mel jacobson on sun 14 dec 03
many clayarters are getting excited
about building email database information for our
customer lists.
i would like to be able to send one email, and it would
arrive at all my customers mailbox`.
i know, i run clayart, have been for years...and that is a
database of 3,397 as of this morning.
most active. and the software does ninety percent of the work.
i would have to start from scratch.
but, to build one, without the software in place can
be done about a hundred ways. of course, there may
be a nifty inexpensive software bundle out there that will do
the job.
of course, just a string, with comma's, then pasted into bcc.
i know that will work. but, is there a really swift way of doing it.
????
many would like to know.
there are some systems with my eudora pro, but the language
that is used in help makes me gag.
i have asked dolita and gail, and i am sure they will have
good answers...but, let us get a discussion going, from other
sources. ok `smartypants` folks, let us know.
mel
From:
Minnetonka, Minnesota, U.S.A.
web site: my.pclink.com/~melpots
or try: http://www.pclink.com/melpots
new/ http://www.rid-a-tick.com
Maid O'Mud on sun 14 dec 03
My method (gulp)
Within the address book, you can build "groups". Name it something simple
like "customer list". You then add a new "contact". If this is a new
contact, simply type the information into the boxes provided. Each new
address is a new contact.
If you already have the e-mail in your general directory, click on your
e-mail address in the right hand column, and drag it into the "customer
list" group. (This only copies the address, not move it - the general list
will have all addresses within all groups).
Either way, you should now have a bunch of addresses in your "customer list"
group. To send, without having to type in every *&%$ name, simply highlight
"customer list" and send it to bcc.
This is how I handle the LPG (London Potters Guild) e-mailing list; as well
as my own, personal e-mail listings.
HTH
Sam - Maid O'Mud Pottery
Melbourne, Ontario CANADA
"First, the clay told me what to do.
Then, I told the clay what to do.
Now, we co-operate."
sam 1994
http://www.ody.ca/~scuttell/
----- Original Message -----
From: "mel jacobson"
To:
Sent: Sunday, December 14, 2003 12:06 PM
Subject: email/database/help
> many clayarters are getting excited
> about building email database information for our
> customer lists.
>
> i would like to be able to send one email, and it would
> arrive at all my customers mailbox`.
>
> i know, i run clayart, have been for years...and that is a
> database of 3,397 as of this morning.
> most active. and the software does ninety percent of the work.
> i would have to start from scratch.
>
> but, to build one, without the software in place can
> be done about a hundred ways. of course, there may
> be a nifty inexpensive software bundle out there that will do
> the job.
>
> of course, just a string, with comma's, then pasted into bcc.
> i know that will work. but, is there a really swift way of doing it.
> ????
> many would like to know.
>
> there are some systems with my eudora pro, but the language
> that is used in help makes me gag.
> i have asked dolita and gail, and i am sure they will have
> good answers...but, let us get a discussion going, from other
> sources. ok `smartypants` folks, let us know.
> mel
> From:
> Minnetonka, Minnesota, U.S.A.
> web site: my.pclink.com/~melpots
> or try: http://www.pclink.com/melpots
> new/ http://www.rid-a-tick.com
>
>
____________________________________________________________________________
__
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
melpots@pclink.com.
>
Tony Ferguson on sun 14 dec 03
Mel,
You are better off breaking your address book into sections and
mailing that way. Just highlight and select the action. You can also
group them.
Many mailers now will reject a mass emailing (obviosuly
many don't). I have actually crashed my system (I think more so from my
end) when I have tried to send the entire address book--1400+
emails in one shot. I have also had email returned
that didn't get through. I was told that you don't want more
than 20 emails in the BCC field. I think the computers systems have even
catched on to multiple emails send in bunches of 20 and look for spam.
I too am looking for a better way to send out emails. Right now it takes
more time than I would
like.
I also am looking for some interested parties who may be interested
in purchasing target lists/buyers. However, I am sheepish about giving my
credit
card number some company who solicits me via spam "send 5 million emails for
$400." If even half the emails work, the law of numbers says I will have
many
sales. If even 1% of the folks from a million emails look at my site and
even 1% of those folks buy something, I am still ahead.
