs would be sufficient.
All that said - I am still disappointed in them for jumping from 10,000 to 500 - that is a HUGE jump. Surely they could have found a happy medium in there.
So, just so I'm clear - for those of us who already had an account - nothing changed, correct? I can still have up to 10,000 subs?
It just so happens that I did log into my account a few hours ago and it automatically went to the "upgrade page". When I first saw the numbers, I did panic a bit until I noticed the really small link that said something about me not wanting to upgrade. I simply clicked the link and moved on - I really didn't read the page. I assumed that it was just a new package they were offering, period ... I did not realize that they made all these changes.
Sorry for all the complaining here but ...
I'm also disappointed that we were not made aware of this ahead of time - both affiliates and customers. Or did I just not get an email?
As an affiliate, I could have pushed for a few last minute sales. By not contacting their affiliates, that tells me they didn't want exactly that to happen. It makes me think they didn't want a bunch of new customers who would be 'grandfathered' into the original plan.
I don't know ... am I just being grumpy?
My main complaints are - the drop from 10,000 to 500 subscribers and that we weren't given a heads up this was going to happen.
Thanks for bringing this to my attention and clearing it up some Lynn and I apologize for all my venting! lol!
You can set up unlimited campaigns. Currently I have about 50 campaigns running for everything from subscribing to my World Martial Arts magazine, to my Nutrition Newsletter - and everything in between (LOL).
I also have my own Web Host Manager and I host domains for others. So, basically my web hosting is free because I charge $10 a month for my 5 clients. I build them websites, set up their blogs and forums and whatever other database driven programs they want.
All the Best,
To Health, Wealth & Success
Claire Poulton
Oh, I forgot. The affiliate program is a 4 X 10 matrix which pays 25% on first level, 5% on levels 2-10 PLUS a 15% bonus if you directly refer anyone who you place anywhere in your levels 2 - 10. I have 2 downlines as well, so that is just bonus.
All the Best,
To Health Wealth & Success.
Claire Poulton
Claire, I'd be careful about running mailing lists on your own server. You can easily end up on a black list with the big ISPs and find that your every day email gets blocked in the bargain.
The problem is that no individual host can stay on top of email deliverability issues like a specialized service can.
LOL Dennis! I meant to say that also. My heart skipped a couple of beats too. I figured I complained and vented enough in my reply that I wouldn't add that as well, rofl!
I have my own autoresponders on three of my 20 domains, but the mailing list is run on my Hosting company's own server. They've been running it for 10 years.
They tweaked my mail server for me so I have my own specialized Domain Keys, which has alleviated the black-list issue. All my lists are double opt-in.
The autoresponder that is part of the Hosting Package is NOT running on my server. It runs on a separate domain run by the Hosting company.
All the Best,
To Health, Wealth & Success.
Claire Poulton
Great post Lynn and I even twittered your blog post here to my followers at twitter 😉
Anyone else Twittering? Follow me at http://www.twitter.com/vanetworking
@Anita You're welcome! 🙂 And I had to read it several times too...to be honest, I've just ignored Aweber's e-mails since I read that I would be grandfathered in....but it's good to know that I can get all the neat tweaks for just $30 a month for now, which is $10 more than I'm currently paying. I'm still not sure if I'll use it but it will be nice to have.
I'm surprised that no one has really mentioned the affiliate aspect of this? How is Aweber's new pricing going to affect the commissions for affiliates of their services? Higher? Lower? The same % commissions?
Am I the only one who is wondering about this?
I'm a little confused now. Y'all are saying that upgrading gives you all the cool features...
According to the pricing page, every plan gets ALL the features....the ONLY differnce in price is subscriber count.
All service plans include:
All of our email marketing features.
Send unlimited emails to your subscribers.
Advanced features, such as sending a broadcast to only subscribers who did click on your order page but didn't order.
Unlimited customer support.
