BAL 2: Setup your Email Service
The next step in Building A List (BAL) is to setup an email service. A list isn’t a list, if emails aren’t being sent out, right? You don’t want to be sending them out from your own website, as email deliverability will be low. Using a service ensures this, and also takes care of the subscribe/unsubscribe functions.
Option 1: FeedBurner
If you are using a blog for your list, then one option is to use FeedBurner to send out the emails. I actually use FeedBurner for this website. It’s free and owned by Google.
The steps can take a bit, but once you have an account and added your blog click the Publicize tab and goto Email Subscriptions. Activate it, and copy that HTML code there. We’ll use that later.
Option 2: Aweber
You can find other email subscription services, but I use Aweber for the StartXchange Newsletter Blog. The features are great, support is great, and I’ve never had a problem. You’ll have to go this route if you aren’t using a blog, but you also can go this route if you do have a blog. A couple reasons you might do that:
- a) you want emails to go out every blog post, not once per day
- b) you want emails to go out immediately, not wait till the ‘email hour’ of feedburner.
- c) you want to send out emails that don’t show up on the blog (special offers, exclusive stuff)
- d) you want to use list building services (explained later)
You can find the Aweber HTML on the List Settings -> Web Form page. If you want to auto broadcast when your blog is updated, goto Messages -> Blog Broadcats. I actually prefer not to do this, and login and goto broadcast myself. This way the email is sent right away - I don’t like waiting for the emails to start =P
The HTML Code
Copy and paste whatever HTML code they give you onto your website. I recommend the sidebar on blogs, so every page has a place for users to subscribe. That way searchers find the info, then can subscribe easily. We’ll talk more about the HTML later, but this is the food for your list. Without it, users can’t easily subscribe.