ANYONE buy a list, send out thousands of emails and get sales?
Thank you.
Tony Ferguson
On Lake Superior, where the sky meets the Lake
Custom & Manufactured Kiln Design
Stoneware, Porcelain, Raku and more
by Coleman, Ferguson, Winchester...
http://www.aquariusartgallery.com
218-727-6339
315 N. Lake Ave
Apt 312
Duluth, MN 55806
----- Original Message -----
From: "mel jacobson"
To:
Sent: Sunday, December 14, 2003 11:06 AM
Subject: email/database/help
> many clayarters are getting excited
> about building email database information for our
> customer lists.
>
> i would like to be able to send one email, and it would
> arrive at all my customers mailbox`.
>
> i know, i run clayart, have been for years...and that is a
> database of 3,397 as of this morning.
> most active. and the software does ninety percent of the work.
> i would have to start from scratch.
>
> but, to build one, without the software in place can
> be done about a hundred ways. of course, there may
> be a nifty inexpensive software bundle out there that will do
> the job.
>
> of course, just a string, with comma's, then pasted into bcc.
> i know that will work. but, is there a really swift way of doing it.
> ????
> many would like to know.
>
> there are some systems with my eudora pro, but the language
> that is used in help makes me gag.
> i have asked dolita and gail, and i am sure they will have
> good answers...but, let us get a discussion going, from other
> sources. ok `smartypants` folks, let us know.
> mel
> From:
> Minnetonka, Minnesota, U.S.A.
> web site: my.pclink.com/~melpots
> or try: http://www.pclink.com/melpots
> new/ http://www.rid-a-tick.com
>
>
____________________________________________________________________________
__
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
melpots@pclink.com.
>
Earl Krueger on sun 14 dec 03
On Sunday, Dec 14, 2003, at 09:06 US/Pacific, mel jacobson wrote:
> building email database information for our
> customer lists.
Mel, et. al.
If I were going to build a database of customers I would not use the
address book feature of the mail client on my computer. Instead I
would use a real database tool such as MS Access if a PC, or mySQL or
PostgreSQL if a Unix type machine. By doing this you could then
include other data about the customer, like:
purchases at spring sale,
purchases at fall sale,
average amount spent,
preferences.
Then, if you were going to have a spring sale of higher priced tea
bowls you could select the target customers with a statement something
like:
select customer-name, e-mail-address
from customer-list
where preferences = 'Tea Bowl' and spring-purchases > 0 and
average-spent > 1000.
From this list and a template you could easily generate an e-mail like:
Dear Mordred,
Due to your interest in my tea bowls I would like to
invite you, as one of only 30,000, to an exclusive
showing of tea bowls to be held at my studio at
1234 Abcd Road, Cold and Snowy, Minnesota on
February 30, 2004.
Looking forward to showing you my stuff.
Mel.
A batch script, written perhaps in PERL, could merge the selected
customer list with the template and send the e-mails. The script could
perhaps send in batches of 10 to 20, with maybe a ten minute delay in
between to help work around anti-spam software.
For those with some facility with computers this should not be an
overwhelming task. For those who prefer not to engage themselves with
their computer at this level there are probably freeware or shareware
programs available that would do this.
Earl...
Bothell, WA, USA
BTW: This is the approach I am using at my day job to selectively send
out daily notices of changes that are being made to our network.
Odin Maxwell on mon 15 dec 03
On Sun, 14 Dec 2003 19:30:58 -0800, Earl Krueger
wrote:
>If I were going to build a database of customers I would not use the
>address book feature of the mail client on my computer. Instead I
>would use a real database tool such as MS Access if a PC, or mySQL or
>PostgreSQL if a Unix type machine. By doing this you could then
I'm awfully happy with MySQL on my Redhat system. But all you Windows and
Mac OSX users are in luck too! Just scroll down past the Linux downloads
for Windows, and bit further for Mac downloads:
Bleeding edge (new features - may have bugs):
http://www.mysql.com/downloads/mysql-4.1.html
Stable:
http://www.mysql.com/downloads/mysql-4.0.html
Anyone who is going to use a DB needs to get a book - like one of those 600
page doorstops that touch on a bit of everything. Like anything worthwhile,
there is a bit of time invested in learning how to use a DB. But like any
good investment, the dividens are sweet - it can save you tons of rote,
manual, computer drudgery in the future.
