Bulk mailing software

[adrianh]

I have 75 customers that asked to receive my latest catalog. Does anybody know of a free bulk emailing tool that I can download and use

[Nigel Hamilton]

I have 75 customers that asked to receive my latest catalog. Does anybody know of a free bulk emailing tool that I can download and use

If it is only 75 whats wrong with outlook? I know many service providors might view this is spam...but then create 8 emails?

[adrianh]

I'll use outlook but explain some things to me first:

1. How do I import a list of addresses into a particular address book? (I see how to import but not into a partilular list or group) I can format the list into CSV in Excel.
2. How do I send mails to all the people without exposing all the email addresses to everybody? (will blind copy do this?)

[SilverNodashi]

I'll use outlook but explain some things to me first:

Outlook may not necessarily be the best option for this. If you're on a tight budget, or really don't want to pay for a professional bulk mailing solution then outlook might be the way to go.

Otherwise, check if you're hosting provider / ISP has something like phplist / mailman, or any such free mailing list software. It's going to cause less problems with spam and will also come across more professionally.

2. How do I send mails to all the people without exposing all the email addresses to everybody? (will blind copy do this?)

BCC works well for this, but many providers now block BCC'd mail due to spam abuse.

[Dave A]

Or Sugar CRM perhaps? There's a desktop solution version that'll do the job you want, and quite a bit more as well.

[SilverNodashi]

Or Sugar CRM perhaps? There's a desktop solution version that'll do the job you want, and quite a bit more as well.

SugarCRM could be very bloated for this, and kinds overwhelming if the OP isn't technically inclined to learn it

[Cream]

If your website was designed using Joomla, there are so many options available when it comes to bulk mailing and the best thing is most of those components are for free.

In the past (now don't laugh) I had copied all my email contacts into a word document especially when it came to mass mail, I would separate each email with a comma then copy those emails, paste them into the BCC field and off it went.

Another option within outlook is to create a group, say 'Cat Group' as new emails come in add them to your group, as well as when your catalog changes it is easier emailing the group or just past the emails from work doc like I was doing - silly me.

[Dave A]

SugarCRM could be very bloated for this, and kinds overwhelming if the OP isn't technically inclined to learn it

I agree, but getting phpList going properly isn't exactly plug 'n play either.

I've never come across mailman before. How does phpList and mailman stack up against each other?

[adrianh]

I installed SugarCRM with Apache, PHP & MySQL. Waaaaaaaaaaaaaay to complex for what I am trying to accomplish. I figured out how to import a list of email addresses into Outlook and I did some testing with BCC. So, I'm going to follow Nigel's advice and send 8 emails per time.

[Dave A]

I installed SugarCRM with Apache, PHP & MySQL. Waaaaaaaaaaaaaay to complex for what I am trying to accomplish.

Sorry about that - I only suggested it because it would be a lot closer to plug 'n play on a Windows desktop environment than phpList would be.

[adrianh]

No problem. I need MySQL anyway and the other tools is great for testing purposes.

Anyway, I like to R&D.