Email Newsletter Software
What software do I need? Should I create
my newsletter in a word processor or email program? Which email program
should I use?
Those questions came from a visitor to
the Manager's Guide to Newsletters website. She planned to start an
email newsletter that would go to parents of students at her school
and wanted to know about the software she would need.
In response, we'll look at these two
important questions for newsletter publishers.
Word processor or email program? This
can be one of the simpler issues, at least if your mailing list is
not too large at start-up. You can write your newsletter in any email
program, or any word processor that allows you to save your work as
plain text (ASCII). Most writers prefer to use a word processing program
for at least the first draft, since it provides more text manipulation
features and saving options.
Once you've written, rewritten, spellchecked,
and proofread your newsletter in the word processor, copy and paste
it into the body of your email program (we'll discuss how to handle
that text in the next article in this series).
Of course, you'll need an email program
of some kind to send out your newsletter, regardless of where you
wrote it. Among email programs, check both those stand-alone programs
and those integrated with browsers.
The most common program is Outlook Express,
which comes bundled with Internet Explorer, and that in turn comes
bundled with Windows. But, don't overlook the possibilities in the
Netscape and Opera suites. In addition, there's also a new challenger,
Mozilla Thunderbird, which is associated with the Firefox browser.
Turning to stand-alone email programs,
take a look at Eudora (which offers an advertising-supported version
and a version you can buy). It has a solid reputation among many email
newsletter publishers, and I consider it the best all-purpose email
client for my PC (however, I don't like it on my Mac, where I use
the built-in program, Mail).
I've used all of these programs at one
time or another, and each has advantages and disadvantages. In considering
them, review the strengths and weaknesses of their address books as
well as their message composition capabilities.
Once your mailing list grows beyond a
certain point (depending on your personal inclinations), you'll need
to move it out of the email program and into something more flexible.
In my case, once the list got to something
like a hundred subscribers, I found the management of it frustrating.
For example, adding and deleting email addresses from an email program
takes more time and trouble than doing it in a word processing program
or, on a more sophisticated level again, a database program.
In managing a list of several thousand,
I use the Find feature to quickly pick out and delete someone who
wants to unsubscribe. Similarly, it's easy to get the list back into
alphabetical order at any time by using the sorting feature of a word
processing program.
Another growth issue: As your subscriber
list grows, you may want to move away from your email program and
use an independent mailing service. In that case, you go to a provider
company and upload your list one time. After that, you simply paste
your newsletter into a form they provide, and click the Send button.
Then, the service sends out your email using its servers.
But, to get started you need only an
email program, and you have many free and worthwhile options. Try
each one out for an issue or two of your newsletter, to find what
suits you.
Robert F. Abbott, the author of A
Manager's Guide to Newsletters: Communicating for Results, writes
and publishes Abbott's Communication Letter. Read more articles about
Internet communication, as well as email and printed newsletters at:
http://www.communication-newsletter.com/ic.html