That's what I mean, I really am flying blind here...where does it say somewhere that only the newbies get ALL for $20 a month?
According to the pricing page, new or old get it all.....the subscriber count changes though with price.
Dennis,
I think those of us who are talking about upgrading are already Aweber members. If we stay at the $20 per month original plan we don't get the features.
I think.....
Now I'm confused! 🙂
The following is a post I did on the WF. I want to add that I never load images. In case anyone is curious, set your email program to view in "simple HTML". You can then see the Aweber tracking image in the bottom left corner of the email. It's an outline of a square with another square inside, and a small red square inside that one.
My post:
Aweber's reason for the huge increase appears to be based on their "Analytics Package".
As far as I know, there's only one email tracking technique that halfway works, though it's not particularly effective. It goes like this:
An image which is sometimes invisible is placed in the email. When the email is displayed, the image is retrieved from a web page. Using the server logs from the web host, the sender can see who has opened and displayed their email. However, if the image is not displayed, the email can't be tracked.
There are two problems with this technique:
1. It only works with HTML or "Rich text" email.
2. It only works if the recipient has "display images" enabled.
The second point is significant. Most email programs default to not displaying images in email. The recipient has to allow the images to be displayed. That is accomplished in different ways, depending on the email program being used. The bottom line is, if the image is not displayed, the email can't be tracked.
If your email is plain text, there's no way to automatically track whether it's been opened or read. If your email is in HTML, only those recipients who've enabled images can be tracked. The rest appear to have never opened the email, even if they have.
What it all comes down to is that you can't accurately determine that someone hasn't read your email. If they opened and read it in plain text or without images enabled, the tracking is defeated.
Click tracking is another issue. How many emails should contain a link? IMHO, putting a link for readers to click in every email might be pushing one's luck with subscribers. Besides, just because they don't click on the link, dosen't mean they didn't read the email.
I seriously question the validity of the data that will be produced by Aweber. Since I'm not a current customer, it's unlikely I'll ever become one. I'm not willing to pay extra for data that is as unreliable as the info produced by email tracking.
Hello Lynn,
Thanks for the info, I heard about it, didn't know they dropped it to 500. It would be nice to know what is being clicked on.
Gary
http://www.NfoNut.com
If they sent it, I missed it as well. There was talk on the blog about it - mainly in the comments section - but I have to confess I wasnt keeping up there. I'm with you - I would have loved to have offered that package to my readers one last time!
Hi Dennis,
I read that bit straight from Aweber, they addressed it in their blog comments. People who are already customers have a choice of upgrading (when they log into their current account) or remaining on their original billing/package.
Only NEW accounts automatically include all of the features at the new pricing model. Current customers have an option.
Hope that helps!
Thanks for the detailed comment, Sally. More from Aweber on that topic: http://www.aweber.com/faq/questions/519/Do+the+Analytics+Features+Work+With+Plain+Text+Messages%3F
So then their pricing page is totally misleading and they make current customers search for it....
like I said before, I STILL haven't seen anything in MY account or by email.....just you guys which I'm grateful for.
Thank YOU, Lyn for providing one of the better IM blogs. Yours is one of the few emails I always open and read because you don't hammer subscribers and they are always interesting in one way or another.
Now on to my argument :- )
The subject on the other end of the link you posted is link tracking.
I'm going to use myself as an example because I believe I'm fairly typical.
Like most, I'm pretty busy. On average, I get about 30 IM emails per day. The reason I'm on so many lists is because I like to keep up with what's going on. There are also a few like yours that I actually enjoy.
I at least glance at most of them every day, but not all. I actually read about 10 or 15 per day. I'm a fast reader, so that helps some. Though I might not read Joe or Susie Marketer's email today, I very well might read the next one.
If there is a link in the email and I don't click on it, it's simply that I'm not interested in the promo. If it's a link to a blog, it might be that I don't have time to read it today or I'm not interested in the subject. That doesn't mean the marketer won't get the response he/she is looking for another day.
