Thread: Mailing list software?

At the moment I don't have a tremendously complicated email mailing list, but still it trips me up all the time. I use the address book of the webmail system provided by my ISP.

I'm looking into software/services that are *simple* and *non-techie* to use, and ideally free (though I know that might be asking a bit much). I would like to produce more attractive emails and avoid cross-posting to my different lists (although this isn't a big issue it's still annoying).

I can install Dada Mail via my ISP but it requires an enormous amount of time fiddling with stuff on the server, and frankly that's pretty terrifying to me and I don't have the time to learn the flipping scripting language to do what they need!

I've scanned over the MailChimp and that's looking good, but I don't really know what other options are out there and thought some more business savvy Bhuzzers might have experiences they'd like to share or recommendations

Thanks!

Originally Posted by deelybopper

At the moment I don't have a tremendously complicated email mailing list, but still it trips me up all the time. I use the address book of the webmail system provided by my ISP.

I'm looking into software/services that are *simple* and *non-techie* to use, and ideally free (though I know that might be asking a bit much). I would like to produce more attractive emails and avoid cross-posting to my different lists (although this isn't a big issue it's still annoying).

I can install Dada Mail via my ISP but it requires an enormous amount of time fiddling with stuff on the server, and frankly that's pretty terrifying to me and I don't have the time to learn the flipping scripting language to do what they need!

I've scanned over the MailChimp and that's looking good, but I don't really know what other options are out there and thought some more business savvy Bhuzzers might have experiences they'd like to share or recommendations

Thanks!

I'm using YourMailingListProvider.com. It's cheap ($3.75/month for up to 500 messages), easy, and does everything I need. They also have a free version, but it includes ads. (BLEGH!)

They do offer a free trial that lets you send 25 messages:
http://ymlp.com/psignup_promo
(my referral code is 9F0SMX)

Disclaimer: if you sign up using my promo code, I get a small commission. I'd recommend them anyway, so if you don't want to use my code, you can sign up for a trial at:
http://www.yourmailinglistprovider.com/signup.html

Thanks for this info - I'll look into it

If I decide to sign up, I'll use your promo code

I like mailchimp
it's free, up to a point (& the threshold is so ridiculously high compared to what I do, I don't even remember what it is) and I like the reports I get back & general functionality better than other services (like constant contact) that I have paid for in the past.

Thanks Lara - so far I'm liking the look of Mailchimp better than other stuff I've seen :-)

I really like iContact. I use them for work on a regular basis and it is SOOOOO easy to use. Great company, really. It is priced a little on the high side in though IMO: http://www.icontact.com/affordable-email-marketing/

For belly dance, I use bravenet because it is free, but I might try mailchimp now that someone mentioned that it is free. I really don't like bravenet very much, but have been keeping it just because I wasn't sure of my other free options.

I use Mailchimp and love it. The templates look professional and it is easy to use. The best part is that I can copy the html and put it on my website to create a newsletter archive. See here:
http://www.nylacrystal.com/belly-dance-newsletters.php

Originally Posted by crystalllized

I use Mailchimp and love it. The templates look professional and it is easy to use. The best part is that I can copy the html and put it on my website to create a newsletter archive. See here:
http://www.nylacrystal.com/belly-dance-newsletters.php

Ooo- I need to try that!
Thanks!

Mail Chimp or Constant Contact. The latter isn't free but isn't too difficult to use. Mail Chimp isn't only free up to a certain point but has nice instructional videos, too.

Another vote for Mailchimp. I just moved over to them from Inboxfox. The Fox had a free plan but it wasn't nearly as sweet as mailchimp (list of 2000, able to send 12000 emails a month). So far I'm loving it!

Originally Posted by Christina K

Another vote for Mailchimp. I just moved over to them from Inboxfox. The Fox had a free plan but it wasn't nearly as sweet as mailchimp (list of 2000, able to send 12000 emails a month). So far I'm loving it!

Me too! I made the switch this month and I am so happy I did. So far so good...Now if I could only improve my "opens" numbers.

I've used both mailchimp and eblast (by second street media)

Does anyone know how cell-phone friendly these things are? I generally hate email newsletters because they are blasted difficult to read on my phone, and I read nearly all my email on my blackberry these days.

I'm glad to know that Mailchimp offers larger free newsletters. I might consider them now. My mailing list is fairly substantial, and generally more than what the "free" terms allow.

I used Constant Contact for years. In fact, my ballroom studio was featured as one of their success stories and sent out to their mailing list of over 2 million users. That was pretty cool. But they are more expensive.

Mail chimp has the option a mobile version for newsletters. I'm not sure how it differs from the regular newsletter, because when you're creating the newsletter, you just do the one version and it creates the plain text for you. I'd be curious to know if the mailchimp newsletter can tell if you are on a mobile phone or if that is something that you have to actually sign-up for.

Check out the mail chimp sign-up form:
http://andaleedance.com/resources/newsletters/

You can also link your MailChimp account to a Batch Blue account...

http://batchblue.com/mailchimp.html