Cindi Anderson on mon 15 dec 03
The problem I have found is that many mail servers will not let you send
large volumes of messages. My host swore they didn't mind, but if I sent an
email to more than 100 people at a time they didn't deliver the messages.
So I had 60 different groups of 100 people, and it was crazy to try to keep
track. Although I am a cheapskate, I finally went to a managed mailing list
service (in my case Listbuilder at bCentral but I would not necessarily
recommend them.) Usually they charge in the neighborhood of .005 cents per
message sent.
Particularly if you are going to have people signing up from your website to
be on your mailing list, with a managed list server that is all done
automatically including the response to the customer and having them confirm
that they asked to be on the list. That is getting more important with
anit-spam laws.
Cindi
Fremont, CA
----- Original Message -----
> many clayarters are getting excited
> about building email database information for our
> customer lists.
mudslingers@ATT.NET on mon 15 dec 03
mel wrote:
>i would like to be able to send one email, and it would
>arrive at all my customers mailbox`.
me too! ONE email to a list of recipients that you
didn't have to type (or paste) in would be immensely convenient!
i use att worldnet service. they have a "group lists" feature.
you can give a list of addresses a group name and then
email that group name.
a real big "HOWEVER" though:
what worldnet doesn't tell you is
that only the first 25 names in the group are emailed!
it is very deceiving because you are allowed to build a list
as long as you like and when you use the group name to mail to
the list, anyone would assume the whole list was emailed.
there is no indication that it was not (unless you, yourself,
go back and check the names on the list in the "sent mail" folder).
as a former att system tester this really made me crazy! of
course i wrote a complaint -- but no change has been made.
i was told this was a way to discourage spammers. so why not
limit the size of the group list so the user knows it???
(software techs on the list will recognize this as the lame:
"it's not a bug, it's a feature!")
so, the trick to using the worldnet "group" feature is to make
multiple lists each of which contains only 25 addresses.
--
Mudslingers Pottery, Lauren Bellero
http://mudslingers.home.att.net
39 Leroy Place, Red Bank, NJ 07701
732.747.4853
Carl Finch on mon 15 dec 03
At 03:52 PM 12/15/03 +0000, Lauren Bellero, mudslingers@ATT.NET, wrote:
>mel wrote:
> >i would like to be able to send one email, and it would
> >arrive at all my customers mailbox`.
>
>me too! ONE email to a list of recipients that you
>didn't have to type (or paste) in would be immensely convenient!
This is not an area in which I have any experience at all, but I do know
that for the past 20 years the word processor software I've used
(WordPerfect, MS Word, and others, too) have had "Mail-Merge" features,
allowing one to maintain an address list (and presumably sub-lists) and
write a single letter (with spaces for inserted personal info for each
recipient), and then create letters, one for each person on the list (plus
envelopes) ready for snail mail.
I can't help thinking that SOMEbody has come up with a similar scheme for
email--without having to resort to writing Perl scripts or (heaven forbid!)
changing operating systems. :-)
--Carl
in Medford, Oregon
Janet Kaiser on mon 15 dec 03
Oh, dear me, Tony! It may make economic sense to you, but
nevertheless... You are talking about more SPAM here, you know!?!
In the UK, 99% already comes from the USA, so our new law which
makes the sending of unsolicited e-mail to private individuals
illegal, will not staunch the flow. Apparently it is not illegal
to send to businesses and companies as it would apparently
"reduce information flow". As the number of man-hours wasted in
sieving through Spam increases, I trust that little lunacy will
be revised a.s.a.p. I cannot think anyone in business or even
government can be happy about the man-hours being wasted by
employees having to wade through all the crap. Human error
clicking delete, delete, delete and then missing a "vital e-mail"
is also a cause of some concern. I think I must be deleting
private mail amidst all the rubbish too...
