Mailing lists in the form of discussion groups have been in
existence since the 1960's and were used as a way to share
information. They were called (and are still called)
"Usenet", "Newsgroups", "News" or sometimes "NetNews". In
the mid 80's Eric Thomas developed "ListServ's" for use with
IBM computers. They usually offer the most features to their
subscribers. Majordomo was developed in 1992 by Brent
Chapman and continues to be used by many Ezine publishers.
Know that you have many choices of hosting services and the
number companies offering services is growing. Use the
information in this article as a guide. Don't be afraid to
try the BCC or free elist hosting services to get a feel for
what is involved in owning an ezine. Personally, I've
learned so much by going this route. Then as your ezine and
ezine knowledge grows, change over to a paid service.
Use the BCC (blind carbon copy) area of your current email
program. Never used this feature? If this feature were part
of your email program, the directions would be in the "help"
feature of the program. By using this feature people won't
see who your subscribers are and therefore won't be able to
spam your readers. You will know that someone has sent you a
message, using BCC, when the "to" reads "unlisted
recipients.
Purchase a software program and maintain the list
yourself.
~~Infacta http://www.infacta.com/gm.asp
~~List of software companies
http://list-business.com/list-software/
Use Majordomo. This is not the easiest alternative. Many
times subscriptions are rejected because the subscriber is
using an email program with "HTML" text in the message. For
more information on this service visit:
www.conveyanced.com/MajorCool/
www.google.com/search?qmajordomo
Download free Common Gateway Interface (CGI) Scripts and
use to produce your ezine. These programs usually contain
limited capabilities, which is just perfect for many ezine
publishers. To find these scripts, go to your favorite
search engine, and do a search for free CGI scripts, such as
www.bignosebird.com and www.CGI-Resources.com
Many advertising and marketing companies provide
"in-house" ezine services to their clients.
Use one of the free services to keep your elist members
confidential. "Free" meaning there is an ad either at the
top or bottom of each note you send out.
~~www.topica.com Topica - With the exception of moderated
lists, each list contains an ad. Automatically adds
unsubscribe directins to each email. Very basic service. You
cannot add new members; instead you must "invite" them.
There is a cost involved in adding many members at one time.
So before you move your elist to this service check with
their customer support.
~~yahoogroups.com Yahoo Groups - When you use this
service, you will have, for your readers, the largest number
of community building tools for members. These include a
chat room, place to upload important files, automatic
distribution of files you request, a calendar to send out
reminders, and more. Allows you to automatically "subscribe"
members who have requested you to subscribe them to your
list. Each message usually contains at least one large ad.
~~www.bravenet.com Bravenet - Limit 500 subscribers per
elist although you can set up additional elists on this
service. Double opt-in for subscribers only. Easy system
allows you to email yourself a copy of your subscriber list.
~~www.smartgroups.com Smart Groups - This is a newer
service, very basic, no annoying ads on top. Your elist will
contains a calendar that you can use for reminders of
classes etc. The only way to delete your elist from this
service is to contact smartgroups customer service.
~~www.coollist.com Cool List - Newer elist program. Ad is
on the bottom. Very basic service.
Paid Services - - Prices start at approx. $20 per month
for smaller ezines and end up in the thousands of dollars
for larger lists. Some have subscriber limits at that price,
some offer free trials. Each company offers different
services.
~~Topica http://www.topica.com ep/
~~Yahoo
http://e.gotmarketing.com/collateral/yahoo/smallbusiness/campaigner.html
~~Constant Contact www.constantcontact.com
~~List Channel www.listchannel.com
~~Web Valence www.WebValence.com
~~List Universe www.List-Universe.com
~~Spark-List www.Spark-List.com
~~List Serve www.listserve.com/
~~Microsoft's B Central
www.bcentral.com/services/lb/pricing.asp
~~Cartville is one of companies that also offers ezine
mailing lists along with many of it's shopping cart
packages. www.cartville.com
~~Comparison chart of ezine hosting companies by Gammadyne
http://www.gammadyne.com/gm-comparison.htm
~~elist Directory of companies
http://www.list-business.com/
NOTE: As a precaution against dot.com companies that end up
out of business, make sure the company you choose allows YOU
to download the email addresses of subscribers. Then
download your list at least monthly.
About the Author
© Copyright 2002 All Rights Reserved. Maria Marsala, Business & Life Coach-Consultant. Maria works with successful individuals as they take their success to an even higher level. Subscribe to "Helping You and Your
Business Grow" our free weekly online newsletter or download our free business ebook at http://www.CoachMaria.com/ebook/download.html