how to set up a mailing list for a band?

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tylerbcrawford
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how to set up a mailing list for a band?

Post by tylerbcrawford » Thu Feb 03, 2005 10:00 pm

anyone have any links or anything that has information about how to set up a good mailing list to let people know about shows and news and such?
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Mr. Dipity
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Re: how to set up a mailing list for a band?

Post by Mr. Dipity » Thu Feb 03, 2005 10:45 pm

tylerbcrawford wrote:anyone have any links or anything that has information about how to set up a good mailing list to let people know about shows and news and such?
My experience: it's fucking hard.

You don't want to go with something that doesn't include the person's email address in the To: line, or you'll go straight to everyone's spam filter, so BCC's are out. You don't want to include everyone's email address in one message either, or you are opening yourself up for all sorts of fun, like one jackass responding to 'all' and slagging you in front of your entire fan base.

Any bulk email tool worth a damn is going to be blocked by your ISP, and for good reason - they can't tell the benign ones from the evil ones. So, what's left?

How big is the list? Here's what I did: I created a template email, and then I cut and paste each email address in our database of 100+ fan list, and clicked send....

I searched far and wide, installed a bunch of apps, and that was the best solution I could come up with. If you find a better one, please let me know.

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Re: how to set up a mailing list for a band?

Post by kcrusher » Fri Feb 04, 2005 11:38 am

You should look at Lyris ListManager - it's fucking brilliant. It's not cheap, though - packages start at about $650 for 3 sites, though you may be able to work out a better price for only 1 site.

www.lyris.com

You could also try Topica email manager - anything worthwhile starts at about $50/mo.

Some hosting companies provide basic email list capabilities, though I cannot vouch for their features or anything.
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Mr. Dipity
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Re: how to set up a mailing list for a band?

Post by Mr. Dipity » Fri Feb 04, 2005 11:48 am

bombastique wrote:You should look at Lyris ListManager - it's fucking brilliant. It's not cheap, though - packages start at about $650 for 3 sites, though you may be able to work out a better price for only 1 site.

www.lyris.com

You could also try Topica email manager - anything worthwhile starts at about $50/mo.

Some hosting companies provide basic email list capabilities, though I cannot vouch for their features or anything.
Make sure that your provider is set up to permit these products to work - most of them require an open mail relay, which is a pretty big no-no for most isps. Technical details were scant on the lyris site.

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Re: how to set up a mailing list for a band?

Post by Rigsby » Fri Feb 04, 2005 12:02 pm

Yeah, i send the mail to myself and BCC everyone else, seems to get through to everyone, and no-one knows who else is getting it then.

I don't think you can't reply all to BCC can you?
Last edited by Rigsby on Fri Feb 04, 2005 12:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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andyg666
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Re: how to set up a mailing list for a band?

Post by andyg666 » Fri Feb 04, 2005 12:06 pm

check out litemail from sprika software. you can DL the freeware version at download.com. it's quite simple (it accepts e-mail address lists as carriage-return delimited text files) and will send HTML and Text hybrid messages with or without attachments. one this to be aware of--if your ISP doesn't let you use your own SMTP server, you may run into problems sending out more than 50 e-mails at once or more than 100 per hour. they will assume you're sending spam and cut you off. so be sure your isp will allow you to send out a mailing list, check out litemail, and rock on!

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Mr. Dipity
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Re: how to set up a mailing list for a band?

Post by Mr. Dipity » Fri Feb 04, 2005 12:15 pm

Rigsby wrote:Yeah, i send the mail to myself and BCC everyone else, seems to get through to everyone, and no-one knows who else is getting it then.

I don't think you can't reply all to BCC can you?
No, but BCC's are frequently placed in people's junk mail without them seeing it. Happens to evites all the time.

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Re: how to set up a mailing list for a band?

Post by Rigsby » Fri Feb 04, 2005 12:29 pm

sserendipity wrote:
Rigsby wrote:Yeah, i send the mail to myself and BCC everyone else, seems to get through to everyone, and no-one knows who else is getting it then.

I don't think you can't reply all to BCC can you?
No, but BCC's are frequently placed in people's junk mail without them seeing it. Happens to evites all the time.
In fairness i don't have a vast mailing list as i've only just started sending things out, maybe fifty-seventy people and it's still sporadic mailing, but so far i've just told people to add my e-mail address to their safe list and it's all been fine. Probably not the best route for a larger mailing, true.

I'll get my coat.

*backs out of the room feeling unprofessional*
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Mr. Dipity
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Re: how to set up a mailing list for a band?

Post by Mr. Dipity » Fri Feb 04, 2005 12:31 pm

Rigsby wrote:
In fairness i don't have a vast mailing list as i've only just started sending things out, maybe fifty-seventy people and it's still sporadic mailing, but so far i've just told people to add my e-mail address to their safe list and it's all been fine. Probably not the best route for a larger mailing, true.
If there's only fifty seven, why not guarantee it goes through, and just send individual emails? Take about 15 minutes, if you set it up right.

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cassettefetish
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Re: how to set up a mailing list for a band?

Post by cassettefetish » Fri Feb 04, 2005 4:04 pm

http://notifylist.com/


Thank me later.

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Mr. Dipity
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Re: how to set up a mailing list for a band?

Post by Mr. Dipity » Fri Feb 04, 2005 4:50 pm

cassettefetish wrote:http://notifylist.com/


Thank me later.
notifylist Terms of Service wrote:A.NotifyList.com Tag Line You acknowledge that NotifyList.com may include a promotional tag line in every message, the content of which NotifyList.com may change from time to time, but which will be formatted in a manner similar to the following:

________________________________________________________
Get your own free, easy notify list from NotifyList.com.
Let your website visitors know when you update! http://NotifyList.com/

B.Third-Party Advertisements From time to time you may receive banner or other advertisements or promotions from third parties while using NotifyList.com's Service. Your dealings with such third parties, including, without limitation, the payment for and delivery of goods and services, and any terms, conditions, warranties, or representations associated with your dealings with third parties are solely between you and the third party. NotifyList.com does not make any representations or warranties with respect to any such dealings or any goods or services which may be obtained from such third parties, and you agree that NotifyList.com shall have no liability therefor.
The terms of service then follow with a gigantic CYA section in bold type, saying basicly that they are not responsible for anything at all happening ever.

In other words, unless someone can show me otherwise, you are handing your fan list to someone who will turn around and do whatever they hell they want with it, up to and including selling it to Nigerian Bankers, Purveyors of Quality Used Dildos chechkoslovakian V1@GRAH Salesmen, and those kind people who make sure that the login and password to your bank account is up to date.

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seeabove
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Re: how to set up a mailing list for a band?

Post by seeabove » Fri Feb 04, 2005 5:27 pm

No no no, you're doing it all wrong, SS. Just click "okay".. you're not actually supposed to READ the user agreement.

Actually, have I ever read one of those?!?
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tateeskew
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Re: how to set up a mailing list for a band?

Post by tateeskew » Sat Feb 05, 2005 1:16 pm

http://www.list.org/

mailman. it's the best and it's open. your hosting company for your bands website might already have it installed. just ask.

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cassettefetish
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Re: how to set up a mailing list for a band?

Post by cassettefetish » Sat Feb 05, 2005 2:43 pm

oh...


*d'oh.*

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