YourMailingListProvider.com - Step by Step Directions

Anita

Everyone knows (or SHOULD know) that you NEED a newsletter. The mailing list provider that we use and highly recommend is YourMailingListProvider.com (aka YMLP.com) They have a free and paid versionl. The free version should be more than enough for most. The following directions are step by step intructions on how to set up an account and run your newsletter list through YMLP.

Your Mailing List Provider
http://www.ylmp.com OR http://www.yourmailinglistprovider.com

Click on Create Account at the top.

Click the Free Version and then click start.

Read YMLP?s Anti-Spam Policy and Full Terms of Service. If you agree, put a check in the box that you have read and agree to these terms. Then click next.

Next you?ll want to fill in the contact info, website info, newsletter/ezine info, create a username and fill in the referral info (if you choose to do so) and then click next.

Providing that everything was done correctly your account will be created. You will then receive a welcoming email with your password and instructions to get started. You will then be able to access the control panel with the username you created and the password you receive by email.

Changing your password

Once you receive your instructions you will be able to log into your account by clicking the link in your email.

One of the very first things you should do is change your password to something you?ll be able to remember easily.

To change your password:
On the left-hand-side you will see a column called ?Configuration?. Click on the very first link under it ?Contact/Website Info?

Scroll down to the bottom of the page and fill in your new password twice and then click save.

Configuring Your Newsletter
Now you?ll want to do some more configurations for your newsletter.

Newsletter Sending Options

Find the Column called ?Configuration? again.
Click ?Options?
Click ?Sending Newsletters?

1. Here you will want to enter your email address to be used as the sender for the newsletters, welcoming messages etc. If you change the email address that is already listed there you will have to verify it is your email address. YMLP will send you a verification email to the email address you specified. The verification email will contain a link that you must click on to confirm you as the owner of the email address.

2. Here you will be able to enter in a description that will appear in the ?From? field of newsletters, welcoming messages etc. A good example of this would be your name and/or the name of your newsletter.

3. You will be able to send yourself a ?test message? to see how it will look before you send it out to your subscribers (more on this later). In this field you are able to enter an email address that you are able to send test messages to. Your email address will already be listed here. If you want add another you will again have to verify the email address you?d like to use.

4. Here you will be able to enter a ?signature line? that will be included with each newsletter sent out. Due to the new spam laws you MUST include a mailing address in your newsletter/ezine. Here is a very nice place to add this. Here is an example:

DSH Sample Newsletter
Published By: Anita DeFrank & Kara Kelso
P.O. Box 150
Anywhere City, Anystate 88888
(555) 555-5555
contact@dshnewsletter.com

Once you have entered all your information make sure you hit save.

Collecting New Subscribers Options

Find the Column called ?Configuration? again.
Click ?Options?
Click ?Collecting New Subscribers?

1. Free accounts are required to have a ?Double Opt-In? account which is actually a good thing. Even on my paid accounts I have it set as ?Double Opt-In?. This way I know that the email addresses being entered are real email addresses. This also saves you later should someone decide that you?re sending ?spam?. Being a double opt in newsletter means that the subscriber not only ?joined once? but ?twice?. They have given you permission to send them your newsletter.

The way this will work is like this:
You will place a form on your website where people can enter their e-mail address to join your list. When someone enters their email address, an automated verification email is sent with a link for them to click on. The email address will only be added to your subscriber base if the owner of the address clicks on the verification link. This method is the safest, and is becoming standard practice. Double Opt-In guarantees a clean list, and you can be 100% sure each subscriber has intended to sign up.

2. If someone subscribes to your mailing list, a message is shown that explains the double opt-in process. The standard message shown will say ?You?ll receive a verification email shortly that contains a link in which you need to visit in order to confirm your subscription.? You may also customize this with your own message.

3. Like mentioned above, your subscribers will be sent an email to verify their email address before they?re officially added to your list. Here you can customize your letter. You can customize both your subject line and/or the message within the body.

