Recent System Updates

2/17/2012 | Upgrade to Date Sequence Step Scheduling (specify year)

What it does and why you'll dig it

Now, in addition to being able to specify the day and month, you can also specify what year you want your steps to go out for Date Sequences.

Note that all sequences that were created prior to this update were updated as well. So if, for instance, you had set a step to fire on just March 3rd, then it would fire March 3rd every year for all subscribed to that sequence who had not yet received it (ie- those who'd been added to the sequence after the first time March 3rd send). The effect was that some you were getting surprised by messages being sent to your contacts that were promoting events from last year.  Our recent update fixed that by setting the year for all your old date sequence steps to be for 2012, which will prevent people from getting those steps who get added after that date in 2012. However, if you had the "Fire every year" checkbox checked, we've preserved that with the update to ensure you get the same functionality you were hoping for. So old steps scheduling area will look different than before but work the same.

The benefit of this update is that now you can be even more specific with when your date sequence steps fire, and even more importantly, feel secure that they won't fire when you're not expecting them to.

2/14/2012 | We've released Form Builder 2.0 to Beta Users

What it does and why you'll dig it

Check out the following resources to get all the info on the new form builder!

• Get on the list to become a beta tester
• Watch the Form Builder 2.0 Overview Video
• Learn about the all-new Form Conditions Feature
• Watch a step-by-step tutorial on creating Form Conditions
• Watch an in-depth webinar where we show you how to create an awesome form from scratch
• Grab the cheat sheet for quick reference
• Check out FAQs
• Report issues or give us your brilliant ideas!

1/31/2012 | We've added "Send From" Address on Invoices

What it does and why you'll dig it

We just pushed a new feature where, in the "Invoice Creator" you can make the Send From address come from:

1. Contact Owner
2. Seat email on the account
3. a Specific email address that you set yourself

The feature is located in a dropdown menu when you create a custom invoice.

11/09/2011 | We've added a "Dummy" Gateway

What it does and why you'll dig it

How to set up and use the "Dummy" Gateway

1. Go to the Sales tab
2. Click Setup on the left 
3. Click on Payment Gateways
4. Select "Dummy Gateway" from the dropdown, give it any name and any nickname and press save
5. Then when you're creating your Order Form and/or Upsell forms, use it
6. Host that form on a web page
7. Then when you fill out the Order Form, enter in the fake credit card number "4111111111111111" and make up the CVC and exp date
8. Once you submit, it will processes just like a normal order within OfficeAutopilot and you will see it in your contact log

11/07/2011 | PilotPress 1.5.5

We've just released the new version of our WordPress plugin that allows your WordPress site to integrate with your OfficeAutopilot account. Now it's even better.

What it does and why you'll dig it

• Change Username - Located in the customer center, this new feature allows members to change their username. \
• Use WordPress URL instead of site URL- This is only for a small number of our clients. If you need this feature, you likely already know what it does. If not, it's best we don't bore/confuse you by explaining it. 
• Disable Verify Host SSL- This is for the few users who are using self-signed SSL certificates. Another option that will be for a VERY small subsection of clients and you'll know who they are.

Plus we've fixed a few bugs as well: 

• Show if based on tags (go here for the specifics on which ones are available now)
• Data leakage issue we saw with WP 3.2.1 and PilotPress 1.5.4
• Inserting forms via the "Add OfficeAutopilot" Media" button. It works now and order forms don't lose the cost display anymore.

How to get/install it:

1. Log in to the back end of your WordPress site.
2. Click Plugins on the sidebar on the left
3. You should see an alert up at the top letting you know the new version is available. Click that to download it.
4. Now deactivate and uninstall the old version.
5. Finally, click 'Add New' on the Plugins, select 'Upload' up top
6. Upload the new PilotPress.zip file

10/29/2011 | OfficeAutopilot Membership Plugin: Released to Beta Testers

We've made our integration with WordPress even better with our new Membership Plugin. We've created a whole page that tells you all about right here. It's still in beta right now but if you'd like to apply to be a beta tester you can do so here. 