The rule of thumb is it takes about seven contacts to sell a prospect. In my opinion, when you're marketing to marketers, it can take a lot more than that for a bunch of reasons.
If a marketer is link tracking and sends me an email asking why I didn't do as he/she asked, I'm going to be annoyed, and there's no way I'll answer. My private thought would be along the lines of "none of your !@#$%& business." If they continue this practice no matter how polite the emails, I will unsubscribe in a heartbeat.
In my opinion, link tracking might be a fun toy to play with for awhile, but the data isn't useful.
* You don't know why the subscriber didn't click on the link, and you'll annoy them by asking.
* Open rates have nothing to do with the timing of your email. Emails stay in the inbox marked as unread until they are opened or deleted. It doesn't matter if it arrives at 2:00 a.m.
As I said before, there is no reliable way to determine how many emails have been opened and read.
If you carefully read the information at Aweber, you'll see they aren't foolish enough to make promises they can't keep. The disclaimers are there if you are willing to see them.
It would be nice to have the control you are looking for, but it ain't gonna happen because it's technically impossible.
I hate to see you guys paying a premium for something so useless. Worse than that, I'd hate to see you making business decisions based on faulty data. As an old TV character used to say: "And dat's da name a dat tune".
Bet buns come tomorrow, I'll be on live chat, email, phone, or all 3 until i am satisfied with answers.
Anyone else get the feeling Get Response may blow a server shortly with new sign-ups? LOL
So then their pricing page is totally misleading and they make current customers search for it…
Dennis, that's kind of what I've been thinking. If you ask me, it's all very confusing so I haven't said that "outloud" just yet - thinking maybe I'm missing something.
That said ... it shouldn't be that confusing and there shouldn't be a possibility of someone 'missing something' - not something this large of nature.
like I said before, I STILL haven’t seen anything in MY account or by email…..just you guys which I’m grateful for.
That's very odd and a shame. Like I said, when I logged in yesterday morning, I seen a page that gave me the option to upgrade. When I found the link that said that I didn't want to upgrade, I simply clicked it and didn't both paying attention.
I personally am not interested in all the extra tracking right now - whether or not it is super-good is irrelavent to me personally. So, there was no need for me to read.
I would expect to be contacted via email with a change of this size.
I'm just quite disappointed in how all of this was handled.
I'm also shocked that this isn't announced on their blog. You would think something like this would have been announced on the blog immediately - something that says "Changes at Aweber" or make it more easy to find - especially since they didn't email customers.
They have to know by now that there is quite an uproar about all this. I would be all over the blog trying to do some major damage control.
Again, unless it is something I've missed on their - something that their users should not be able to miss - especially those looking for it.
Every time I go into their blog, the most recent entry is from 6/10.
There should have been a post made the very day they changed the accounts - the very day most of us logged into our accounts and found the upgrade page.
There also should have been an email sent to all customers and affiliates before anything happened.
Sure, it would have been great for the affiliates to do a push before it happened. However, and way more importantly ... it should have been done out of simple courtesy to their faithful customers.
Again, I can't express how happy of a customer I have been but with all this - I can't help but feel as though things were handled quite a bit underhandedly - feel as though the covers have been pulled over my eyes.
As I look more closely at the blog, I do see that the news seems to have been "snuck" into another post. (May 20th - Email Web Analytics: Understand Your Subscribers)
IMHO that was not the way to handle such a huge change. Not to mention, and let me quote Justin Premick in a comment where he was trying to justify a complaint.
We’ll be contacting existing customers about the new email web analytics tools and upgrade opportunities shortly.
While that's great - I must make note that this comment was made on May 27th.
What exactly does he consider shortly?
For a company that is all about keeping in touch with your customers via email - you would think they would practice what they preach and let us all know before it was done.
