With the economic downturn, ‘Tis the time to be thrifty.
Most of you have probably been asked to kiss goodbye 10%, 20% or even more of your office budget for this year. Not yet? Well, I hate to say that, but it’s probably coming your way for next year.
So, I’ve decided to take on a new mission: hunt vendor deals and other bargains for you my dear readers. When I stumble upon a great deal offered by higher ed vendors, I’ll make sure to let you know (and, here is your cue if you’re working for a higher ed vendor and want to get featured on this blog – so, get creative and send me your best deals/bargains/offers, but beware that I’ll make the final decision to write about them. Sorry no free advertising on this blog).
Let’s start with a deal offered by the email marketing provider I recently switched to for my newsletters: Vertical Response.
First, the bad news for some of you: this deal will only work if you have 501 c 3 non-profit status (or the Canadian or UK equivalent) and can prove it.
That’s you? Great, keep reading.
What’s the deal?
Vertical Response will let you send 10,000 emails per month for free.
If you go beyond this cap, you’ll get a 15% discount on their rate starting at 15 cents per email.
What does the fine print say?
You just need to sign up for a free account (you can cancel your account whenever you want and you’ll be asked for a credit card only when/if you need to buy extra credits) and then prove your 501 c 3 status by filling out an online application.
How do you get started?
Just by signing up for a free Vertical Response account. You’ll get some free credits (I set up a new account yesterday for somebody else and got 100 free credits) to play.
BTW, you don’t need to be a non-profit to do the test drive with this free account.
If you want to say thanks for the tip, just use this link to sign up for your free account
If you prefer other ways to say thanks (an email, a nice comment or maybe chocolates?), here’s the other link to sign up.
And, last but not least, here’s the link for the non-profit online application.
Now, you’re all set.