It’s no secret that I like Aweber Communications. I’ve talked about them quite a few times on this blog and recommended them during my Super-Panel at Blog World Expo. During that panel, I said that giving a choice between building my RSS list or building a mailing list, I would choose the mailing list every time and that Awber is the best service to use.
The mailing list’s advantage over RSS is you can use it to promote things that are not part of your blog while RSS only sends out your recent blog posts. Another important factor is many people still do not know what RSS is but they understand what a newsletter mailing list is. Fortunately, Aweber gives you the best of both worlds.
With its Blog Broadcast service, Aweber can take your RSS feed and instantly turn it into a ready to mail newsletter. Aweber also reports your subscription count to FeedBurner so having readers signed up to your newsletter also increases your feed counter. Aweber accounts for 1/3 of my RSS readership.
It seems all my recommendations of Aweber got the attention of their Education Marketing Manger, Justin Premick. When I got home from Blog World, I found this gift in the mail.
Yes, Aweber sent me a pair of socks. They’re not just any socks, they’re Aweber socks! I must admit, it’s pretty unique and I’m sure when Justin sent it he was thinking, “Maybe John will blog about it!” Smart move Justin. Creativity like this is why I use Aweber and why you should too.
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{ 41 comments }
Man alive! What sort of promotion would you have to do to get a jacket?
Does Aweber make a jacket?
I’ve seen people with Aweber jackets before at conferences… they’re the nice fleece kind, perfect for fall.
Hmmmm…. jackets, socks, whats next?
Boxers?
shirts/ undies
What’s so special bout this socks ?
How about T-Shirts or belts?
if you only knew about other email service providers…..
Are you saying that he could get more free stuff from others?
Nice socks!!!
Original gift really…
That is a one in a million gift and very odd.
Greg Ellison
Watch out, John! It could be a trap… after all, you just accepted DeFeet. Ooh, yeah, I know. I’ll shut up now.
Hi John,
Wow, those got to you fast!
Thanks again for using and telling people about AWeber. Enjoy the socks!
P.S. I did hope you’d blog about ‘em
Haha, very smart of you!
I concur. It was very manipulative of you.
Now that is being creative… I’ll have to check out Aweber now and see what the defeet is about… haha.
Aweber is awesome , I use it and love all the functions and I am still waiting for my gift.
Healthcare Aweber style
Now that’s a weird gift.
Now I have to check what Aweber is all about. But I wonder what makes that pair of socks strange?
lol socks?
Now that is some damn fine marketing. Who knows if someone would’ve made an additional post if they had received a duffel bag full of stuff, but no one can resist posting about something as inordinate as socks! Great move…
why just one pair? you got to steal some more from them John
Awesome I want some!
Interesting gift. They do say it’s the thought that counts!
During the late 90′s dot com boom I was given a couple of pairs of socks by network equipment maker Ascend. It was a smart move on their part because I often got comment from people when wearing them. They actually lasted longer than the company did!
I hope you enjoy your Aweber socks John!
Can you just give it to me through a contest?
Hehehe..
I like that gift look cute like me, hehehe….
i like the gift like me hehehe…
At first I thought why socks? But then I thought if they would have sent you the regular t-shirt, hoodie, or customized pens, etc you would not have made a blog post about it. Socks are strange but there strange enough to make it a good post. Great marketing on their part, or at least I hope that’s what they were going for.
They appear small, wonder if they fit? Great way to grab your attention
Those aren’t just plain socks…those are some of the best cycling socks you can buy. deFeet is known for making exceptionally good outdoor sport socks and anyone can order them with custom logos or words. I’ve often considered doing it for my site since it is about cycling.
My favorite is the Woolie Boollie (good cool weather sock and really soft and comfy – http://www.defeet.com/product.php?id=175
Took the words out of my mouth. I love deFeets I have a whole section of my MTB bag devoted to deFeet socks, including two pairs of Florida Gator deFeets. Gonna have to talk to Justin to see what I have to do to get a pair of Aweber socks to wear to my races.
Nice clean socks ..that made you write a post about them
Zk,
Imagine if you sent him some socks.. You might get free exposure
Almost free, that is for the price of a pair of socks..
There is something to say about giving people gifts that are so unexpected that they just sit and stare at them wondering what in the world it is, or what you are going to do with it, or how you could “pass it on” as a gift to another person. Nice job aweber. I signed up for aweber and this is what happened:
1) they called me and left a vm (i didn’t answer it b/c I thought that it was the IRS again…they can get a little sneaky.
2) the cute sounding lady on the vm let me know that they not only thanked me but that if I needed them that they would be here for me. I might be better to have a customer service rep than a girl friend.
3) I appreciate the vid tutorials and webinars that are available so that I get things started right away.
4) I have more confidence in chow’s recomendations. Besides that shoe endorsed them too.
In fact maybe chow and shoe should start “chowmoney’s recomended list for money for chow” companies. This would be the premium list. ka-ching, ka-ching, ka-ching
I got the Aweber socks recently in the mail, too.
I’m also a fan and am profiling their service in my next book.
The CEO heard about the book and sent me socks. Quite a surprise!
Thanks for the info John.
Are you going to put them up and away like a trophy or are you going to wear them? Nice gift!
Did you even read the post? I think some people just go straight to the comments section and post a bunch of shit.
This was a spam comment. I get the same exact phrase on my blog…But I don’t approve it.