A modification of any open source autoresponder to add the following:
(A) An ability to send file attachments based on what a requester wants
(B) A metering system
(C) A payment (Paypal) and accounting system.
Here is how it works:
1. A visitor is attracted to a website because of some free valuable content. While there he
learns that he can get even more valuabe content if he joins a mailing list or membership list.
2. So he registers and goes through the double opt-in process and is now a member. He is
awarded points (say 5000) that can be used to get valuable files (which may be ebooks, or MP3
or whatever of value, i.e. digital goods). He also gets an email listing the digital goods that he
can get or buy with his points.
3. So he picks several items he wants by requesting them. The autoresponder that replies to
requests parses the subject or body and finds the items he wants, and sends the files that
correspond to those items. Points are deducted from his account balance.
4. If his balance is low, he is reminded to go to the Paypal link to buy more points.
5. The payment system has multiple choices, with more points awarded for larger purchase,
e.g. $10 buys 1,000 points
$20 buys 3,000 points
$50 buys 10,000 points, and so on (all can be configured by user).
Allow subscribers to a list to be able to specify what they want and get it(them) automatically
as attachment(s) in the reply mail. It really is like an autoresponder, except that what is
delivered is specified by the requester.
Let's say I have lots, say thousands, of documents or files, some being related, and I decided
to group them together into hundreds of packages. Let's say I provide a list of such packages,
on a web page or via email, for example, with details on what is within each package, e.g.
Package#; Description; Content
.....
.....
#0819; IBM; IBMprofile.doc, IBMthinkpad.htm, IBMchart.jpg
.....
#0916; FTPreview; FTPclientReview.txt (PC Magazine, Nov. 23, 2008)
A requester chooses the package he/she wants and sends a request with the package# either
in the subject or the body of his/her email.
The system then looks for a string with # and checks for a match. If it finds #0819, it knows
that the 3 files IBMprofile.doc, IBMthinkpad.htm and IBMchart.jpg, need to be sent in reply as
attachments. If it finds #0916, it will attach the single file FTPclientReview.txt, and so on.
By using a lookup table (e.g. lookup.txt), it allows great flexibility for naming conventions by
the user, since the system will simply look up the code and the corresponding files to attach.
As for how the code should be formatted, whether to begin with # or @ or some other symbol,
it can be specified and is entirely up to the user.
This can be a very powerful feature to supply specific digital material sought by the subscriber,
e.g. MP3 files, ebooks, reports, and what not.
The key is implementing the attachment capability by adding a preprocessor that checks the
lookup table to determine what files to attach. Technically it should not be too difficult to do, yet
in terms of functionality, it is very powerful. I have not been able to find an autoresponder that
does this. So if it is implemented, it should attract a lot of buyers of the system. And this is
just part (A) above.
Once implemented, the list owner only needs to work on the look-up table, and whether one file
or multiple files are to be sent can be easily modified by editing just the look-up table.
This feature is almost essential where the choices are many, e.g. MP3 files, ebooks, etc. Send
customers what they want, and automatically, is the goal.
In fact, even you can use such a feature for customer support, e.g. by assigning a code for
User Manual, another for Detailed Description, another for Feature Comparisons, etc.
Hope I have persuaded your team to implement this new, very useful and powerful feature that
is lacking in all autoresponders.
You can release (A) as a complete product, even before you add on (B) and/or (C), which are
highly recommended as well.
Feel free to PM me and we can discuss further in more detail.