10/24/2011 | Pause / unpause sequences for a specific user (manually and automatically via a rule)

What it does and why you'll dig it

• Now if you click on the sequence within the collection to reveal the list of contacts who are subscribed to that sequence, you’ll see a little green ‘play’ arrow next to each person’s name. Click it, and it will pause the sequence for that person.
• Now, if there’s any reason why you think a person shouldn’t continue to get the steps of a particular sequence, you can simply pause it for that person without having to unsubscribe them from the sequence and then resubscribe them.
• You can also use a rule to trigger this to happen as well! Say for instance that you’ve got a membership site delivering drip content, say, a new lesson every week, but their credit card bounces. Of course you don’t want to keep delivering content while user is unpaid, right? Well now you can create a rule that pause the sequence until the credit card status equals "success".  

10/24/2011 | We've added the ability to remove from ALL sequences as a rule response

What it does and why you'll dig it

• This works in the very same way as any other rule response.
• This is very useful to apply to new customers. If you unsubscribe them from all sequences in one fell swoop when they purchase, using a rule, you effectively wipe the slate clean so you’re sure they’re not going to get any more marketing messages, then you can add to ‘em to your New Customer sequence. Terribly nifty, if we do say so ourselves.
  

10/24/2011 | Paulse / unpause sequences for a specific user (manually AND automatically via a rule)

What it does and why you'll dig it

• Now if you click on the sequence within the collection to reveal the list of contacts who are subscribed to that sequence, you’ll see a little green ‘play’ arrow next to each person’s name. Click it, and it will pause the sequence for that person.
• Now, if there’s any reason why you think a person shouldn’t continue to get the steps of a particular sequence, you can simply pause it for that person without having to unsubscribe them from the sequence and then resubscribe them.
• You can also use a rule to trigger this to happen as well! Say for instance that you’ve got a membership site delivering drip content, say, a new lesson every week, but their credit card bounces. Of course you don’t want to keep delivering content while user is unpaid, right? Well now you can create a rule that pause the sequence until the credit card status equals "success".
  

8/18/2011 | Improved credit card management

What it does and why you'll dig it

• You're now able to have the system send automated reminders to your subscription customers as their credit card's expiration date approaches
• Recharge all declined transactions as soon as the card is updated
• These two new nuggets take a great deal of manual legwork out of the equation for you and ensure you get paid what you're owed!

Step-by-step instructions to make it work for you!

To create automated reminders for your subscription customers to update their card

1. Create a Date Sequence called "Credit Card Expiration Reminder" Sequence
2. Add however many e-mail steps as you'd like reminders to go out, making sure to schedule each e-mail step in relation to the credit card expiration date
3. Be sure that the reminder info in the email corresponds to the scheduling for that particular e-mail step

To create the Active Response rule that charges newly updated credit cards for all past declined transactions

1. Create a new Active Response Rule
2. Name it "Charge newly updated credit cards for all past declined transactions"
3. Set "when should this response be triggered?" (trigger) to be: When Field is updated > Then set field to Charge Result
4. Set condition to be "Charge result > is equal to > success"
5. Set "What should happen" (response) to be: "Recharge all declined transactions"

Who gets it and when?

All  Office Autopilot Accounts starting 8/18/11! 

7/21/2011 | Pilotpress 1.5.4 is finally released!

What it does and why you'll dig it

• Super fast performance for all

• Works faster with WordPress 3.2

1. Show/Hide content based on a visitor being identified as a contact (eg. [show_if is_contact]You are a contact![/show_if]). You can read more about this on our Wordpress Integration page.
2. Show/Hide content based on a contact tag (eg. [show_if has_tag="likes_chicken"]You like chicken?[/show_if]). You can read more about this on our Wordpress Integration page.

• Any and all sites with Custom Post Types will now be able to incorporate PilotPress protection.

• Clean SSL support.
• "Lock out Users from Admin" setting.
• Content tab insert speedups.
• Small redirecting bugs in Affiliate Center.

Who gets it and when?

All  Office Autopilot Beta Accounts starting 7/21/2011

6/28/2011 | Facebook Integration! 

