November 20thMailLoop 7: Installed Software that Nails The Basics
Christopher Kenton
I have to preface this review by saying that never in a million years would I have thought I’d be singing the praises of this type of software. But when software does it right, you have to give praise where it’s due. Here’s the story.
I number of years ago–maybe 2002–I was doing a lot of email marketing at my agency. There weren’t all of the SaaS offerings there are today, and in fact, there weren’t a whole lot of options out there for small companies trying to do serious email marketing. Somehow I came across MailLoop, and I have to tell you I was dubious. No matter how you access information about the software, you wind up staring at a wall of long-form marketing copy. “But wait, there’s more!” You know, the kind of marketing that’s used to sell get-rich -quick schemes to people ready to make millions from the comfort of their own home. What can I say? I was desperate for a piece of working software and willing to try anything. I kind of chuckled at the “lifetime upgrade” offer and I pulled the trigger.
I was surprised to find that the software was actually really well built, and did all of the basics I needed it to do. Most of all, it allowed me to manage multiple lists of any size, automate opt-out and exclude lists, and set up newsletters as well as email. I used it for a couple of years, went through at least one upgrade, and then moved on to a new role where I didn’t need to manage my own email marketing. That was over 4 years ago.
Fast forward to this week. I’m doing a webcast next week on social media marketing, and I wanted to send out an email invite to a couple of my contact lists. I’m in the middle of transitioning away from SugarCRM, after a lot of frustration with list management and email marketing. I could send the email out via an Outlook mail merge, but my hosting provider jams any email with over 100 recipients. I could set up an account with iContact, or Constant Contact, but the last thing I want to to do at the moment is sign up for another service. I just need to get some emails out.
And then I remembered MailLoop. Only problem was, I’d upgraded all of my computers since I last used MailLoop. I didn’t have the software anymore. But I did have that “lifetime upgrade”, remember? So, with nothing to lose, I found MailLoop 7 on the internet, complete with their new and improved long-form copy. Sheesh. But I finally found a corporate number, called support, and believe it or not, after buying the software 6 years ago, they simply asked me for my name, updated my account information, and sent me a link for the latest rev of the software. I had it installed on my machine 20 minutes later, and works just like it should.
Now, I’m not comparing MailLoop 7 to all the other email marketing products out there. I know there are a lot of SaaS options that are well regarded. But when a company creates a solid product that’s still solid after 6 years, and they provide customer service like you expect without making you jump through hoops, and they do all of that at exactly the moment you need to solve a problem–they deserve a good review. Long-form marketing copy notwithstanding. And if you’re interested in the product, I can help you cut to the chase. It’s $395 after you do the free trial. I think the deal comes with a number of other free software products guaranteed to make you a millionaire.
I have to preface this review by saying that never in a million years would I have thought I’d be singing the praises of this type of software. But when software does it right, you have to give praise where it’s due. Here’s the story.
I number of years ago–maybe 2002–I was doing a lot of email marketing at my agency. There weren’t all of the SaaS offerings there are today, and in fact, there weren’t a whole lot of options out there for small companies trying to do serious email marketing. Somehow I came across MailLoop, and I have to tell you I was dubious. No matter how you access information about the software, you wind up staring at a wall of long-form marketing copy. “But wait, there’s more!” You know, the kind of marketing that’s used to sell get-rich -quick schemes to people ready to make millions from the comfort of their own home. What can I say? I was desperate for a piece of working software and willing to try anything. I kind of chuckled at the “lifetime upgrade” offer and I pulled the trigger.
I was surprised to find that the software was actually really well built, and did all of the basics I needed it to do. Most of all, it allowed me to manage multiple lists of any size, automate opt-out and exclude lists, and set up newsletters as well as email. I used it for a couple of years, went through at least one upgrade, and then moved on to a new role where I didn’t need to manage my own email marketing. That was over 4 years ago.
