Ezine Distribution
As you would expect, there are
many ways to deliver your e-zine. In this section you can find several solutions to e-zine
delivery. If you work for a company with your own in-house server, you will want to talk
to your system administrator about mailing list software.
Choosing
the Right Distribution System for Your Ezine
"With so many options for me to choose, how do I know which is the best
method for managing MY E-Zine?"
If you have
asked this question, don't feel alone. Selecting your E-Zine list management tool is an
important step in the success of your E-Zine.
There are three basic methods to manage your list and mail your E-Zine.
1. Do It Yourself
2. Use a Free ListServer Service
3. Hire a Professional List Host
Before deciding which type of service to use, you need to take a look at the individual
tasks involved in managing a mailing list and distributing an E-Zine.
Let's step through each individual event involved:
A New Subscriber Request Is Received
1. You add the e-mail address to your mailing list database.
2. You send a welcome message to your new subscriber.
A Request to be Removed from your Mailing List is Received
1. You remove the e-mail address from your database (immediately).
2. You send an exit note to the person requesting to be removed, acknowledging the removal
request and saying thank you and good bye.
Mail Your E-zine
1. Send a copy to each subscriber
Well that sounds pretty easy, right? It is...until your list starts to grow, and these
simple tasks become difficult to manage. Adding a couple of e-mail addresses is easy, but
try a few hundred per day and pretty soon you start thinking about how you can automate
this process. The automation of the tasks we just identified is exactly what a list server
can do for you.
In Part I of this series, we will review the option of using a Professional Mailing List
Account or List Server.
What should you look for in a Professional Mailing Service or List Server? Your
Professional Service must excel in two categories: Customer Service and Technology.
Customer Service
Listed below are some questions you want answered before you sign up with a Professional
Service.
 Is there a customer service process in place?
How long does it take to respond to your
messages?
Will they tell you if there is a problem?
Does the service offer testimonials from
other customers?
Do you know others who use their service?
Get references.
Who has access to their servers? (Have you
heard the one about mailing list theft?)
Your e-mail
addresses are a valuable company asset. You want to be careful when selecting the company
to whom you will entrust this list.
Technology
Easy to use
Most of the new Mailing List Managers have replaced the cryptic command line driven
interfaces with an intuitive, graphical user interface allowing management of a list by a
nontechnical person. The web interface should include options for the following:
Retrieve your subscriber list. You should download your subscriber list every week and
keep a backup at your site. Yes, even if your list host keeps a backup. As a smart and
savvy business person, you know this simple and easy-to-do task is simply another
precaution - like those daily backups you perform on your computer!
Provide
Basic Management Reports: Once your list starts to grow, you will want to be able to
request reports to tell you the number of new subscribers, unsubscribe requests and total
number of subscribers.
Access to your list anytime.
Simple subscribe and unsubscribe instructions.
Provide you with the HTML code for forms that you
can put on your web site to allow subscribers to join from any page on your site.
A
Security System that ensures that nobody else can send a message to your list or get your
list.
Bounce management. Guess what happens when you
send out your E-Zine to hundreds or thousands of subscribers? You will get e-mail bounced
back as undeliverable. Why? People change e-mail addresses, servers are temporarily
unavailable, internet connections are blocked, AOL blocked addresses, etc. How will your
ListServer deal with undeliverable email addresses?
Last, but not least, a secure e-mail address for
you to send your E-Zine to the List Server for distribution to your subscribers.
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