What it does and why you'll dig it

We've launched an awesome integration with Facebook! The integration allows you to create a "Connect with Facebook" button and place it onto your webpages. When they click it, your visitors essentially connect to their Facebook account and are opted in to your OfficeAutopilot system.

We also updated our Manual Transactions lightbox. If you go into a Contact Record within your account, and click "New Transaction." Once you select a product to log, you can change the price of the product for that single transaction.

Who gets it and when?

All  Office Autopilot Beta Accounts starting 6/28/2011

5/5/2011 | SPAM Assassin is COMING (ETA 5/10/11)! 

What it does and why you'll dig it

Spam Assassin is the leading, open-source spam filter, used by many of the biggest ISPs to ensure that spam (which comprises 91% of all e-mails sent world-wide, by the way) doesn't make it into our already over-crowded inboxes.

Thing is, Spam Assassin can also land e-mails that you send to your subscribers into the junk folder faster than you can say, "Wait a cotton-pickin' minute! That guy opted-in to get that e-mail from me!" That's because getting the opt-in is only the first battle in the war for your peoples' inbox. There's also the issue of your e-mails' content-- that is the wording and formatting of your e-mails.

Since a great deal of spam tends to have certain characteristics in common, Spam Assassin looks for those characteristics, and if an e-mail triggers too many of its rules, the message gets hosed. Until now, you just had to hope and pray you weren't ringing too many of Spam Assasin's bells.

Now that SendPepper and OfficeAutopilot are getting Spam Assassin built right in, each time you save an e-mail it will get checked against Spam Assassin's ever-growing set of rules. 

You'll then get a score back, letting you know if you're good to go (green), if you need to change certain things (yellow), or if your message is currently not fit for sending (red), in which case you'll need to amend the prescribed parts before the message leaves our server. Never fear! Spam Assassin will tell you all the offending elements that need to be changed!

Also, for those of you who really, really care are about maxing out your inbox delivery, our e-mail guru, Brendan Dubbels just wrote "Delivery 101". Read it. Use it. Love it.

Finally, as you may have noticed with the recent advent of "engagement judgement" features of Gmail and other ISPs, it's more important now than ever that your e-mails be of interest to your readers. Learn all about the value of engagement here. Learn more about Gmail's crackdown on boring e-mails here. 

Who gets it and when?

All SendPepper and Office Autopilot Accounts starting 5/5/2011

4/13/2011 | A ton of Small-ish (but killer) System Updates!

What they are and why you'll dig 'em!

1. Fixed 1ShoppingCart and UltraCart integrations so they will never give "undefined" as an error. Instead, if there is an error, it will list the specific error. This helps us find and fix issues with carts.
2. Segmentation of Promotional Tools by URL.  Now, when you go to the Affiliate Tab, and view your promo tools, they are now alphabetized by their URL's.
3. Added another supported gateway: 2Checkout
4. Products in dropdown are now listed alphabetically in the contact record and in dropdowns for creating rules. Whenever you need to select a product you'll now easily be able to locate it within a list that is organized alphabetically, rather than chronologically, as it used to be.  Now it's easy to keep your products organized and easily find-able by using standard naming conventions!
5. Deleted products no longer show up in rules dropdowns and in the dashboard
   
6. Failed orders now display in Contact Log as being 'Failed Order' (used to not display at all).
7. Eway Gateway can now refund
8. Cleaned up the look for the customer center and for invoices, both look awesome now!
9. Changed "Subscriptions" section to "Open Orders" in Contact Record. Originally in the contact record we had a section called "Subscriptions" which shows all current open orders and subscriptions for a given contact. It's now called "Open Orders" so it's inclusive of both.
10. Your affiliates' visits, leads, and purchases are now viewable in the Affiliate Center in WordPress.
11. When a contact double opts-in, it is now clearly logged as "Double Opted In" in the Contact Log.  Much more intuitive.
12. Small new style fix for Wordpress on the "Info Update Lightbox". Now when people log in your customer center and affiliate center and click "update info", the lightbox that pops up looks much slicker.

Who gets 'em and when?