I also hope that the US authorities will soon do something to
stop the deluge of spam, which is now accounting for 50% of
e-mail in the UK! If we want to buy viagra, surgery, "natural"
enhancement and patches (the mind boggles) of dingely-dangely
bits, prescription medication, instant loans, printer ink, cars,
etc. etc. are we likely to import? Very unlikely. Even offers of
cheap cigarettes have not enticed me to buy off-shore, where I
have no consumer rights or legal recourse if things do not work
out.
I currently receive around 100 per day. Irritating. Very. I am
also in the invidious position of having inherited somebody
else's Spam!! I thought is was very odd that I could get a simple
last name for my uncle's 100th birthday website and now I know
why. First day I activated the account and there were 73 e-mails
waiting for me, including newsletters and notifications which the
previous user had obviously signed up to. The only clue I have of
finding her is to visit Friends Reunited, a UK web site and look
for "claire" at a certain school in Yorkshire!
The bulk e-mail solution of OE was no good for me last time I
tried sending everyone in my address book an e-mail a couple of
years ago. That was in the days when I had the address of
everyone I ever mailed or replied to saved. First it would not
accept all the addresses (too many). Then when I divided up the
names into lots AtoB, CtoD, etc. it only took one single mail to
bounce and the whole lot would come back. Delete that address,
send mail again... and then the next "unknown recipient" would
crop up. One way or another it took a couple of days to send out
one "urgent" mail shot! I suppose it was one way of clearing out
my address book of outdated e-mail addresses, but it was
frustrating and annoying at the time and I could not contemplate
doing it on a regular basis.
But I don't use OE any more. My mail client is Calypso (now
marketed as Courier) in which I can set up a "Bulk Mail" account
using an ASCII file which I can keep and edit elsewhere (i.e. in
another application, such as notepad) or I can use the Calypso
address book. I have adapted the address book where everyone has
a "name" field and an "alias". In the one I can put the real name
John Smith, then in the other I can put into sub-categories. For
example, PP SMITH John, PP JONES John, etc. "Sort" and I have all
the associated addresses in the one PP group (Potters Path) which
can be selected for a group mailing. CoA for Chapel, FF for
Friends of the CoA, 73 for school reunion, and so on.
Now that I do not save many addresses (to avoid inadvertently
helping nasties do their evil business big time) I have to keep a
"double account" of any e-mail addresses I wish to bulk mail to.
Yes, it is tedious, but then keeping a data bank up to date is
too! There is nothing automatic or easy about it. That "computer
error" cited as the cause of so many mistakes, is for real but
only because the person doing the grinding, menial work really
did get it wrong. Here, it is always me, even down to such
dreadful mistakes as sending mail using a two year old mailing
list!?! Embarrassing? I'll say! I had been to the funeral of one
on the list and his widow was not at all amused...
One neat feature, is that I can put all the addresses I want to
e-mail in the "to" field and then "blind send". I thought that
was a regular feature of all mail clients, but apparently it is
not. Of course every mail-client is different and as you have
found, a lot depends on your ISP and your recipient's as well as
what you are using to send mail.
Whatever Mel and others decide to do, this is one area which
needs constant updating and care. For example, if you want to
keep the right side of prospective and past clients an "opt out"
is essential. It may be worth knowing that many users no longer
fall for the automatic link to "opt-out" on Spam mail, because
they suspect that it is a way of harvesting addresses. Of course
it is genuine for serious businesses and companies who need to
protect their good name and reputation, but not for others. So
for "unknown" sources like Mel or anyone on the list, something
which makes it more obvious that a "real person" who will take
your request seriously and "do the honourable thing" will perhaps
elicit more reaction? In Mel's case, he is only saving and
mailing the addresses which have been given to him personally
with the precise request to send information, but if it is
totally unsolicited, it is quite a different matter.
