Mailing lists are a collection of names and addresses used by individuals or businesses to send material to a audience. Mailing lists have evolved from the convention types (i.e. Postal addresses) to embrace new technology (i.e. Email). In the simplest term a Mailing List can be seen as a distribution list whereby a business can utilize Email Newsletters to target a specific audience.
Mailing lists are usually utilized in Email Newsletters which allow the newsletters to be distributed to the audience. In its simplest terms, Mailing Lists are a list of e-mail addresses of people that are interested in the same topics, or contain similar attributes. When a member of the list sends a note to the group’s special address, the e-mail is broadcast to all of the members of the list. The key advantage of a mailing list over a things such as web-based discussion is that as new message becomes available they are immediately delivered to the participants’ mailboxes.
A feature that should be included in all Email Newsletters is the use of an ‘opt-in opt-out’ approach. Subscriber to your newsletter are required to enter their email address and then have to validate the address after receiving a link to click in their email (i.e. Usually like most online subscription services) – opt-in. The second part of this is to ensure that a link is made available in the newsletter for readers to unsubscribe when they wish to no longer receive any future newsletters – opt-in.