Office Autopilot Accounts starting 4/13/2011

4/1/2011 | Pause Active Response Rules

What it does and why you'll dig it

Active response rules are awesome, right?! Except, of course, when you've got this pesky lil' situation where you've got a rule you want to NOT work for a hot minute. What then? Well, before, you were kickin' rocks...you had to remove the whole dang rule, and then re-create it when you wanted it to work again. That sucked. Now, you can just press the little green arrow next to the rule to pause it, then click it again to unpause it at your leisure.

A great use for this new feature would be...

If you've got rules set up that you only want to run during product launches, then you can create the rule, unpause for the your launch, and then pause it again once your launch is over, 'till the next time you need it.

Who gets it and when?

Office Autopilot Accounts starting 4/1/2011

3/10/2011 | PayJunction gateway is up and runnin'

What it does and why you'll dig it

If you use, or are thinking of using the payment gateway, PayJunction, you're in luck, because it now works with OfficeAutopilot's Pmt. Processing system! WOO HOO!

Who gets it and when?

Office Autopilot Accounts starting 3/10/2011

3/10/2011 | New Membership Site Feature: turn on/off Memberships with Rules

What it does and why you'll dig it

For those of you using PilotPress to make your WordPress site into a friggin' sweet Membership site, you can now use Active Response Rules to turn on/off Memberships. You might set up a rule that fires if a member's credit card is declined (you'd do this right while you're creating the Order Form), turning their membership off. Booyah. Similarly, you can set up a rule on an Order Form, that turns ON their membership if the transaction is approved.  Sweet, right?

Who gets it and when?

3/7/2011 | Pilotpress 1.5.3 allows you to show, or hide pages by membership level, better in-page login notifications, and "Everyone Else" short code, PLUS add videos you've got hosted with us!

What it does and why you'll dig it

First off here are the new features in PilotPress (our totally awesome WordPress Integration):

1. You can now show OR hide pages that have membership levels from the menu bars, on a per page basis.
2. Better in-page Login notifications. Now your members will be notified if they're not of the right membership level, or need to sign up as a member on the login screen.
3. "Everyone Else" Shortcode. This is a more complicated feature, it allows you to set a section of your page to only be viewable with certain membership levels. To use this feature you have to select tags from the following code:

[show_if="Level"] for single levels, AKA shorthand
[show_if has_one="Many, levels"] show if user has at least ONE of these levels
[show_if has_all="Many, levels"] show if user has ALL of these levels
[show_if not_one="Many, levels"] show if user does NOT have at least ONE of these levels
[show_if not_all="Many, levels"] show if user does NOT have ANY of these levels

Then you put the phrase after the tag, and close it with a [/show_if]

We realize that this is a bit cumbersome...and, given our commitment to giving you an awesome membership site with "no code to mess with, no-how", will have this feature usable right within the User Interface in the next PilotPress update, but it does work for now.

      4. Now you can add videos you've got hosted with OfficeAutopilot to WordPress!

• To host a video (in most any format!), go to the admin screen>Video Manager>New Video
• Then, once you've upgraded to PilotPress  1.5.3, these videos will be available to post in your blog posts and pages just as you would post an OfficeAutopilot form, by clicking the 'Add OfficeAutopilot Media' icon. Watch this short video that'll show you exactly how!

      5. Bug Fixes

Who gets it and when?

2/25/2011 | We will no longer mail to or make accounts with "Role" addresses

What it does and why you'll dig it

As of today we can no longer mail to role addresses, or sign up accounts that begin with:

webmaster@
info@
sales@
marketing@
abuse@
spam@
postmaster@
support@
accounting@
billing@

  We've had to make this change as typically these addresses are unmanned (or don't have an actual email inbox that they go to), or instead they end up going to several email addresses. These types of addresses usually have very high bounce rates which can negatively affect delivery not only for you, but for everyone on our emailing IPs, which of course is not good. In addition to this, as these addresses typically deliver to many others, it is not clear on whether or not all recipients of your email have given you permission to email them. That being said, in the interest of delivery (getting your email into your recipients' inboxes) and keeping in accordance with anti-spam regulations, we need to cease mailing to these addresses. Know that this isn't something that we've come up with on our own, but is standard industry procedure.

