Do you struggle with your enewsletter?

Back in August, I started a side-project to review email service providers (ESP). I had no idea what I was getting myself into.

As a tech nerd, most of the ESP’s out there seemed pretty similar. But with the onslaught of client complaints about their respective ESP’s I had to take a step back from my geek-ness and see what it was about all these services that was making my clients struggle. You see for me, the creation of a fancy email newsletter was cake – I can design and create a template on the fly, paste that sucker right into the ESP’s editor and be sending the issues out in minutes! But not everyone is like me (and thank goodness for that) — many of my clients ran for the hills when presented with html code, icky WYSIWYG editors and all that crazy terminology that come with ESP’s. (“Broadcasts” “Campaigns” “Split Tests” Oh My!)

Since my main goal is to help clients create a business that is EASY to run, sending them off into the world with a complicated html ezine that takes them hours upon hours to put together to send was anti-me. Your time is much better spent creating products and programs, writing content, running webinars, etc… not fighting with a vicious WYSIWYG editor.

So I sent my lovely husband on a mission. Not being the tech nerd that I am, I thought having him test out the popular email service providers would give me insight on what my clients go through. After just an hour, he was curled up in the fetal position, sobbing. (In a VERY manly way, I might add). I let him off the hook to save our marriage, and wrote up this little piece for my own newsletter subscribers.  If that’s what happened to him, I can imagine how frustrating it can be for you, too.

Over the next few months I tested out a few email services providers on my own and gathered a bit of intel from my clients about why they struggled. The programs I reviewed were: aWeber, MailChimp, iContact, Constant Contact, Vertical Response,  MyEmma, EmailBrain and OneShoppingCart. (I know there are a TON more, but these seem to be the biggies). See the previous newsletter article to get the quick initial review on these…

Many of these ESP’s were similar in their set up. From dashboard navigation, terminology, list set up, form creation, etc — they vary on ease of use but for the most part are apples-to-apples once you get used to the system. Cost is an issue, but for my clients it did not seem #1. The double opt-in issue was a sorta big one for clients, but they were all gathered in different corners of that, since some hate double opt in and some love it, so I left that as a low priority. All these reputable ESP’s comply with CAN-SPAM laws and have pretty darn good deliver-ability. Sign up forms are an issue, but the only one that seemed sub-par was MyEmma, who does not allow self hosted forms for standard account and still uses iFrames, which is caveman-esque.

It seemed to me the two biggest struggles for clients were:

1)Creating/Managing Lists. Being able to import email lists without going through the rigamaru of making people opt in again or adding your personal email list without making them opt in was a biggie.

2)Being able to send out a consistently professional looking email quickly, easily and with no drama. That is, not having to fight with a WYSIWYG editor from hell.

I am planning on doing my quick review of each of these systems over time (must actually finish my own website redesign first though… ya know, priorities and all) – but I did not want to postpone the announcement *DRUM ROLL* of my most favoritest email service provider now – newbie’s on the block ♥ MailChimp ♥MailChimp

Have you met the chimp?

He’s adorable. You’ll want to hug him.

Here’s the short list as to why I ♥ MailChimp.

  • They don’t try to sound all cold. The voice they use on their site is regular-person voice. They make jokes, they are cutesy. They explain things the way they would talk to you. I like that. I respect that.
  • Their dashboard makes sense. They don’t add all kinds of extra tabs and menu items that confuse people. They have simple tabs relating to what you actually need.
  • It’s easy to add or build your lists. You can import old lists without problems or a need for a re-opt-in. You can integrate a TON of programs, like paypal, to automatically add your contacts to your lists.
  • Forms are pretty simple to create. Spend just a few minutes getting used to their form builder, add the drag-drop, clickable-ness of it all will be a welcome change.
  • Support is nice. Support is human. Support actually wants to *gasp* support you.
  • They integrate with a ton of programs. They partner with a ton of programs (so you get discounts). You may discover some new software that will solve a problem you had by looking at their partner list. For me, that was FreshBooks. I ♥♥ FreshBooks and would never have tried them if it were not for MailChimp.
  • It’s free for small lists, and cheap for large lists. You can earn credits by promoting them.
  • There’s more… but I won’t keep droning on and on for you, except to tell you my #1 reason:

The email editor is simple. It’s easy. These days the super complex fancy html newsletters are being replaced with simple html layouts: header – content – footer. And do your subscribers really need all that glam to read your newsletter?? With MailChimp, if you can get yourself a pretty header designed you can create a template by uploading that header, changing the colors of the template to match and you’re done!! Each time you send an email or newsletter, you can choose the content layout (one or two column) and plop your content right in there!!