Thanks Lynn for taking the time to check out the new pricing. For me, thinking of setting up a new account, my list (even though it may not be as clean as it could be, is more than 10,000 simply by including Chamber of Commerce directories) has never been opted-in and I was looking for a relatively inexpensive service to provide that opt-in (keep me from the can-Spam Act) and get started with an email newsletters. Now that the pricing is where it is, there is no way I can afford (or even would consider paying) that amount on a monthly basis - I am trying to simplify my work, not add more by over-analyzing data that may or may not even be accurate. Unfortunately, I am an affiliate of AWeber, but now I don't feel comfortable thinking about using the service myself or even recommending it to anyone else. Why do all these services have to be so expensive - all these individual monthly premium costs certainly add up much faster than an income is generated from utilizing them!
I appreciate your thoughts, but AWeber is just not for me!
Carol Deckert, Netweaving Coach
RUNLancaster.com
http://www.runlancaster.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/caroldeckert
This line right here got my eyes wide open....
"Send a broadcast only to subscribers who didn’t open or click on your previous broadcast."
For me, that's enough to upgrade right there.
Although I'm glad I have 3 old school Aweber accounts too.
The pricing page is not misleading - it is for new customers who are reviewing the current pricing model.
As an existing customer, you have the option to stay at the price you are already paying, or upgrade to the new features & new pricing. Period.
Excellent point, Anita 😉
I agree, Sally - my response would be the same.
The point with these analytics is not to overstep those boundaries with your subscribers - but to tailor your mailings.
For example, if 3k subscribers opened the email and clicked on the link but did not buy - you may want to send them a separate follow-up message than the subscribers who DID buy. Or you may want to send a bonus message out ONLY to the subscribers who purchased. Etc. Its a great way to segment your list and email customized messages to specific groups.
@Carol Deckert
You might expect a 10% retention rate on that list of 10k when you request email confirmation - depending of course on your relationship with them, and what you offer them prior to requesting the confirmation. See this link for some tips on higher retention: http://www.clicknewz.com/877/how-to-keep-your-subscribers-when-you-switch-mailing-list-managers/
Since you are not already an Aweber customer, and you dont plan to use the Analytics package, you have one of two options: Use GetResponse or a competitive mailing list manager - or work on cleaning your list and use one of the smaller packages at Aweber. The first option seems best suited for your situation...
Hi all,
I've been reading through all the comments here with great interest.
If Lynn will allow me, I'd like to address a few of those, and explain the reasoning behind the new features and pricing.
I want to emphasize that we're not trying to "trap" anyone into a new pricing model. AWeber users who joined before May 20th will not be upgraded to the new features and pricing unless they ask us to do so.
This is why we did not send a "hey, there's new pricing" email to customers - because for existing customers, there isn't new pricing. You don't have to pay any more today for the same AWeber service and features than you did last month.
We saw it as a non-issue, and felt that sending an email out about pricing "changes," when in fact none of our customers' pricing has changed, would just serve to cause panic.
What has happened, and what we tried to communicate, is that we've released some optional new features designed to help you improve your communications with subscribers.
We did send out an email about the new features to customers on 6/10, but it appears that newsletter wasn't read and shared by quite so many people as we'd like. Lesson learned - if the news doesn't get read in our emails and on our blog (and I wish it would), then we have to get it out where it WILL get read.
Lynn, if you're interested, I'd be happy to sit down for a talk/interview about the new tools and pricing. Just drop me a line at the email I put in with this comment.
Everyone else, thanks so much for sharing your thoughts here. I hope I've addressed them effectively in this space, but if not, I'm sure you'll let me know 🙂
Thank you Justin.
I appreciate the clarification. In the original post: "the assumption was that Aweber would have people trapped into the new pricing model…" - this was a comment I had heard from others. Unfortunately there was a lot of misunderstanding about the price increase - which caused a bit of panic.
I was glad to see you made the upgrade an *option* to existing customers. Good move.