Who gets it and when?

2/24/2011 | New web server and faster save times for sequences!

What it does and why you'll dig it

 We just implemented a new server, which updated our front end infrastructure and increases the speed of the overall system allowing us more processing power per second, this mean EVERYTHING will load much much smoother!

Also a new "Drip" was implemented that drastically increases the save time for sequences. 

Who gets it and when?

Every level of account starting today(2/24) 

2/03/11 | Video hosting and streaming

What it does and why you'll dig it

• First, we convert your videos into a stream-able, playable format. Booya. No conversion software for you to buy learn, and hassle with, no how.
• Then, We host ‘em for you on Amazon’s Cloud Front CDN (which is a world-wide network of cloud servers, so your viewers in Japan don't have to wait for the rising sun just to watch your video).
• You pop ‘em onto your Landing pages and Wordpress site with just a few clicks
• And we stream ‘em via RTMP (which means your people can fast forward without the video having to fully load first)

Who gets it and when?

SendPepper Habanero and above, plus OfficeAutopilot clients! Note that SendPepper clients will not be able to use the WordPress functionality of the feature. This is limited to OfficeAutopilot clients.

It's available starting on Feb. 8th, 2011!

11/08/10 | Version 2.4! Our biggest release EVER!

What it does and why you'll dig it

• Payment Processing: Order forms to sell you products, memberships, subscriptions. Automate all card handling, refunds, and more. Easy one-click up-sell tools.
  
• Affiliate Management: Track who’s sending you traffic and sales so you can reward them. Simple to get started, with power features for advanced marketers.
• WordPress Integration: Setup a new WordPress site in seconds with free one-click install and hosting. Build a totally integrated membership site in minutes. Add your SmartForms or Order Forms with a click.

Who gets it and when?

OfficeAutopilot clients! Now!

9/29/10 | You can now pause sequences!

What it does and why you'll dig it

Consider, if you're running a special, or doing a product launch, you don't want to also have your standard pitches going out at the same time, so now, you can pause the sequences so that you're not sending out messages via the launch sequences, and then sending out conflicting offers via your other sequences! Once the launch or promo is over, simply unpause the sequences. Easy.

Who gets it and when?

Everyone! Now!

9/26/10 | We're faster than ever!

We’ve spent the last few weeks working on some major improvements to the speed of our apps that you experience when you’re logged in and working on stuff. We’ve made big strides in three areas: database optimization and infrastructure, data cacheing, and network lag.

8/20/10 | KickStart Campaigns!

What they are and why you'll dig 'em

These done-for-you campaigns have been professionally written and designs, and are meant to either take the work out creating your business and marketing systems, or to give you inspiration to create systems just like these for yourself, except without having to come up with all the ideas yourself! Either tweak these a bit and use 'em mostly as-is, or just use 'em as a jumping-off point for creating your own!

 
They include:

• New Prospect Follow-up Campaign
• Long-Term Lead Nurture Campaign
• New Customer Follow-up Campaign
• Event Registration and Follow-up Campaign
• Testimonial/Feedback-Getting Campaign 
• Referral Generator Campaign
• Client Cancellation Campaign 
• Affiliate Partner-Getting Campaign
• Purchase Anniversary Campaign
• Birthday Campaign
• Mailing Address-Getting Campaign

You can load them into your account by following the instructions listed for each campaign. Then, just customize 'em and away you go! If you need help or have any questions, shoot us an email or give us a call and we're glad to help!

Who gets 'em and when?

Everyone! Now! Of course, certain campaigns and certain parts of certain campaigns will not work for lower account levels, however, since they rely upon features and functionality reserved for higher account levels, however, that information is listed separately on the info page for each campaign. have fun!

7/22/10 | Sweeeet new dashboards!

What it does and why you'll dig it

In the third week of July we released our fancy-schmancy new dashboards. These new ones will, simply put, rock your world, with wildly useful graphical representations of all kinds of information, including:

• New Contacts by Month
• Emails Sent and Recent Top Messages
• Product Sales and Sales Contribution by Product
• Top Landing Pages and Top Lead Sources
• Task Stats and User Info
• Funnels Stats

Who gets it and when?

