Now, I'm not ignorant about HTML or PHP, but I'm not a genius either. I usually pull a "freebie" script from a google search to do whatever I need to do in my website, and edit it if I need to. I've always used Jack's Formmail script for my HTML form needs, but this time, I was really having difficulty making it work.
I wanted a simple little form - name, email, phone - nothing fancy. Then I wanted it to send 2 copies of the form - one to my personal email and the other to the business email I set up with the auto responder. This way I could test in real time without having to log into 2 email accounts. If it worked properly, it would also trigger the vacation message in the business account.
It didn't work because there was a problem with the "sender" address. Nothing I could do would fix the problem, and because I've already spent hours trying to "debug" this problem, I decided to do something else.
I added an autoresponder address to my email aces account. For those of you unfamiliar with email aces, they offer comprehensive auto responder solutions for a very affordable price. I've been using their services for over a year now, but I finally had to upgrade to a bigger account to handle multiple auto responders. My first expense in this project: $14.95 for 30 days.
On the bright side, I have unlimited messages that I can send to up to 10 different lists (and I'm only working on one), so I could divide that total by 9 (because I already had one account), and I get a total cost for this account at $1.67 for 30 days.
Not a bad first investment.
I really wish Mike walked people through this step in the book. An auto responder system is crucial to list-building, and when you're trying to generate 20-50 MLM leads daily, you'll need a way to keep up with them that's organized. My little "form mail" plan would have been a no-cost option, but it is difficult to manage a list that grows by 20-50 names each day that way. I think spending a few pennies a day to automate the process is a smart investment.
I haven't read MLM Traffic Formula yet, but Building on a Budget recommends that you buy that package if you want to learn more about autoresponders and the how-to of building a capture page. As I've said before, that would break our $500 budget.
So to date, let's recap our expenses:
- Domain name registrar: $0
- Domain name host: $0
- Web Page Editor: $0 (use the plain text editor on your computer!)
- Autoresponder: $14.95 (only $1.67 is for this particular project, though)
Not too shabby!
Total time invested is creeping up on 10 hours, but that's because I spent a good 7 hours trying to debug the form mail script (and chase kids in between - it's a holiday here!). If I had remembered the account upgrade sooner, I would have been MUCH happier.
Email Aces makes the sign-up form super easy. They actually have a form generator that does most of the coding work for you. Simply answer a couple of questions and then copy and paste the code into your web page. So simple I could have saved hours!
Debug: nearly 7 hours (give or take with all the "mom" duties in between)
Autoresponder: nearly 15 minutes (with plenty of time for a nap!)
So now the page is done, and it works. And the re-direct page will be functional by the end of the weekend.
The first page is just black text, white background on a blue field. I didn't do any major cosmetic surgery to this page for a reason. I wanted it up today, and I wanted to test every aspect over time. You'll be able to see all the variations - as well as what worked and what didn't work - on future posts. This first page has all the elements Mike Dillard recommends for an effective capture page - including a change in font size for the headline.
I'll add variations over time, so you can see the evolution of the site.
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