Seriously, it’s that easy.

To me, a fancy-schmancy email newsletter is pretty much not worth all the effort, especially if it means struggling for hours trying to get it to work! When I open the newsletters I subscribe to, I look for a nice header displaying the brand, a footer with some contact links, and the content. Content! That’s what it’s all about.

In the upcoming weeks I will be working on a tour of sorts of MailChimp (and the others) to walk you through the process of setting up a MailChimp account (it’s easy, but a lot easier with a roadmap!) so if you want to get notified of that launch (and all the other cool stuff that will come with it) then sign up for either my email list in the sidebar (I only send out email once in a blue moon, no weekly sends for this girl!) or subscribe to the RSS feed cause I will announce it on the blog as well.

I would LOVE to hear from you about your struggles with your email service providers, things you love or hate about them, or praises for the ones you like. Why do you use what you use? Are you happy there? Shoot me an email to victoria[at]lynnraedesigns[dot]com or comment below.

Seriously,  check out MailChimp. MailChimp makes email fun and easy. Get your free account today.

Until next time!

~Victoria Potts Keale is a newbie blogger, website designer, entrepreneur extraordinaire, mom, wife, daughter, sister… well, you get the gist. She lives in her hometown of St. Louis, MO in an old haunted farmhouse with her 2 kids and drummer hubby. She has 15 tattoos and wants more. She loves 80’s music. She thinks writing bios in the 3rd person is wacky. You should email her and tell her what else to put in her bio – victoria@lynnraedesigns.com – but don’t spam her, cause she’ll get angry.

Please feel free to use this blog in whatever, but make sure you credit it back to the author (link it up here!!) and send us a note that you used it, cause we’ll give you some link-love right back.

Awesome eNewsletter Tips!!

1. Choose an email marketing program. This is key – before you can start publishing an email newsletter, you need a way to build you list and send out your issues. There are many out there to choose from – be mindful when shopping around that you consider not only cost but ease of use and SPAM regulations. While the lower cost programs (like Constant Contact or iContact) are easy to use and cheap, many SPAM filters block emails from those companies. We recommend aWeber ans MailChimp for their robust list building systems and its great SPAM compliance.

2. Personalize. Sending an HTML (AND text!) eNewsletter has proven to be more successful then a text-only eNewsletter. You can have a designer create a custom template to match your current website or use the template provided in your email marketing software and simply insert a custom header. Make sure you include your picture, a signature graphic and your logo in each issue. When the reader sees your face & your brand, they feel connected to you.

3. Be consistent. Pick the same day every week or month to send out your issues. Try and keep the same sections and features in each issue. People like this consistency, and if they find one issue of particular interest, you can bet they will be looking for the next issue to find that same level of relevant info. If they cant find it, you may have lost them as a subscriber.

4. Tempt. Make sure your subject line is catchy and tempting – subscribers may not open the email if the subject line does not seem interesting. Inside your issue, create a table of contents and add article/section titles to show the reader what they will get if they just scroll down.

5. Create great content! This may seem like a ‘duh’ – but content is key to keeping your subscribers interested, so it’s super important. Remember that your readers are looking at an email and on average they will spend only a few minutes (at best!) reading your issues, so keep your articles short and sweet (300-500 words each). Break up text with graphics, headlines, and bullet lists. Keep your content relevant to your readers. Consider publishing an interview with a client about a relevant subject or a case study. Look through your emails and add a “Q & A” feature where you post the answer to a question one of your clients has asked you in the past. (Chances are, your readers may have the same problem!) Periodically ask your readers to submit subjects or questions for you to cover in upcoming issues.

6. Promote! Consider creating a Sales Page for your eNewsletter. Have an eCover designed to match your eNewsletter. Don’t forget to promote within your issues, too! Always include a “call to action” in your issues, so is your subscribers are eager for more info, they have somewhere to go!

Do you have a suggestion for building a great eNewsletter? We’d love to hear it! Just sent it to victoria@lynnraedesigns.com and we’ll publish it in our next Gears issue!

~Victoria Potts Keale is a newbie blogger, website designer, entrepreneur extraordinaire, mom, wife, daughter, sister… well, you get the gist. She lives in her hometown of St. Louis, MO in an old haunted farmhouse with her 2 kids and drummer hubby. She has 15 tattoos and wants more. She loves 80’s music. She thinks writing bios in the 3rd person is wacky. You should email her and tell her what else to put in her bio – victoria@lynnraedesigns.com – but don’t spam her, cause she’ll get angry.

Please feel free to use this blog in whatever, but make sure you credit it back to the author (link it up here!!) and send us a note that you used it, cause we’ll give you some link-love right back.