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By Laura Rush December 9, 2003 Q: I own a small wine store and have a Web site that I use to alert my customers on new wine shipments and arrivals, weekly specials, wine tastings, and so on. However, I realize not everyone checks my Web site every week. A few months ago, I started sending out a weekly e-mail newsletter to regular customers, but the list quickly became too long and time-consuming for me to manage just using my personal e-mail client. Any suggestions? --Harry W. Harry, you're not the only small business owner who spends countless hours every week trying to maintain an e-mail marketing/customer contact list, thinking "There has to be an easier way." Thankfully, there is. Small business owners who don't have the time to devote to managing mailing lists, or the money to pay for expensive technology have been relying on inexpensive e-mail marketing software that does all the grunt work for them, leaving them time to concentrate on the business itself. Several inexpensive packages are available that offer options such predefined newsletter templates, the capability to personalize e-mail, and even schedule future send dates. We've gone ahead and selected a handful to you give you an idea as to what's out there.
Mail Them Pro The program automatically handles subscribe and unsubscribe requests and bounced messages. Mail Them Pro doesn't provide templates; however, it can send HTML pages with embedded graphics, and can import files from Access, Excel, MySQL, MS SQL Server and WAB (Windows Address Book). Available at the company's Web site for $69.95.
Advanced Mail Bomber You can create and manage structured mailing lists, import addresses from any file formats, and generate personalized messages from predefined templates. Advanced Mail Bomber also can send messages in several formats such as plain text, HTML, and EML, which enables you to dispatch messages that include embedded graphics. A built-in SMTP manager can handle up to 48 different SMTP servers in 48 separate threads. Available for download from the company's Web site for $39.
G-Lock EasyMail Professional v 4.51 EasyMail Professional also has an instant e-mail verification utility that helps reduce undeliverable rates, the capability to schedule future send dates, plus an option to notify you by confirmation messages when your messages have been read. EasyMail Pro supports Multi-Part (MIME) message capability, and can send Multi-Part (MIME) messages that contain formatted text, HTML, attached files, and embedded objects. Available from the company's Web site for $39.95.
EmailUnlimited 5.0 Professional EmailUnlimited 5.0 Professional is priced at $347 per license. 4OfficeAutomation also offers a monthly subscription option for $19.95 per month, which includes all upgrades. A basic version, EmailUnlimited 5.0 Standard Edition, is available for $197 per license. Readers: Need a no-nonsense answer to your question or problem about setting up and running an online business? Ask us! Submit your query about the e-commerce process to ECommerce-Guide.com, and we'll get you the right answers you need from our long list of industry experts. Just drop an e-mail to lrush@jupitermedia.com with "Question for the Experts" in the subject line, an explanation of your problem or question in the body, and we'll do the rest. Then, check back with us each week in the "How Do I ..." section for the answers to your e-commerce problems. You never know what you might learn. |