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08/03/2001 Archived Entry: "3-August-2001 -- WebWord Subscriptions"

WebWord Subscriptions -- A few months ago, Microsoft decided to shaft their mailing list owners. For almost three years I used their Listbot web service to manage my lists (i.e., WebWord Addiction and WebWord Usability Newsletter). I was extremely loyal. I was so satisfied with the service that last year I decided to start paying to have my newsletters sent out without Listbot's advertisements. But that was not enough for Microsoft. The Listbot folks cited "market research" that indicated that their customers wanted more features and more functionality. Of course, this meant that Listbot would need to jettison their free service and up the price of their new "Small Business" list management service. I'm sorry, but that is such a total load of bullshit. I know many mailing list owners that were using Listbot and they all liked the free (ad supported) Listbot service. The 10-15% of list owners using the paid service liked that arrangement too. But, no big surprise, Microsoft decided to get greedy. They added "subscriber and campaign reports", "HTML mail capability" and "one-click subscriber opt-in/out" to Listbot -- these are not things that most small list owners need. They have changed the focus; they are now targeting small businesses. That might be good for them, but it is bad for many people. As many of you know, when I switched to my new web hosting provider, I decided to install Greymatter, which I have talked about a lot. I love it (Note: It was free, but I made a small donation -- I will pay for quality). I also decided to get away from Listbot and Microsoft. I'm now using a mailing list management package right from my own cgi-bin on my web server (i.e., Post Office Pro 4.0). It wasn't free and it isn't perfect, but it costs less than Listbot and I have a lot more control. I have to deal with a few headaches but it makes me sick to think about sticking with the Microsoft solution. I'd much rather buy software from an independent developer in cases like this. I know they are focused and they deeply care about their customers. They are also hungry and are willing to fight -- I like that attitude. By the way, please visit my new Subscriptions Page and let me know what you think.

Replies: 3 comments

I do like the new subscription page, but it might scare some people because there is no infomation on unsubscribing.
As a long time subscriber this doesn't bother me, but some newer users might not like the feeling of being tied in!

Posted by Alastair @ 08/06/2001 07:28 AM EST

I agree that the lack of unsubscribing information is jarring. However, the lack of a privacy policy is a dealbreaker. Hey, you're *probably* not going to sell my email address to spammers, credit reporting agencies, and the NSA, but why should I trust you?

Jakob Nielsen has a great article on mailing list usability which touches on this point: http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20000820.html

Posted by Mark Pilgrim @ 08/07/2001 03:55 PM EST

Why don't you use a commercial list provider like dundee.net? (http://www.dundee.net). They use Lyris, which in my opinion, is very cool list management software.

Madhu

Posted by Madhu Menon @ 08/08/2001 09:07 AM EST

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