I admit that I didnt see the email on 6/10. I received a note about the Email Analytics package with my recent affiliate check... but it also didnt address how these changes affect affiliates.
I think the biggest concern - now that we have the facts straight - is the lack of communication both to loyal customers and loyal affiliates.
I would love to set up a time to address some points and bring up some questions from my readers. I'll send you an email 😉
I just got off the phone with a lovely lady support rep. I am a bit relieved to say the least. This wasn't covered by Justin, and was what "I" was most confused about.
First, you were right, I was wrong, only the newbies get the extra features.
That said...
1. The "feature upgrade fee" and the "subscriber upgrade fees" are TWO SEPARATE ENTITY'S. I was most confused, now I'm not.
Take those of us still under 500 subs. I'm now paying $179+ per year. Upgrading the features would put me at $193+ per year.....a simple $14 bump for all the cool features? Not sounding so bad now!
THEN when my subs rise above certain levels, the new subs rates AUTOMATICALLY kick in.
As someone else pointed out tho...if you have X amount of subs and cant afford it, you're doing something wrong...no offense 🙂
Most of you already knew what I just wrote, but it was what I was most confused about.
Here's another little nugget I picked up though, and this was helpful also...
Your new pricing starts IMMEDIATELY upon upgrades...if you pay by the year (always the best option), they immediately give you a pro-rated refund on the remainder of the year, bill you for the new year which then starts THAT DAY.
Moral of the story...be sure to have enough on your card to cover the difference right then and there 🙂
Hope that helps someone, it helped me.
Oh, the subscriber bumps aren't really "upgrades", I just like to call it that.
I confused the support woman with that too. LOL
And yes, I still think the pricing page should actually SAY something to the effect of "all levels get all features FOR NEW SUBSCRIBERS". 🙂
OK I think I'm done now...
Anita - naughty naughty, did you miss my last post? 🙂
The thing I may not have made clear, to answer 1 and 2....NO we are grandfathered all the way around....if you are now paying $19.95 for 10,000 you will continue to do so until you upgrade for the new features.
(This is where we lucked out and the newbies didn't.)
Sooo, do not upgrade and your subscriber rate stays the same and you don't get the new features...Upgrade and get the new features, and the new subscriber pricing kicks in.
I just called again to confirm this....hopefully Justin will be back to confirm it again again. 🙂
Thank you so much Justin! I appreciate you taking the time for us. (Which if you look closely ... That is all we really wanted anyway. Just a little more explanation.)
I, like Lynn did not see an email from Aweber on 6/10. I admit, I'm not good at checking the blog as often as I probably should. However, I do read the emails. I look at it this way, the important things will be sent to my email - which I'm sure you probably do.
The only thing I seen about the new stats was when you called for Beta testers - which I guess I didn't "make the cut" for and a small note on my most recent affiliate check.
So, since you are here - do you mind if I ask you a few questions? At this point I'm completely and totally confused. I blame a lot of this on having to "jump around" and reading other's opinions etc. If you wouldn' t mind, I would love the answers concise and from the horse's mouth.
Question 1: Those of us that were customers before anything happened and were under the 10,000 subscriber base - the basic "$19.95/month package". Does anything change?
More specifically - does the new "500 sub" base apply to us? I have many mailing lists in my account and I'm not sure where I am but I have a feeling if I'm not already over 500 - I will be very shortly. So, to bulk this all into one hopefully more simple question. To keep paying the $19.95/month package - do we need to keep under 500 OR 10,000 subscribers?
Question 2: If our new "base" IS 500 instead of 10,000 ... let's say I have 575 subscribers and I did not opt for the new stat upgrades. What is my new cost (on a monthly package)?
(Phew, I hope I didn't confuse as much as I am confused now, lol!)
Question 3: This question is in reference to a question Jennie H asked above. Do any of these changs affect our commissions as affiliates? I'm assuming it stays the 20% as it was?
