Creating Your Own Mailing Lists
‘How to enrich your (anti-) social life by starting your own mailing list…’ Perhaps you dream of pioneering an online community, who share your own dreams, visions and aspirations. Perhaps you feel there is that one topic, that one burning issue, that has as yet not been validated by an online discussion forum established in its honour. Then again, you might just be wanting to inform people of updates to your website.
Whatever your reasons for wanting to start your own list, it might help to remind yourself of the different types of lists available.
Mailing lists can be set up for:
discussion (all can participate) announcement (list owner announcements only)
They may also be either ‘moderated’ or ‘un-moderated’. ‘Moderated’ means all postings are sent to the list owner for approval, whereas with un-moderated lists, all postings are accepted regardless of content. And your chosen subject is … The first and most important thing you need to do is to select a subject for your mailing list. It would be helpful if the subject were something that interests you, either personally or professionally.
And although there's nothing to stop you from launching a list on just about any subject, it might be useful to check that a list doesn't already exist on the subject of your choice. Start by checking with websites providing lists of lists, like Listz: http://www.listz.com, and Topica: http://www.topica.com. You might also try a search engine like Google: http://www.google.com; or a more specific discussion group archive like Dejanews: http://www.dejanews.com.
Once you've chosen your subject, pick a name for your mailing list that reflects the discussion topic. Try to select a name that's brief and descriptive. Manual or automatic? Starting a basic mailing list is easy for anyone using an email client (Outlook, Eudora, Netscape Messenger). All you have to do is create a list of the recipient email addresses and apply an ‘alias’ to that list. Whenever you send messages to that alias, they're sent to anyone in the group.
Obviously, this only works for announcements, since nobody can send email to the alias on your machine. However, as the list grows it becomes difficult to manage and you'll have to switch to automatic, if you want to keep the list going. Time to find yourself a host so you can turn on cruise control and enjoy the rest of the ride.
The host with the most In order to launch an automated mailing list, you'll need to find somebody to host it on a server running some sort of mailing list software like Majordomo, Listproc or Listserv. There are plenty of services that will host your list for free, in return for third party advertising tacked to the bottom of the message.
There may also be limitations on the number of subscribers you can have on your list. Either way, your host will manage the server on which the mailing list is hosted and handle the storage and distribution of your messages. Most hosts will also give you a web-based interface and a heap of other options that make mailing list management a breeze for the neophyte list-owner.
The sites listed below host non-commercial mailing lists for free:
Topica, http://www.topica.com OneList, http://www.onelist.com Groups, http://www.egroups.com Coollist, http://www.coollist.com
However, if you want to run your show, anticipate a large subscriber base (over 2000 listings), or you want to be able to attract paying advertisers of your own, you might consider using a commercial mailing list. Ask your ISP to set you up a LISTSERV, Listproc or Majordomo account on their server. Laying down house rules Every successful mailing list has a mission and code of conduct, so that all its subscribers understand what's required of them, the purpose of the discussion and how they can make best use of the list. Though not essential, it is also helpful to start a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) of the list for new subscribers. This helps reduce the number of elementary questions posted to the list. The FAQ (and indeed any other information about the mailing list) can be updated as the list matures. Welcome one and all Usually, a welcome message will automatically be sent out to all new subscribers to your mailing list. This should contain the ‘house rules’ for the list and instructions for posting, getting help and unsubscribing. Include the latest version of the FAQ if you have one. Spread the word There are a number of ways in which you can spread the word about your new mailing list. Here are just some of them. Register your mailing list with one or more of the mailing list databases including:
List of all Lists - http://catalog.com/Vivian/interest-group-search.html Listz - http://www.listz.com Tile.net - http://tile.net/lists/ PAML - http://paml.net/
A web page dedicated to the mailing list will help in publicising the list. It's also helpful for people who've misplaced the welcome message, as people so often do. Make sure you register the companion web page with some of the popular search engines. Finally, it's worth checking out List Universe http://www.list-universe.com. This site offers a comprehensive collection of resources, tips, strategies and links, all dedicated to making your mailing list an unqualified success.