Fast forward to this week. I’m doing a webcast next week on social media marketing, and I wanted to send out an email invite to a couple of my contact lists. I’m in the middle of transitioning away from SugarCRM, after a lot of frustration with list management and email marketing. I could send the email out via an Outlook mail merge, but my hosting provider jams any email with over 100 recipients. I could set up an account with iContact, or Constant Contact, but the last thing I want to to do at the moment is sign up for another service. I just need to get some emails out.
And then I remembered MailLoop. Only problem was, I’d upgraded all of my computers since I last used MailLoop. I didn’t have the software anymore. But I did have that “lifetime upgrade”, remember? So, with nothing to lose, I found MailLoop 7 on the internet, complete with their new and improved long-form copy. Sheesh. But I finally found a corporate number, called support, and believe it or not, after buying the software 6 years ago, they simply asked me for my name, updated my account information, and sent me a link for the latest rev of the software. I had it installed on my machine 20 minutes later, and works just like it should.
Now, I’m not comparing MailLoop 7 to all the other email marketing products out there. I know there are a lot of SaaS options that are well regarded. But when a company creates a solid product that’s still solid after 6 years, and they provide customer service like you expect without making you jump through hoops, and they do all of that at exactly the moment you need to solve a problem–they deserve a good review. Long-form marketing copy notwithstanding. And if you’re interested in the product, I can help you cut to the chase. It’s $395 after you do the free trial. I think the deal comes with a number of other free software products guaranteed to make you a millionaire.
I am wondering if I can use leads that I have received from a company that I was working with for a short time. The leads I receive are from people that have responded to a request for more information regarding a business opportunity. I would like to be able to use these leads, as I have thousands of them to use in a new online opportunity I am now involved with. Does Mailloop allow me to use these without being accused of spamming? What if I don’t have the IP address for each of these leads? Is that a problem that would keep me from being able to use them? Thanks for any help U can give.
December 18th, 2008 at 2:02 pm
Hi Bob–
Couple of things. Not sure what you mean about leads “you received from a company”. If you mean you hired the company to generate leads for a business opportunity you were offering, then you can contact those leads legitimately. If you mean you worked for the company, and the leads were generated for that company’s business opportunity, then you can’t use them legitimately for your own purposes.
MailLoop doesn’t know whether you’re spamming or not. It’s just a delivery mechanism for bulk email. It doesn’t require an IP address, only an email address.
To avoid spam complaints, make sure that you offer an unsubscribe option in the email (Mailloop can handle unsubscribe requests automatically), and contact information in case the recipient wants to complain. Make sure you have a legitimate pre-existing business relationship with the recipient, which can include a request for more information about a specific business opportunity, or an opt-in to receive related information about business opportunities from other 3rd parties.
Hope that helps.
December 18th, 2008 at 2:19 pm
The Biggest Problem with Mailloop.
To use Mailloop it needs to be registered online through the Internet Marketing server. The problem is that if your computer crashes, you need to contact the company to have your licence un registered. Otherwise you will not be able to re register or use mailloop.
This is where you see the real worth of the company through their support department. Unfortunately, I have found the Internet Marketing company to fail miserably when it comes to contacting you, this has been part of my experience since first buying mailloop over six years ago.
Again after trying to get a response to my emails, numbering over 11, and again still no answer.
Go for gold Mailloop. All talk no action…..
Anthony
March 9th, 2009 at 1:29 am
Are there more testimonials around the site?
March 12th, 2009 at 11:30 am
Commenting usually isnt my thing, but ive spent an hour on the site, so thanks for the info
March 12th, 2009 at 12:22 pm
This might be a little off subject, but have you looked at seoclientprospectingrobot dot com? Just wondering if you have any reviews of it, I’m thinking of buying a copy, and wanted to see if anyone had bought a copy yet.
March 14th, 2009 at 1:44 am
Enjoying reading your blog. Hard work always pays off.
May 1st, 2009 at 2:31 am
This is really an informative post - looking good. Keep at it! I like your graphics on this site.
June 23rd, 2009 at 9:46 am
Wow ! great interesting, thanks for this post. Could I replicate this post on my site?
July 3rd, 2009 at 7:42 am