Question 4: I don't know how closely you read the comments above but, me personally, I recommend Aweber on a regular basis. Majority of the folks in my "network" are very small home business owners. The main thing that these folks are looking at is this:
- What is it going to cost?
- How many subscribers does this include?
- How many lists can I have per account.
These were the points that made Aweber perfect for the small home business owner. Originally, $19.95/month - Up to 10,000 subscribers - Unlimited lists. This made Aweber above and beyond the best option for the small business owner.
Most of these people are not in the least ready for all the "extras" that were recently introduced. So, my question is ... with all these changes. What are the new answers to those above questions?
I would LOVE to continue to recommend Aweber to my network.
Question 5: This is more of a request rather than a question. Since I do recommend Aweber so much, I've become the "to go girl" with any questions from my "network of friends, visitors and readers". I've been bombarded w/ questions and at this point, I'm not sure I have the correct answers.
Could I request maybe an "FAQ" page - explaining all of this a little more in detail as to how it does and doesn't affect customers before the changes AND new customers after.
And now my suggestion is that this is posted on your blog AND sent out to customers and affiliates.
Again, thank you so much for your time on this.
Thank you Lynn for bringing this too my attention. I just went through all of my deleted emails from June 9-13th and there wasn't one from aweber. What if my VA had clicked on something accidently? Wow would I be out some dough.
No announcement when I logged in just now either. I'm curious if that is because I prepaid the year? It sounded like Dennis was the only other one that didn't get an upgrade page and he's also prepaid. Just curious.
I do feel this should have been sent out in a better way. I'll have to look for a different service to recommend to others because my clients are just starting out and can not afford the new prices. 🙁 Which stinks because aweber is the best.
Hi Anita,
I'm happy to answer questions 🙂
Only if you upgrade to the new Email Web Analytics tools. If you don't want them just yet, then nothing changes - including your current pricing.
The affiliate program is still 20% on direct sales and 10% on sub-affiliate sales.
Since our pricing has changed, this changes the dollar amounts on your commissions for new customers (as well as those who you previously referred who then upgrade).
This has the potential to earn more money for you - provided the customers you bring in succeed at cultivating a following. (Hint: that means that even more than before, it's in your best interest to help people succeed!)
$19/month to get started (as opposed to the $19.95/month we used to start at).
Not to be nitpicky, but we never gave anyone subscribers - you have to attract (and retain) them! 😉
Storage of the first 500 subscribers is included in the $19/month. As you cultivate a following that grows beyond that point, your pricing will go up - but so should your revenues and profits.
As many as you want - just like before. The difference is that now you can better tailor your message to their needs and wants.
I agree that it's important to make sure you know what your options are and how each one affects you. That said, I think we'll be more likely to have a "fact sheet" (PDF) that we send to pre-upgrade customers than we are to have an FAQ page or blog post that could cause confusion for our newer customers who never used AWeber before the recent changes.
@Dennis
Oops - sorry about that! All that hard work you and I ignored it :"> Well, not REALLY ignored but you know ...
@Justin
Thank you once again! This clears things up so much better! I honestly feel like I really know what's going on now 😉
And yeah - you do have to admit - you were being just a tad nitpicky. Of course I didn't think you gave us the subscribers, lol! BUT - good catch!
So through all that, Aweber still has one of the best options. I'm like Val - I think Aweber is an absolutely awesome provider. I really want to continue to recommend it - and will. I'm sure once Val sees the answers from you, she will feel better about it all as well.
I know she's in the same type of network I am and the $19/month package is still good for them.
But sorry - I have to at least give this a mention. Couldn't you and the powers that be of Aweber put some serious thought into and reconsider upping the 500 subscribers to just a bit more. Dare I say it? Pretty, pretty, please?
I understand as a current customer before all of this - I'm not affected by it. However, I'm suggesting it on behalf of the future potential small business owners.
I don't even need an answer on this ... just toss it into your "customer suggestion box" 😉