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Wrung Out Like an Old Dishcloth!

By
Services for Real Estate Pros with Marte Cliff Copywriting

Whew! What an evening this one has been.

For months I've been going in circles trying to deal with auto responders. I try to faithfully send my real estate marketing ezine once a week, and ever since I quit Constant Contact (after they threw away 90% of my list in December,) it's been a struggle. exhausted lady

Entering the messages was awful! I kept getting no spaces between paragraphs - or two spaces! So I tried using the templates at Get Response and that was so bad it was almost funny. I was starting to feel like sending my ezine was like saying "Hey, look at me, I'm really stupid!"

This week I thought I'd found the solution. I got wind of a different auto responder and it looked like it was going to work well. I did a test message a few days ago and it looked good. I entered my names from Get Response and that seemed to work right too.

So tonight I didn't expect trouble. 

The first thing I did was enter the entire messsage and then not save it correctly. The whole thing went away - gone, vanished, kaput!

So I took a deep breath and started over.

That was fine until I tried to figure out how to schedule it to go out. The darned thing kept taking me around in circles until I didn't know what in the world I was doing.

What I didn't realize was that when I had said "yes, I want to schedule a test message," that was all it was going to do.

And not right away. Because I thought I was scheduling the real message, I had the test message set for tomorrow!

I guess I won't say I want a test message next time. And now I've deleted all the duplicates - I think. So I won't be tripping over them or getting them mixed up with new messages. I hope.

Anyway, 4 hours and a headache later, I think the message is going to go out tomorrow morning. At least I hope so.

too tiredWouldn't it be wonderful if we could take all the best parts of one system and add them to the best parts of the other systems - and get one really super autoresponder?

Now I think I'll join the cat for a nice little nap...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Image of lady courtesy of Dreamstine.

 

Comments (11)

MichelleCherie Carr Crowe .Just Call. 408-252-8900
Get Results Team...Just Call (408) 252-8900! . DRE #00901962 . Licensed to Sell since 1985 . Altas Realty - San Jose, CA
Family Helping Families Buy & Sell Homes 40+ Years

I know technology can be SO frustrating when it doesn't work.

Apr 13, 2011 08:33 PM
Lynn B. Friedman CRS Atlanta, GA 404-617-6375
Atlanta Homes ODAT Realty - Love our Great City - Love our Clients! Buckhead - Midtown - Westside - Atlanta, GA
Concierge Service for Our Atlanta Sellers & Buyers

Dear Marte -

I share your frustration at the disappearing copy! I share your desire to have ONE full featured location on which to write!

ActiveRain University offers classes for free for blogging and I learned a to use a tool called Scribefire!

Since the AR blog posting area offers limited "enhancements", now I write on SCRIBEFIRE on the FOXFIRE/MOZILLA browser
- and add color and change font sizes! 
Then I copy/paste into blog on AR.

I love the classes offered by AR University. Steven Graham is a great teacher.

Have a happy day -
Lynn

PS  Can you tell I did the comment on SCRIBEFIRE?  (LOL)
Yes - I know that it is confusing and distracting with too many colors!

Apr 13, 2011 08:45 PM
Marte Cliff
Marte Cliff Copywriting - Priest River, ID
Your real estate writer

Michelle - I think it wasn't so much that it didn't work as that I didn't know how to "work it." I thought I was saving my work - but didn't save it in the right place, so it went away.

Then I did that goofy thing with the test message - That was completely different from any of the other autoresponders I've tried. All the rest let you test immediately.

It was just different - and I couldn't find any instructions to tell me what I was doing wrong.

I THINK that once I learn the system I'll like it better than the others - because entering the copy and using the various boxes is simple (as long as you save with the correct button!) It's setting up the delivery that's frustrating, but I expect I can learn.

Lynn - Yes, I can tell you were having fun! I've used Scribefire a few times - usually I forget until I'm halfway finished and then say "Oh well.."

Apr 13, 2011 09:01 PM
Retired Notworking
Tallahassee, FL

Computer work can be very frustrating. Maybe you should consider going back to Constant Contact and taking regular backups of your contacts - you should do that regardless of which software you decide to use.

Apr 13, 2011 11:47 PM
Phil Leng
Retired - Kirkland, WA
Phil Leng - Retired

Hi Marte,

I got a head ache just reading your post.

I think I will join the cat!

Phil

Apr 14, 2011 01:16 AM
Mimi Foster
Falcon Property Company - Colorado Springs, CO
Voted Colorado Springs Best Realtor

Isn't it awful when electronic things don't work?  And you want to scream at your computer, and wish you could pick it up and throw it thru the window?  I am gentle of spirit, but there are few things that can take me from gentle to *itch in 2.2 like a computer or software malfunction.  I would say 'thanks for the post,' but I felt your frustration, and I didn't appreciate it :) LOL

Apr 14, 2011 03:45 AM
Marte Cliff
Marte Cliff Copywriting - Priest River, ID
Your real estate writer

Colleen - I might have considered that, if they hadn't treated me like a criminal. I did NOT get any of my names by devious means, but they certainly implied that I did!

I like your idea of taking regular back-ups - I'll do that!

Phil - That cat usually has the right idea. He doesn't let anything bother him!

Mimi - Sorry! You've had enough frustrating days of your own lately, you don't need mine!

Apr 14, 2011 06:01 AM
Tammy Lankford,
Lane Realty Eatonton, GA Lake Sinclair, Milledgeville, 706-485-9668 - Eatonton, GA
Broker GA Lake Sinclair/Eatonton/Milledgeville

I feel your pain.  I really feel you pain.

Apr 14, 2011 01:13 PM
Marte Cliff
Marte Cliff Copywriting - Priest River, ID
Your real estate writer

Thanks Tammy - I'm better today, after a good night's sleep!

Apr 14, 2011 02:22 PM
Chris Ann Cleland
Long and Foster Real Estate - Gainesville, VA
Associate Broker, Bristow, VA

I had a technology runaround today when I could email a contract to my office admin, but NOT the agent in our office who is representing the buyer.  Why?  We're in the same company?  Same servers. I gave up and drove the paper copy to the office. 

Apr 14, 2011 03:02 PM
Marte Cliff
Marte Cliff Copywriting - Priest River, ID
Your real estate writer

I love technology - I love the Internet. If not for the Internet I would not be able to do the work I do. BUT... it sure can be frustrating.

On Monday I dropped everything and hurried to get some "emergency" work done for a client. When I didn't hear from him by afternoon I wrote to make sure he'd gotten the copy. No - he hadn't. I re-sent it and that time it went through just fine.

And lately, when I try to use Twitter, about half the time I get an error message telling me to try again later.

The times when it doesn't work are both frustrating and a puzzle.

Apr 14, 2011 04:02 PM