Seems to me that you will never know who you are annoying and
putting off ever visiting your website, if you just pay for one
of those packages. And as those poor people are already being
inundated by Spam, the hit rate may be even lower than you
bargain for. You also have no notion if there is any targeting
involved. It may be just a list of addresses harvested from news
groups or the internet... Odds are that many have resorted to a
programme like "mail washer" or similar, so they never even see
your mail... No, I am afraid that I would save the $400 to spend
on printing material to advertise in "real time".
Just my 22 pence worth! :o)
Sincerely
Janet Kaiser -- dreaming of seeing the Aurora Borealis at least
once in my life... Must be glorious... You lucky people up North!
And enjoy the snow whilst you can... Global warming has already
closed the only skiing centre in the UK. If you visit
http://new.wotch.com/redir.cfm/1954/10444/1717/11505972 it could
be kids in the future will not know what that little fellow is
doing!!? He had me amused for ages just now... Simple things and
all that...
*** IN REPLY TO THE FOLLOWING MAIL:
>You are better off breaking your address book into sections and
>mailing that way. Just highlight and select the action. You can
also
>group them.
>
>Many mailers now will reject a mass emailing (obviosuly many
don't).
>I too am looking for a better way to send out emails. Right now
it takes
>more time than I would like.
>I also am looking for some interested parties who may be
interested
>in purchasing target lists/buyers.
>ANYONE buy a list, send out thousands of emails and get sales?
*** THE MAIL FROM Tony Ferguson ENDS HERE ***
***********************************************************
The top posted mail was sent by Janet Kaiser
The Chapel of Art : Capel Celfyddyd
8 Marine Crescent : Criccieth : Wales : UK
Centre of Excellence for The Arts
Home of The International Potters' Path
Tel: ++44 (01766) 523570 http://www.the-coa.org.uk
Open: 13.00 to 17.00hrs : Tuesday to Saturday
************** AVG Virus Protected ********************
Chris Schafale on tue 16 dec 03
You can do mail merge to emails in Word, linking to an Excel database (this
is how I generated all those mug exchange messages last spring), but they
still have to get by your ISP and not be labelled spam.
Chris
On 15 Dec 2003 at 13:42, Carl Finch wrote:
> At 03:52 PM 12/15/03 +0000, Lauren Bellero, mudslingers@ATT.NET, wrote:
>
> >mel wrote:
> > >i would like to be able to send one email, and it would
> > >arrive at all my customers mailbox`.
> >
> >me too! ONE email to a list of recipients that you
> >didn't have to type (or paste) in would be immensely convenient!
>
> This is not an area in which I have any experience at all, but I do know
> that for the past 20 years the word processor software I've used
> (WordPerfect, MS Word, and others, too) have had "Mail-Merge" features,
> allowing one to maintain an address list (and presumably sub-lists) and
> write a single letter (with spaces for inserted personal info for each
> recipient), and then create letters, one for each person on the list (plus
> envelopes) ready for snail mail.
>
> I can't help thinking that SOMEbody has come up with a similar scheme for
> email--without having to resort to writing Perl scripts or (heaven forbid!)
> changing operating systems. :-)
>
> --Carl
> in Medford, Oregon
>
> ______________________________________________________________________________
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at melpots@pclink.com.
Light One Candle Pottery
Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina, USA
(south of Raleigh)
candle@intrex.net
http://www.lightonecandle.com
Carl Finch on tue 16 dec 03
At 07:05 PM 12/16/03 -0500, Chris Schafale wrote:
>You can do mail merge to emails in Word, linking to an Excel database (this
>is how I generated all those mug exchange messages last spring), but they
>still have to get by your ISP and not be labelled spam.
Well then I should think that one could easily create a simple Excel macro
that would pick off 10 addresses from the mailing list, email them, pick
off the next 10, and so on, till the list was exhausted.
Wouldn't sending just 10 (or whatever) at a time 'get by' the ISP?
--Carl
in Medford, Oregon
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