Boy, what a failure I am.

I got kicked off my web host and my list host in less than a 30 day period.

What a hassle this has been.  It really slows a person down and it makes me want to throw in the towl.

My web host said my site was generating abnormal repeated request to the server and congested it.  Ok, thanks, what does that mean?  They wouldn’t even help trouble-shoot the thing with me.  Jerks.

Have you ever tried manually backing up multiple sql databases and then try to get them to all line up perfectly on a new host?

Just when the dust was settling, my stupid list host, who I’d been with since 1998, told me they would be kicking me off in 2 weeks if I didn’te improve some metrics.

They said my list of 25,000 subscribers was generating 8% bounces on sign up confirmation emails and a 0.03% spam complaint metric on my follow-up messages.

Now, keep in mind that, without saying any names, a big list host has been famously kicking off clients lately, and little can be done to stop them once they decide to do it.

Well, I decided I’d try to save myself; I emailed them a TON…but never got any freaking replies.  I disabled my follow up messages, so that basically STOPPED any chance of spam complaints on those.  I posted a request for help on the Warrior Forum, and was told that the 8% bounces on sign-up confirmation emails was likely due to people signing up for my bonus, but were using fake emails.  So I added a captcha to my sign up form, turned on double opt-in, added a blurb about “you will receive a confirmation email to confirm your address is real”, etc etc.

But another person on the WForum said that my particular list host has also mainly been kicking off people who were still on legacy pricing.  AH-HA!  THAT EXPLAINS IT.

I had 25,000 subs but was still on their $20/mth legacy pricing model, whereas a client today with that amount of subs should be paying at least $150/mth.  Those jerks were targetting me for cancellation because I was too much of a drain on them for too little money!

Guess what they did after the 2 week “trial” period?  They cut me off.

They said my metrics didn’t improve.  What the freak?  That 0.03% complaint rate on follow ups went to ZERO.

All I can say is, I should have gone with Aweber right from the start.

I am still in the process of migrating my list into Optinzip.com, which is aweber’s discount brand.  It’s a cheaper solution because it comes with less bells and whistles.

So far they seem good.  Anyway, that’s all for now.  I’ll try to write more often.  I’m still trying to figure out a million other things.  Like how I could own a list of 25,000 subs and make only peanuts per month (in my main niche).  And why my traffic has gone up by 2000 to 5000 more pageviews per day yet my Adsense earnings per click have dropped 50 to 70% since November?

Or like how I added affiliate products and review pages (to my main site) and wrote about them in ezine posts, yet after 5 years in IM I have yet to make any affiliate income?

Keep reading so you can avoid doing all the useless stuff I do.