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Hi Everyone,
I was wondering if anyone was willing to offer advice on how they manage their mailing list. I really need to tidy mine up and doing a mail out seems to be a long process. Does anyone use a low cost or free emailing program that they could recommend. Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated.
Hi Christine,
Have you tried this one..
http://www.bravenet.com/webtools/elist/
Have a look on my blog, I've got it on there you can make the box whatever colour you like...it's just down on the right hand side.
desertmountainbearI use Mail Chimp, completely free, no ugly adds when someone clicks to sign up. As a matter of fact when someone signs up it does not redirect them away from the site they were at. Lots of great templates to use when sending newsletters. Also lots of info on who opened, who didn't etc..
The other thing I liked is I could upload my existing list without them needing to opt-in again. Can you tell I like them?
Joanne
bingle bearsI just switched two days ago to Mail Chimp and it was so nice to just be able to enter a person onto the list and not have to have them confirm. I was having trouble with my old mailing list (actually Bravenet) because a person who wanted to be on my mailing list wasn't getting the confirmation emails from them so that she couldn't confirm and because of that she kept getting popped off the mailing list. I suspect that the emails got put into her spam bucket and she couldn't retrieve them. I had been thinking about switching to Mail Chimp for many months because I wasn't thrilled with the limits that Bravenet puts on the number of newsletters you can send out and all of the adverts--this was just the last straw.
So far, so good with Mail Chimp! I also like that there aren't any ads!
The Littlest ThistleI have to say I can never sign up to Bravenet newsletters because they have some really nasty things on their sign up pages that Kaspersky and Windows defender do not like at all, even when on a 'safe' list, so I can't ever see the pages. I refuse to put my PC at risk for anyone's mailing lists I'm afraid!
PennsylvaniaDo you want to manage your mailing list on YOUR local computer or do you want to subscribe to a web based service?
There are benefits and downsides for both:
On a web based mailing service, you have ease of use as your main benefit but you do not have complete control of your data. It lives on somebody else's computer. I don't care how many assurances they give. There's no way to assure that your data remains your data and nobody else's.
With locally run software, you have 100% assurance that nobody else will get their hands on your data. You have full control but you also have to do all the work.
Free e-mail services are usually free to you only because they use your data to make money. In other words, they sell the e-mail addresses you collect for them. Paid e-mail services are probably a bit more trustworthy but there's still no 100% surefire guarantee. You need to read the license agreement carefully.
I use an bulk e-mail program called "MaxBulk."
http://www.maxprog.com/site/software/in … eet_us.php
It comes in a free version and a paid version. If your mailing list is small and you don't need a lot of automatic features, the free version will work for you. However, the paid version isn't very expensive. It's probably worth it if you use bulk e-mail a lot.
The downside is that you have to do everything yourself. You have to collect and store. You have to manage and arrange. You have to keep track of your opt-outs. You have to make and send your own e-mail on your own server. You basically have to learn how to do bulk e-mail by yourself, from the ground up.
This is not hard to do, per se, but there is some studying involved if you don't already understand the process.
The decision is yours but I prefer to do it myself.
Thank you so much to all of you who have given advice. It has really helped me to research your ideas. Thanks again to all of you. It is so nice to hear from people what is actually a useful programme and not just someone trying to sell you something. :hug:
FenBeary FolkI use Mailchimp too and love it, very easy to use :hug:
PennsylvaniaWhenever you subscribe to an on-line e-mail service, no matter what, no matter who, no matter where, it is important for you to read the "Terms of Service" agreement and the "Privacy Policy" BEFORE you join up and send them any of your data!
http://www.mailchimp.com/legal/terms/
http://www.mailchimp.com/legal/privacy/
If you haven't read them already, you need to read them. If you haven't read them lately, you need to go back and read them. If you belong to another mail service, go find their TOS and Privacy Policy and read them.
MailChimp seems to be okay. They have some explicit language in their agreements that says how they will or will not use your data but you should still read about what kind of data they do collect and how they use it.
Did you know that they put cookies on your computer? Did you know that they put cookies on the computers of people who read the e-mail you send them? Did you know that they use "tracking beacons" in their e-mails to tell who opens them and when? Did you know that they can find out who you are, where you are and what kind of computer you use? Did you know that they do the same to the people who receive your e-mails?
It is not necessarily a bad thing to collect this kind of data but it is important that you know what they do and why they do it.
Here's he reason why I say this:
The information about your customers, their e-mail addresses and any related information is YOUR BUSINESS DATA. Your business data is YOUR PROPERTY, just like anything else in your business.
Your business data is just as important as the materials, tools and equipment that you use to make and sell your Bears. It might be intangible but it is just as important.
What would you think if somebody asked you to give them your sewing machine, your thread, your fabric and your stuffing? What would you think if somebody told you that they would watch you when you used your sewing machine? You'd be a little bit creeped-out. Wouldn't you?
Giving somebody your business data is very similar to doing just that except your business data is intangible. You need to be very careful that somebody can't take your business data without your knowledge. You need to know whether they can use it without your consent. You need to know whether they can prevent you from getting access to your business data whenever you want.
Let's imagine that you own your own shop. For sake of discussion, let's say you have a small clothing store.
How would you feel if somebody had the right to come along and lock the door to your shop any time they wanted to? How would you feel if you couldn't even open the front door to your own business?
It wouldn't be very nice! Would it?
When you give somebody else your business data you enter into the situation where just that sort of thing can happen.
MailChimp seems to be one of the "good guys" but you never know.
Before you go getting into any agreements via the internet with people you don't know be sure you know who you are dealing with and be sure you know what you are agreeing to.
Let me be clear. I'm not saying that you shouldn't use an e-mail service. If I had a business that sent a lot of e-mail and I didn't already know how to manage my own e-mail campaigns, I might, very well, use a service like MailChimp.
All I'm saying is that you need to understand what you're getting into before you sign on the dotted line.
Just do your homework. That's all I ask. 
