Mailchimp is a free, Internet based service (for a list under 500 names) that allows you to broadcast email messages to everyone who subscribes to your email list. It's the service I use for TruthUnity (you are a subscriber, aren't you???).
If you don't want a mailing list on your website, just go on to the next section. We can add it later.
We can set this up two ways: you setup your own account and list on Mailchip or you use my account. If you use my account, all I'll need is the name and email address of the person who will be identified as the sender of your emails and who will get notifications of new subscribers. Give me this and you don't need to read any further. Also, know that you can switch to your own account anytime and we'll transfer whatever names we have over to your account.
But if you want to get more involved, read on:
Here's how it works:
- Anyone who wants to keep up with what's going on at your church "subscribes" to the list by entering their name and email address in the box in the left column that says "Stay in Touch!" When they subscribe they will immediately get an email to confirm that they want to be on the list. They respond by clicking on a special link in the email. They are then on the list.
- You will then get an email saying that you have a new subscriber to your email list, showing the person's name and email address.
- About once a week you post some piece of news on our website. It immediately appears on the front page. But at 3 am the next morning Mailchimp will look at your website and see if anything new has been posted. If so, it then captures the new entry and sends it out to everyone on your list.
- With each email there is an "Unsubscribe" link included at the bottom. Anyone who no longer wants to get your emails can click on that link and they are removed from the list. When this happens, you will also get an email telling you that the person unsubscribed.
Why use a mailout service like Mailchimp? Because the world of email has gotten so filled with spammers that nearly all bulk email is suspected by the large Internet service providers, like Yahoo, AOL and Gmail. They tend to trust mail sent through respected services like Mailchimp. There are other advantages: Mailchimp will automatically check for new posts on your website, you can send out your own email blasts, it's easy for people to subscribe and unsubscribe and you get lots of statistics on who is opening the emails.
Using my account means that the only way you can contact people on your list is by making a new entry on your website. If you want to send out special emails without making an entry on your website or if you want to manually add/remove names from your list, you'll need to setup your own account on Mailchimp. Having your own list lets you also check to see who opened the email.
If you want to setup your own account:
- Setup an account on Mailchimp. I recommend that the account be opened in the name of your church.
- Create a new list for your church. Add a few names if you wish.
- Create a new "campaign." This is a bit tricky ... it needs to be an "RSS Campaign". This is a special campaign that tells Mailchimp to check your website every morning at 3am. The URL for this campaign will be: http://www.yourchurchdomain.org/rss.xml which is your website's URL with "rss.xml" added at the end.
- Start the campaign.
I know this is a bit complicated. I'll do it for you if you give me your password (you can change it afterward). If you want to start using my account, it's a snap to move your list over to your account later. Your choice.