Everyone! Now!

8/08/10 | See Lead Source within the Marketing Tracker

What it does and why you'll dig it

You now have the ability to set the "Lead source" in the tracker, which will then be carried over into the contact records of the contacts who come in through tracked sources. This is a killer way to keep your finger even closer to the pulse of your marketing efforts and know what sources are pulling more leads and ultimately more purchases!

OfficeAutopilot clients! Now!

6/28/10 | See who's been sent an email, who's opened emails*, and who's clicked on a link in an email (within sequences) more quickly and clearly than eva'!

What it does and why you'll dig it

This time saving feature allows you to see exactly which of your contacts have been sent a given email, who's opened it, and who's clicked on a link within it...with startling ease and quickness. Right now this is only available for messages sent via sequences (vs. those sent as a broadcast). 

In the past, you had to make a group of contacts, with the group criteria set to "has been sent email X" or "has opened email X" or "Has clicked link X in email X". That was, admittedly, overly cumbersome, so, now you can simply go to the Autopilot tab, and now all stats you see that are blue are hyperlinked--when clicked, these numbers will take you to a new screen which has all of the people who've been sent, opened, or clicked a link in the email in question. If you click the name of the Sequence, itself, it will open up the sequence details which will allow you to click on the numbers for specific emails within that sequence.

Everyone! Now!

*email opens are only track-able to within 50-ish% accuracy. Learn why this is.

5/26/10 | Override E-mail address merge with cookie data. (Advanced Feature)

What it does and why you'll dig it

Since the beginning of time, when someone has filled out one of your SmartForms, the system checks to see if the email address entered already exists in your database.  If so, it automatically merges the contact info from the SmartForm into the existing record. This is important to avoid creating a lot of duplicate records.

Today's new feature adds a twist.

See, when your contacts fill out a SmartForm or click a link in an email you sent them we place a cookie on their computer that identifies who they are.  That way, if they come back we know who they are and can add their visit history to the contact record (among other things).

Now, imagine this scenario. Joe fills out a SmartForm one day and we cookie him. A couple weeks later, Joe comes back and fills out a different SmartForm (maybe on a completely different website)... but this time, Joe uses a DIFFERENT email address.

Normally, in this case, we'll create a new record for Joe's new email address. BUT (here's the new feature!) if you check the box in the SmartForm designer that says 'override email address merge with cookie data' then when Joe fills out that second SmartForm with a new email address we'll check his cookies, see that this is actually Joe, and merge the new info into Joe's existing contact record... including overwriting his existing email address with the new one.

This is pretty slick, but (as with most good things) there are some important caveats to watch out for.. SO READ ON.

First, you may NOT want his existing email address overwritten, preferring to simply have two records for Joe. That's cool, and it's why we leave this new feature off by default.

Second, and more importantly, there's the niggly issue of Joe forwarding the email to a friend. If he does forward the email you sent him to a friend and that friend clicks it, we're going to think that friend IS Joe. If that friend then fills out your SmartForm, JOE'S RECORD IS GOING TO BE OVERWRITTEN.  (<- DID YOU JUST READ THAT? IT'S IMPORTANT!)

So, since you just took the time to read and understand that previous, very important paragraph, you can see that there's danger in this feature and that it's use is going to be somewhat limited as a result.

Most people will use this feature for just a couple of things.

   1. You want to use a SmartForm in order to allow your current contacts to update their existing contact info. ("Hey, we'd like to make sure we have your latest contact info! Click here to update us!") As you can imagine, "Joe" is unlikely to forward such an email to a friend ("Whoa! Dude! Check this email out!  These guys WANT MY UPDATED CONTACT INFO!").

   2. You want to use two or more SmartForms strung together, one after the other to gather progressively more information, and only the first SmartForm in the series require email address. In this case, you wouldn't check the 'override email merge' box on the first form but would on all subsequent forms. That way, even if "Joe" does forward to his friend, the new record will be created (and the cookie set) on the first form, and there's no danger of overwriting Joe's record.

