Hi I’m looking for a service I can send newsletters to my customers from. The emails should include an unsubscribe link and a database over my customers. Any recommendations
if you are looking for a free solution, have a look at phplist if not, aweber, constant contacts, mailchimp are a few paid solutions
What you are looking for is called an autoresponder. There are several popular companies that host these autoresponders, and prices are pretty reasonable. Beware of using the free ones if they don't provide a path to a paid version with more features. Once you have a list, it is very difficult to move it to a different autoresponder, particulary because the better ones don't allow you to move an external list in without having each email address verified again (double opt-in). Moving a list with another opt-in will usually result in a much smaller list when you are done. I like aweber because it works well for me, and has a decent reputation.
Aweber is probably the best autoresponder out there. I'm sure others will have their own opinions on this but I love Aweber. Also right now I think they are offering a trial period for about a dollar so you can give it a shot and if you don't like it you're only out a buck. Not a bad deal to get it goin. Another option could be to manually send out your newsletter to everyone on your list. This will obviously take some more time out of your day but it will be free if you have your list organized. Sending mass emails can get tiresome but it all depends on what your budget is
Normally the way it works is that you want to set it up so that people have to double opt in. By that I mean they sign up to your newsletter, and then you send another email for them to click to make sure they really want to opt in. Adding emails to a list is normally not possible with the email services such as aweber. Aweber is popular because it has been around for a long time, but they have had some problems. I guess most email services have. In any case, the worst thing you can do is be accused of spamming. Notice I said accused. It does not matter whether or not you are guilty, you just need to be accused. Some hosting companies will shut you down if they get a complaint about you spamming. There are some packages out there that you can purchase to set up your own email service and then you can do what you want. They are expensive and you still need to be careful. Do you already have a list that you would like to put in a service? If so, there are ways to do that. Good luck, Zeek
I use Aweber as well. However if you are looking for a free alternative, I've been reading good reviews about ListWire.
Aweber is good, or you can also look at GetResponse, Icontact or if you want free services, MailChimp and ListWire.