How To Guide: Mailing Lists and Newsletters
Login to your Account Manager to manage powerful mailing list and newsletter tools. After login, click Website Manager, Mailing Lists or Newsletters.
Mailing Lists
Newsletter
Best Practices
Mailing Lists
Database driven - names are stored online in your private database
Easy to create - Click "Add a New Mailing List"
Manage your lists online - after creating a list, click "manage"
Multiple lists and choose if they are displayed on your site or not
List signup can send file - such as an excerpt or first chapter
CAN-SPAM compliant - signups get confirmation email with opt-out
Import and export list names - contact Support for assistance
Database Driven
Your mailing lists are stored online in a private database. This makes it easy to keep up with names and addresses and to send email newsletters.
Easy to Create
After logging in to your Account Manager, click Website Manager, Mailing Lists. Then click "Add a New Mailing List" and follow the instructions.
Manage Your Lists
Once a list is created it is listed on the Mailing Lists page. Here you can see how many emails the lists contains and other information about the list. In addition you have links to manage, edit and delete the list. Click manage to see the names on the list. You can edit, delete, deactivate or add new emails to a list.
Multiple Lists, Display or Not
Our system allows you to create multiple lists. If you choose to display a list on your website, a signup link will automatically appear on your website's Mailing List page. Plus a signup link will automatically appear on our main WebforAuthors.com site too. The link on our site is quickly picked up by search engines and provides more visibility for your site. So we suggest creating at least one list to display on your site even if you do not intend to send regular newsletters. Just state that the list is for occasional news regarding your work and appearances.
For lists that you do not want displayed on your site, choose "do not display on site." This is useful for keeping separate lists or groups of email addresses for sending newsletters. It is also useful for creating a test group to test send email newsletters.
List Signup Can Send File
You can attach an optional file to a mailing list. This file is automatically emailed to anyone who signs up for the list using the signup link on your website. For example, you can state that anyone signing up will receive the first chapter of your latest book or some other enticement. Any type of file can be attached, but we suggest it be Acrobat, Word or text file as these are the most common formats.
CAN-SPAM Compliant
Every signup to a mailing list through your website receives an email confirming their signup. The confirmation email contains an opt-out link which will remove their name from the database if they so choose and may have an attachment (if the optional file feature is used).
Import and Export Lists
If you have existing lists with many names, please contact Support who can load these into your database.
If you wish to have a list exported and sent to you, please contact Support.
Newsletter
Use your mailing lists
Easy to create and edit mailer
Send Mailer
CAN-SPAM compliant
Use Your Mailing Lists
Our Newsletters feature gives you the ability to easily email a newsletter to everyone on a mailing list. Use this powerful tool to keep in touch. Please only send newsletters to those who have given you premission. Our content and spam policy can be found here.
Easy to Create and Edit Mailer
After logging in to your Account Manager, click Website Manager, Newsletter. Then click "Create Mailer" and follow the instructions. Choose type of email as "Plain Text Email." To edit a mailer, click "Edit/Delete Mailer" and scroll to the bottom of the page. We suggest you compose your newsletter in word processor and copy/paste into the newsletter.
Send Mailer
To send an email newsletter to a mailing lists, click "Send Mailer."
Choose one of more emails lists and click "Send Now." Depending on the size of the list, it may take a few seconds or several minutes before all the emails are sent. That's it!
CAN-SPAM Compliant
All newsletters contain an opt-out link which will remove the recipients name from the database if they so choose.
Best Practices
Setup a test mailing list
Create a mailer and send to your test list
Add your name to each mailing list
Backup your lists
Setup a Test Mailing List
Add a mailing list and choose not to display on your site. Add one or more email addresses to which you can send test mailings. These can be one or more of your own email addresses or
the address of someone who is helping you. To test list signup, temporily display the list on your site and go there to sign up. This way you can see the signup email, the opt-out link and the optional file attachment. Signup adds the address to your database, opt-out deletes it.
Create a Mailer and Send to Your Test List
We suggest you compose your newsletter in word processor and copy/paste into the newsletter so that you can check spelling and polish the content. After you create a mailer, send it to your test list. Open the email you receive and check it over. Continue to edit and resend to the test list until the newsletter email is finalized and meets your approval.
Add Your Name to Each Mailing List
If you add your name to each mailing list, you will receive a copy of each newsletter you send. This assures you sent the newsletter and provides a date and time stamp of when it was sent.
Backup Your Lists
If the lists are important to you, you should make a backup. While we have server level backup protecting our system and your website, we can not restore an accidential delete of a list or name. If the list is short, you can print or manually key into a spreadsheet, document or database. For longer lists, request Support to export your lists.
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