Last thing: If you're ALREADY using SmartForms in either of the above ways (and you've installed the javascript or hybrid versions of the form) then you should go into the SmartForm editor, open the SmartForms you're using in the above ways, and toggle the option in those forms so that it reads "yes." Again, you only need to do this if you're using the javascript or hybrid versions of the form code.

REALLY last thing: this is complicated stuff.  If you're feeling confused about everything you just read, it's not your fault. This is advanced, geeky stuff. If you don't quite get it but think you need to, don't hesitate to give us a call.  We'll get you sorted out.

 
Who gets it and when?

Everyone! Now!

4/11/10 | New SmartForm editor and Double Opt-in manager!

What it does and why you'll dig it

The new SmartForm editor is uh...MAZING. Now you can:

• Create double opt-in forms!
• Create a brand new tag while you're creating a form!
• Create a brand new sequence while creating a form!

...and a whole lot more!

Read all about it, watch the training video on it, and get the step-by-step on how to create a new SmartForm using the new editor!

Who gets it and when?

3/16/10 |  You now have the ability to schedule steps within sequences to go out on specific days of the week!

What it does and why you'll dig it

This is a bit of an advanced feature with a pretty specific use. Now you can schedule steps to fire only on certain days of the week. Many of our clients hold recurring (and often times pre-recorded) teleseminars, webinars, demos, and other sales or training events that happen each week on the same day of the week.

The best way to market, say, a teleseminar that happens every Thursday, is to run prospects through a sequence that sends a specific email on Monday, then another one on Tuesday, and so fourth.

With this new feature, when a person gets subscribed to the sequence, say, on a Wednesday, they won't begin getting emails until the following Monday. This ensures that they will be sent through the entire sequence leading up to the teleseminar, rather than merely getting the final email leading up to it, and thus, they will have a far greater likelihood of registering for the event because they'll have gotten all the intended marketing emails leading up to the event.

Note: if you schedule a given step to fire, say, 5 days after the previous step, but then you also set for that step to run only on Mondays, it could take up to 11 days for the step to go out. This would of course be the case if the previous step fired on a Thursday. This is because the system waits the specified number of days between steps, and then it waits until the given day of the week you've indicated that step should run.

Who gets it and when?

3/16/10 | Now we host files for your contacts to download!

What it does and why you'll dig it

Now, you can upload files to your SendPepper or OfficeAutopilot system, and generate a download link that you can place in your emails so people can download your free guides and resources! You'll want to use this method instead of attaching files to emails, because attachments (especially large ones) are a big reason why emails can get flagged as possible spam and wind up in your contacts' junk box.

Here's how to use it:

1. Go to the "Admin" menu and click the "File Manager" link.
2. Upload your file (.docs and .pdfs...sorry, no video hosting yet).
3. Click on the blue arrow on the right which will generate a download link
4. Use this link in your emails in order to give your contacts the ability to download your free resources directly! Note that you should always hyperlink the important word(s) in your text, rather than copying/pasting the entire URL into the email. This will improve the deliverability of your emails for the reasons found in the warning on this page, and just make them look cleaner and more pro in general.

Who gets it and when?

2/15/10 | Added extra servers for SPEED IMPROVEMENTS!

What it does and why you'll dig it

We realize the NEED FOR SPEED and in keeping have added extra servers to handle web tracking, opens & clicks tracking, and logins which means a more reliable, zippier experience for you!

Who gets it and when?

 2/15/10 | Memory Login

What it does and why you'll dig it

It increases speed and efficiency! Now you can bookmark pages (like Sequences or Messages), then when you log in via that bookmark, you'll be taken instantly to that page, rather than the Contacts page. 

Who gets it and when?

 2/15/10 | Lead Score now available as a Merge Field

What it does and why you'll dig it

Now you can merge your contacts' Lead Score into tasks. This is beneficial for OfficeAutopilot clients with sales people who receive tasks via email, who may not have their own login to the OfficeAutopilot account.

Who gets it and when?

