Using free services
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Free email list hosting and delivery services are a wonderful thing for many smaller and hobbyist publishers. They give you access to all the automated subscription management functions you need.
They cause problems for professionalism though. For example,
- you're often restricted to pre-set web templates, email headers and the like. So it's hard to manipulate these elements to your advantage.
- they'll often append their own advertisements to your outgoing newsletters. These advertisements may not fit your topic or image.
- you don't get access to dozens of useful functions which can help you improve your newsletter's success.
- subscribers with even a vague understanding of how the Web and newsletters work will know that you're using a free service. And like it or not, free services are used mainly by hobbyists and small-scale enterprises. If you're neither of these, then you may be judged by the company you keep.
Note that I'm not saying it's impossible to project professionalism if you're using a free email newsletter distribution service. Just that it's harder.
Besides, feature-rich email marketing services are now plentiful and cheap. iContact, for example, starts at US$9.95 a month. It really is worth spending those few dollars to get a professional solution for managing your address lists and email delivery.
Need more email marketing guidance? Try the email newsletter.