About Mass Mailing Again ...

[Scroller]

I'm having a client which want us to build a mass mailing tool (ASP) for them. They are sending out subscribed industry targeted mailers ... meaning the recipients actually paid to get the newsletters.

They are estimating a volume of 8K-10K per day (Mon-Fri), probably in batches ... very low rejected mail rate. But I think that's still a quite a big volume and may slow down email for everyone else? Will it actually be possible? Or should I be looking at a dedicated plan just for this?

I always hate to say no but that's just too many. You're going to need to look else where to support this client. Even putting them into batches would cause problems and do things like delay everyone's email.

Sorry

[Scroller]

yes, understand that perfectly. Will it solved the problem if we purchase a dedicated windows plan with Vortech ... or will we still face the same limitation on a dedicated machine?

[Brangwyn]

I seem to recall Brad saying they are no longer going to be offering dedicated hosting.

<edit>
Actually it was Vixen

http://www.matrixwebhosting.net/foru...&threadid=5001
</edit>

[somereseller]

Just get a rackschack server for this. You might even set it up as MX only.

[Vixen]

I am not sure why MichaelB said you could not do this but actually you can AS LONG AS WE RECEIVE NO COMPLAINTS.

[jmbeach]

Originally posted by Vixen
I am not sure why MichaelB said you could not do this but actually you can AS LONG AS WE RECEIVE NO COMPLAINTS.

I think it was a 'volume' issue - 8k-10k messages per day from these lists.

I don't know, but that doesn't sound like a lot to me, considering that their must be many times that going through the Matrix servers everyday - with spam and all.

Maybe someone can shed light on what types of volume Matrix already gets with email.

Well the 8k-10k might not be too much of a problem, but if they all rejected it sure would be, however I am by no means even an official word, michael or vixen's word would both be "higher" that mine for sure.

If someone is actually playing for a newsletter I'd think they want it.

[Vixen]

Actually I spoke with Brad before I made the post and he said it would not be an issue unless we received complaints or they backed up the mail server with rejected email.

[Scroller]

but I still kinda think that's unfair to other users if I'm gonna choke up the queue on such regular basis ... and furthermore, while the client may say that their rejected mail rate is low, I can never be sure until they start mailing it out ... or am I worrying too much?

I understand from the client that they are currently using Doubleclick ... and it's costing a bomb.

[Brangwyn]

Thing is once you say its ok to one person, the domino effect comes into play, it may be fine for one 8-10k list to be sent, but people see thats ok and start letting customers do similar, all of a sudden you end up with a dozen people sending out large lists and you quickly go from 8k messages per day to 80k messages per day.

[jmbeach]

Originally posted by Scroller
but I still kinda think that's unfair to other users if I'm gonna choke up the queue on such regular basis ... and furthermore, while the client may say that their rejected mail rate is low, I can never be sure until they start mailing it out ... or am I worrying too much?

I think you'll be okay so long as you keep this list under control like Brangwyn said. Just be sure that you're sending out mail in chunks, and not 10,000 at once. I too have smaller lists that I send out but keep them to 100 at a time. I just run a script that runs 100, then 2 minutes later, runs the next 100. With a cronjob, I can run this script automatically.

Once you start getting into multiple 5000+ lists, you will want to look into a dedicated machine.

Also be sure not to undersell this service. Look around at some of the competition to see what they charge are do it for a little less if you can. Stay competitive, but keep your prices at a point to where you can easily afford a dedicated box when your needs require it.

I'm curious what Doubleclick charges, and how their pricing scheme works. If it's a per message price, or something more.

[Brangwyn]

Maybe consider getting a rackshack still and actually go into direct competition with doubleclick .. with a rackshack being what $99 or something for the smallest box, couldn't be that hard to generate enough revenue from mailing lists to pay for itself ...... hmmm thats not a bad idea actually .. from what I've read doubleclick have or had some dodgey practices anyway

[Scroller]

rackshack is doing linux boxes only, i'm actually thinking of getting window boxes so that we can use it for other applications as well. so now waiting for Michael (rapidcolo) to give me an cost estimate. not sure if Vortech is doing dedicated anymore though?

[jmbeach]

I don't think Vortech has anymore dedicated machines available. I do think Brad is putting together some pre-build machines that you could probably colo with them though. Would be more $ upfront most likely.

Rackshack should have Windows in a few weeks, from what they say anyhow. You never know though. Also, you'd better be a good Windows admin if you plan on managing this yourself.

I too wish there was a cost effective way for Vortech to do dedicated, as I would be one in line to get a good Windows machine, but alas not all is perfect in Wonderland.