Email Newsletter Tools

Robert F. Abbott, author of A Manager's Guide to Newsletters: Communicating for Results writes this article on email newsletter tools.

Email Newsletter Tools: Getting Started:

Should I create my email newsletter in a word processor or email program? Which email program should I use?

Those two 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 email newsletter tools that would be required.

In response, I offered the following advice.

Word processor or email program? This question about email newsletter tools 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, then copy and paste it into the body of your email program.

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 stand-alone programs and those integrated with browsers. Stand-alone programs are those that exist independently of any browser or other program, while integrated programs open when you open a browser or some other program.

The most common program is Outlook Express, something of a hybrid among email newsletter tools. It is associated with Internet Explorer (although more loosely bunded than in the past), and that in turn comes bundled with Windows. But, don't overlook the newest challenger, Mozilla Thunderbird, which is associated with the Firefox browser.

Turning to stand-alone email programs, take a look at Eudora (which offers an 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 many different 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. And, of course, we're dealing with email newsletter tools that target different kinds of users, so find one that suits you if you can.

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 robust. In my case, I found that I wanted to move up to the next level by the time my online newsletter, Abbott's Communication Letter, got to about 100 subscribers. It became difficult to handle subscribes and unsubscribe requests using just an email program.

As your subscriber list grows, you too may want to move away from your email program and use more robust email newsletter tools. You might use an online autoresponder or professional email distribution service, whether its one you host on your own computer or one that's hosted remotely (usually a better bet when your list grows beyond a thousand subscribers).

In that case, you go to the interface on your server or to the mailing 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.

It will provide you with a form you can use to sign up new subscribers and will automatically check for duplicates and take care of other administrative matters. And most of these reasonally good email newsletter tools provide a one-click unsubscribe button on each mailing, so subscribers can quit your list quickly and easily (that's a good thing, because subscribers who have trouble getting off your list may accuse you of spamming them).

But, to get started you need only an email program, and you have many free and worthwhile options. To find a selection of these email newsletter tools, go to your favorite search engine and enter a phrase like "free email program" or "free email editor" (without the quotation marks). Try each one out for an issue or two of your newsletter, to find what suits you.

Next, read my article on more sophisticated email newsletter tools for email newsletter distribution