Do It Yourself Email/Newsletter: Is It Worth It?

[kookinwithkale]

I just sent out my first "email/newletter". I didn't use a service, just emailed my contacts from my PWS. Wondering if it would make a huge difference in website traffic, using a service or just doing it myself?
Thanks
Steph

 

[babywings76]

A system like iContact professes that they can get your e-mails through a lot of the different e-mail system filters. When you send e-mails out yourself, the mail programs might recognize that you are mass mailing and mark it as spam. If you use a newsletter service like myemaildesigns.com or tastytidbits, they are made using HTML, and lots of e-mail providers will catch all that coding and mark it as spam. An e-mail service says that it has a higher success rate at getting through those filters. They have contracts with the providers. (At least that's what I recall being told.)The PWS has nice e-mails to send out, but the system is a nightmare to work with. I don't like how it doesn't keep some sort of record of who I've sent things to. Plus, iContact keeps track of who opened it and who clicked on things and what they clicked on. It's really nice to see who is actually reading my newsletter.But, the cost of iContact is starting to really bother me. Especially as I get more contacts, because the cost only gets more expensive.

 

[kookinwithkale]

Thanks for the explanation Amanda.... I'll keep it in mind, but for now, I think I'll just keep emailing them through my website. I appreciate your help.

 

[esavvymom]

Amanda...Noora was saying she uses MailChimp. It's free for up to 500 contacts. Does about the same as iContact it looks like, but won't tell you WHO opened the emails/clicked. just how many. I don't know how it works as far as pulling in your newsletter service like from Mike or Joy- maybe she can shed more light on that.

 

[NooraK]

Well, I'm glad to shed light. Here are a couple of threads where we've discussed that service:

http://www.chefsuccess.com/f30/mailchimp-60202/

http://www.chefsuccess.com/f12/mailchimp-60293/

http://www.chefsuccess.com/f30/icontact-follow-up-59689/#post718648

Here is one that discusses alternatives in general:

http://www.chefsuccess.com/f12/alternatives-icontact-60277/

 

[kookinwithkale]

Thanks Ladies!