21 Day Web Master Training
DRAFT
DAY 4 - THE POWER OF EMAIL: BUILDING YOUR LIST - CHECKING IT TWICE
Email plays a TREMENDOUS role on the Internet. Most think of it as a convenient (and free) way of sending a letter at cyber speed. Others might thinks of it as a powerful way to bulk distribute information to target markets. Some (ones who are making money) recognize email as a powerful array of services. This lesson will cover effective ways to setup and utilize this array.
Setting up Your First Email Box
In "Administrative Tools", select "Setup Email Accounts" then click on "Go". To add an email account: First enter an email account name such as yourname@eznettools.net.
(This provides an email address under the eznettools.net domain.)
If you’ve already registered your domain name and emailed tech support to complete the process, it should not be long for your domain name to become active. When your domain is active, it will appear in the lower list box on the mailbox setup page.
Click on the "Add" button. Then highlight the mailbox you just created, and click on "Get Info". This will display your email address, username, password and other server information. (Click OK to close.)
If you would like to change your password, click on "Set Password" and type in the new password (Click OK to complete.). Click on "Get Info" to verify your new password. To remove a mailbox, highlight mailbox and click on "Remove".
Once you’ve set up your mailbox, select the mailbox account and click on "How to retrieve email from this account", which will cause a window to pop up with detailed instructions on setting up your account for Outlook Express, Netscape Messenger, and EZ-OnlineMail™. Outlook Express and Netscape Messenger can be configured to download and manage your email in a number of ways. In this lesson I will be discussing EZ-Online Mail™ which provides 200 email boxes for website use.
Here are a few things you can do with EZ-Online Mail™ (Included with Website):
The following gives a hypothetical list of email addresses as an example of how your EZ-Online Mail™ boxes could be set up to provide classification and management of email. To illustrate the naming convention of your email address box, I am using the website account name X304611 for my example.
Once you setup your mailbox, you can login to EZ-Online Mail™ through Administration Tools or by going to www.ezonlinemail.com. Use the letter designator at the end of the your account name to specify which mailbox you are accessing in this example x304611a would access mailbox #1, x304611b would access mailbox #2, and so one. Near the bottom of this list you can see how the x304611z is mailbox #26, and x304611aa is mailbox #27.
Mailbox Name (shown below) indicates mailbox naming convention. Email Address gives examples of mailbox usage.
Mailbox Name Email Address
1 x304611a webmaster@yourdomain.com
2 x304611b sales@yourdomain.com
3 x304611c info@yourdomain.com
4 x304611d information@yourdomain.com
5 x304611e service@yourdomain.com
6 x304611f marketing@yourdomain.com
7 x304611g admin@yourdomain.com
8 x304611h engineering@yourdomain.com
9 x304611i humanresource@yourdomain.com
10 x304611j president@yourdomain.com
11 x304611k owner@yourdomain.com
12 x304611l daniel@yourdomain.com
13 x304611m etc@yourdomain.com
14 x304611n newsgroup1@yourdomain.com
15 x304611o newsgroup2@yourdomain.com
16 x304611p newsgroup3@yourdomain.com
17 x304611q radioad1@yourdomain.com
18 x304611r radioad2@yourdomain.com
19 x304611s radioad3@yourdomain.com
20 x304611t wantads1@yourdomain.com
21 x304611u wantads2@yourdomain.com
22 x304611v wantads3@yourdomain.com
23 x304611w newsletter1@yourdomain.com
24 x304611x newsletter2@yourdomain.com
25 x304611y banner1@yourdomain.com
26 x304611z banner2@yourdomain.com
27 x304611aa newsgroup1@yourdomain.com
28 x304611ab newsgroup2@yourdomain.com
29. x304611ac newsgroup3@yourdomain.com
30. …
Recommendation
With such a large number of mailboxes, it would be impractical to check each one every day. Consider using the "Accounts" button to set up a mailbox that imports mail from all your mailboxes. Or maybe use the first 10 – 20 mailboxes to collect the mail from groups of mailboxes.
Setup at least 3 mailboxes, configure the first mailbox x304611a, to receive from the other 2 boxes. This is a great time saver when checking your mail. Especially if you happen to be using all 200 mailboxes.
Your Email List
When visitors enter their name into you mailing list, you mailing list grows. Usually people opt into a mailing list to receive additional information from your website. This is your opportunity to follow up with the information requested, and remind your visitors about your website.
Default Email Address
Bulk mail is sent from the default email address. The default email address can be specified in Edit Member Profile. (Day 1 Lesson)
Request Forms and Email
Unlike the opt-in mail list which receives names into the default email list, an Information Request Form can be sent to a specified address with a specified message, according to your programming. You could can setup a number of Information Request Forms, each addressing a different issue, each sending information to a different email account.
Each Information Request Form can send a unique description with the information entered by your website visitor, so you can identify the source and purpose any of email generated from your Information Request Forms.
Bulk Email and SPAM… What’s the difference?
Before using any bulk email facility, it is important to understand what is responsible email etiquette or "netiquette" (when referring to Internet etiquette) and what is SPAM?
SPAM is unsolicited email, or junk mail that appears in email boxes. If you have entered your email information on the Internet, you are probably receiving some bulk mail.
Here is the difference between SPAM and responsible bulk email:
Responsible Bulk Email provides a service to email recipients who request or otherwise authorizes email be sent to their email box. Authorization can be granted by entering an e-mail into an opt-in mail list like you did to receive the free lessons, or authorization can be given by filling out online forms where you can request and that future information on a category (such as "golf") be sent to you. It is generally understood that is appropriate to send the requested information, with reasonable future follow up on the request.
SPAM is unsolicited email. SPAMMING is the process of sending unsolicited mail. Some have bought into the belief that sending email by the shotgun method would result in increase sales. Usually this results in email clutter that can be annoying and counter productive, and puts an unnecessary load on ISP’s and Internet resources. Although there is are different opinions and definitions of SPAMMING, it is illegal and many ISP will terminate your account if you are caught sending SPAM.
Some ISP (Internet Service Provider) contracts have anti-spamming clauses that allow the ISP to fine a user for each SPAM message sent. Imagine if an ISP has a fine of $5 for each SPAM message (like my ISP does). You should hope your ISP shuts you down early, which is a likely remedy for clearing their clogged email system (with you being the cause of their service slowdown and congestion). If only 10,000 SPAM messages were sent (plus thousands of returns likely to hit your ISP), you can imagine the problem take could come out of this. Bottom line: Be responsible with you email list, and don’t spam.
What to do with hundreds of e-mail boxes to maximize advertising effectiveness.
There are a variety of creative ways to setup and manage 200 email addresses using this system. Using real (but mostly fictitious) email addresses, here are some ideas:
There are other ways to use this email system to gain useful feedback and insight. You may need only a simple mailing list. Ask your visitors to sign up, then help your customers remember your business. To someone who has not yet finished their holiday shopping, imagine how meaningful a follow up email might be on Christmas Eve. Are you ready for the Holidays?
END OF LESSON
Tomorrow: E-Commerce - Your "Cash Register to the World"
QUOTE:
"… a transformation of society that is every bit as profound as the Industrial Revolution."
- Business Week
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