Kate

There are a number of solutions in the market that you can purchase as software like Spinnakerpro.  With this offering you get the best of both worlds in that you can start right away with the hosted offering and move to the server version at your own leisure. Also have a look at the e-consultancy 2007 email buyers guide just published

Chris

www.spinnakerpro.com
Create your hosted account: now at www.newsletter.ie

On 21:05:47 16 October 2007 kate100 wrote:

Hey

I run a company with a database of 5000, which is growing everyday.

I want to send weekly newsletters with text, photos and links.  I want a basic template that I can update with different colours and brand appropriately.  I want to be able to personalise the emails.  I am not able to code.

I would prefer to buy software so that I am not charged per newsletter I send. A one off charge for software is better for me.

Any ideas?

Many thanks, Kate

Hi Kate,

I assume you are referring to PC based mailing software as opposed to something you could install on your server. I originally used a great little program called Gammadyne Mailer (http://gammadyne.com/mmail.htm) to send newsletters for my perfume website, www.dmfragrances.co.uk. You can buy the software for about £70 and it will easily handle the kind of volumes you are talking about but, when sending emails in this way, there are a number of things to consider:

1. List management – handling un-subscribes and bounce-backs can be difficult. While it’s possible to automate this with PC-based solutions, it usually requires some technical know-how to configure. The alternative is to manage this manually which will become extremely time-consuming as your list grows.
2. Reporting – getting stats of email opens and clicks is important and while some of the top email programs provide this, it’s usually an add-on feature. Alternatively you would have to integrate with another third-party solution.
3. Bandwidth – I assume that you would be sending these emails using a standard broadband connection and your ISP’s default SMTP server. You need to make sure that you are not contravening your ISP’s terms and conditions by sending bulk emails through their server. For smaller mailings you could most probably get away with it but if you are sending 5000+ emails per week, you may get yourself noticed. Some ISPs overcome this problem by inserting a delay between each email if they detect multiple emails being sent from the same connection.
4. Blacklisting – if your ISP’s SMTP server is blacklisted for spam, your emails will be negatively affected even if it was somebody else’s emails that got the server blacklisted in the first place.
   

While it may seem more cost effective to go the software-based route, I personally feel that a hosted solution is far better in the long run as it overcomes all of the issues I mentioned above and will save you a lot of time. I recently signed up for an account with Vertical Response (http://www.verticalresponse.com/) and I’ve been more than happy with the service. In terms of value for money, I haven’t found better and it provides all of the features you’ve mentioned and more at less than 1p per email sent. Sign up for an account and take advantage of their free test – I’m sure you’ll be impressed. If you do decide to use Vertical Response and need any assistance with configuring or creating templates etc. drop me an email .

Martin

Hi Kate

You might want to look at the solution we provide at Mailvivo. It gives you the template option with the editing control you desire, without the ability to mess up your branding. This is essentially the 'locked down template' approach mentioned by a previous poster. Moreover, our templates are also dynamic which means that you can personally address your growing subscriber database with relevant content without having to write separate messages for separate groups.

We offer a flat-rate pricing model based on the size of your subscriber database which means there is no real limit on the amount of emails you can send and when. The limitation of a pay-per-send approach is removed.

However, I would suggest you consider carefully whether deciding to go with a one-off software cost (normally you install) or a hosted approach where the technicalities of delivering and managing bulk email is handled for you, for typically monthly fees.

A further advantage of going with a hosted model is that your supplier should have a vested interest in the performance of your email marketing in order for you to continue with them. This is what we do where our service is not just about technology but helping customers to proactively grow their mailing list.

www.mailvivo.co.uk

Mark Gooding
0845 644 3730
Business Development Director @ Mailvivo

 

On 21:05:47 16 October 2007 kate100 wrote:

Hey

I run a company with a database of 5000, which is growing everyday.

I want to send weekly newsletters with text, photos and links.  I want a basic template that I can update with different colours and brand appropriately.  I want to be able to personalise the emails.  I am not able to code.

I would prefer to buy software so that I am not charged per newsletter I send. A one off charge for software is better for me.

Any ideas?

Many thanks, Kate

The best email marketing peron in the UK is Mike Parry who can help you out with the software you are looking for. You can find his details in http://inboxwarriors.co.uk/default.asp

Europe's largest email broadcaster and data provider is IPT Ltd.  Details can be found here: http://www.ipt-ltd.co.uk/division_email_broadcasting.asp  We send over 440 Million emails a month.

Good luck in your search Kate but we would be more than happy to advise and assist where we can.