4. When your subscriber clicks the link in the email they will be taken to a page that has a standard ?Welcome to our Newsletter!? message. You?re able to customize this too. Here?s a great place to remind them of your website OR offer a freebie that you may have offered for subscribers etc.

5. You can choose whether or not to send out a welcoming letter. My opinion, do it! Here?s even another chance to win your subscribers over. Did you offer a freebie for joining your newsletter? Let them know how to collect it here. Did you offer a contest for subscribers? Remind them that they?ve been entered and what they can win. Etc Etc. Personalize things! I myself utilize these things the most I can. Whatever I can add in here that?s automated ? is really nice!

(Hint: Utilize these features ? these are freebies to personalize your subscribers visits!! #2 ? #5 is your opportunity to really win them over Wink

)

6. Here you can choose whether or not you are sent an email notification every time someone subscribes to your list.

Don?t forget to hit save!!

Data Fields

Find the Column called ?Configuration? again.
Click ?Data Fields?

Sometimes you?ll want more than just an email address. Here you will be able to request more information about your subscribers by adding additional fields to your subscriber database. These can also be edited at a later date if needed. You can also specify whether or not the subscriber is obligated to fill it in or not.

Click ?Add field? to add a new field.
Now you will enter what you want the new field to be called and whether or not it is required. A new field example would be First Name, Last Name, Mailing Address, Referrals or whatever you might want to add here. Click Save and then Click Continue. Continue with this process until you have all the fields you want. Now you can move the fields around in the order that you want them to appear.

HTML Sign Up Forms

Find the Column called ?Configuration? again.
Click ?HTML Sign Up Forms?

Now it?s time to put up your sign up forms so you can begin collecting subscribers. Here you will find the HTML codes that you will simply copy and paste onto your website. There is different forms listed for you to choose the best for you. You will also see a code you can use for an unsubscribe page.

Go to http://www.mommyshelperonline.com/sample-newsletter.html to see the different forms on a website and to even test the process.

Feel free to sign up to this mailing list. Remember, this is only a sample to see the process that your subscribers will go through. This is not an actual mailing list.

Sending a Newsletter

Compose Newsletter

Find the column on the left called "Send"
Click on "Compose a Newsletter" right below it

1. Here you can choose to simply send a test newsletter. This will go to you only and not your entire list. (Please note: With the free account you're only able to send one newsletter a day. A test newsletter DOES NOT count as one of your newsletters for the day. You may send one test newsletter and one "real" newsletter a day.

2. Format: Here you can choose to send your newsletter in Plain Text or HTML if you'd like.

3. (Nice feature) Here you can choose to send your newsletter right away OR later that day or even a whole other day. This is really nice if you're planning on going on vacation and would still like a newsletter to go out while you're gone etc etc.

4. With a free account you're not able to send out attatchments. In my opinion this is good anyway. A lot of people won't even open an email anymore if there is an attatchment with it. So, I'd never suggest sending an attatchment with a newsletter.

Click Enter Message

1. Enter the Subject. This is what your subscribers is going to see in their email.

2. If you chose HTML format you will enter your HTML info here.

3. Again, if you chose HTML format ... here you can click "Generate Text Version" and YMLP will automatically take your HTML and turn it into text for subscribers who don't accept HTML. (Another nice feature!)

Click Preview

Once you have previewed your message and you are happy with the results you can hit "Send Message"

Management
Browse
On this page you can browse through your subscriber database.

Search
On this page you can search for subscribers in your subscriber database.

Delete
On this page you can manually remove subscribers from your mailing list.

Other Data
In addition to your subscriber database, the following data is also stored.
-List of subscribers that unsubscribed
-List of subscribers that were manually removed
-List of subscribers that were filtered by the bounce handling feature

That should about cover it. Like I said, feel free to use the sample newsletter above to join and watch the process through a subscriber's eyes.

If you have any questions ... please feel free to ask Smile

Take care,
Anita Smile

_________________

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