 2/15/10 | Shift+Tab to move back and forth through fields

What it does and why you'll dig it

We love keyboard shortcuts 'round here and this one makes it quicker to move about from field to field in your contacts' records.

Who gets it and when?

Everyone! Now!

 2/2/10 | Headers now have Unsubscribe Link

What it does and why you'll dig it

Who gets it and when?

Everyone! Now!

2/2/10 | You can now create groups of contacts based on the following conditions: Has opened a certain Email, clicked a link in a given email, visited a certain PURL, purchased a given product, received a certain postcard.

What it does and why you'll dig it

Who gets it and when?

Everyone! Now!

 2/2/10 | New Signoff Warning after 10 minutes of inactivity-click Ok it will keep you logged in. 

What it does and why you'll dig it

Who gets it and when?

Everyone! Now!

 2/2/10 | You are able to now search for dates in the search box 

Who gets it and when?

Everyone! Now! 

12/3/09 | All Notes from Tasks and Logged Phone Calls Create Note Entry Into the "Notes" Log

What it does and why you'll dig it

It used to be that the notes from tasks and logged phone calls could only be found by digging back through the completed tasks in the 'task' section or the 'logged phone calls' section of the contact record, and finding that particular one. Now, it's available right in the notes section just as any other note. This makes it easier to quickly find and see the notes you've taken from tasks and phone calls, saving you time and making your life easier. It also allows you to merge that info in to emails and tasks by using the "Most Recent Note" merge field.

Who gets it and when?

The feature is available NOW! Of course, since only SendPepper Pro and OfficeAutopilot users get automated tasks and phone call logging, they are the only ones for whom this new feature is applicable.

11/27/09 | Create Groups of Sequences, Rules, and Messages!

What it does and why you'll dig it

Who gets it and when?

This feature is available for ALL our clients, and is ready...NOW!

Watch this 3.5-minute video that will show you exactly how to use this new functionality (and make you laugh) now.

11/23/09 | New Email Editor

What it does and why you'll dig it

It's slicker, faster, and has very cool new features like full-screen edit mode, quick previewing of emails for proofing your formatting on the fly, and inserting hosted images. It's more user friendly and will save you time!

Who gets it and when?

11/19/09 | "Subscription Manager" (A.K.A. "Selective Opt-Out")

What it does and why you'll dig it

It allows people to choose which sequences they'd like to opt-out of when they click the 'unsubscribe' link at the bottom of one of your emails, rather than merely unsubscribing them from all sequences at once by default. The benefit to you is that now your prospects and clients are more likely to continue to receive pertinent, desired communications from you, and less likely to throw the baby out with the bathwater, as it were. From now on you'll indicate whether you'd like a new sequence to appear in the list of possible sequences that a contact can opt-out of and you'll give each new sequence a "Public Name" and a "Public Description" which is what you'd like the contact to see when they go to the 'unsubscribe' page. You'll want to go through each of your existing sequences and set those up so they either appear on the opt-out page or not, respective to what makes sense in a case-by-case basis for each sequence.

Who gets it and when?

This is available to ALL SendPepper and OfficeAutopilot clients immediately.

Watch this video for an entertaining (and short) step-by-step on this new feature and exactly how to use it!

11/17/09 | Send Mail From you@yourdomain.com!

What it does and why you'll dig it

In the past, email you sent using SendPepper and OfficeAutopilot have come from the name you indicated that you wanted, but the email 'from address' was info@moon-ray.com.  It would look like this:  "From: Your Name [info@moon-ray.com]." Lots of email readers don't show the 'from' address, but the popular business email client Outlook and a few others do.  Now, you can set up your system to send from any email address you want (provided, of course, that it's an address you own.)  This will improve brand recognition and have the email you send look less like a mass-marketing email.

Who gets it and when?

This feature is available for ALL SendPepper and OfficeAutopilot clients IMMEDIATELY and should take less than 5 minutes for you to set it up!

Watch this video for step-by-step setup instructions!

FAQs

Some questions we've heard...

"Where do I learn about new features?"

"How often do you update the software?"

"Do I have the latest version?"

"Can you guys build this really cool feature for me?"

"What's coming next?"

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