Email Marketing tools? free?

[paulanthony]

Anyone know of any good email marketing tools which are free to download and manage opt-ins, opt-outs, preferably database based. I have written my own piece of software but I need to develop it further and dont really have the time at the minute, I need to be able to add attachments to the outgoing emails and monitor success as well.

[roxyyo]

Yeah, actually I've never used any of the following but I was compiling this information for a website that never happened, so I'll share it here.

Server.com

Beyond basic mailing list, features of this service include subscribe/unsubscribe, double opt-in (where your subscriber confirms opt-in by clicking a verification email link, so your message won’t be trapped in spam filters) plain text and HTML newsletServer.com ter options, unlimited subscribers, searchable archive and RSS syndication of your newsletter. You can send your newsletter through your browser. An upgrade to the “Pro” version allows you to manage demographic information.

YourMailingListProvider.com

This service allows you to send newsletters and manage your lists for free or for payment. The free, “lite” version includes double opt-ins, automated unsubscribe, create up to 10 custom data fields in a form, notification by email of every new subscriber, welcome/thank-you/confirmation autoresponder, download or export databases, create plain or HTML newsletters, send test messages for quality control to up to 5 accounts, archiving, bounce handling and tracking stats such as browser, O/S, country, IP address and time of subscription. The free version will not let you import any existing lists, restricts you to 1000 subscribers, 250 MB bandwidth and 1 newsletter per calendar day. It will also run banners and pop-ups in your account.
The paid options start at $2.50 per month and offer you a choice between single and double opt-in, unlimited subscribers, bandwidth and newsletters, customized preferences, optional unbranding (will remove the Your Mailing List Provider logos) and will not run ads on your service.

Mailer4U.com
This program allows you to create and send email newsletters direct from your desktop without using a third party mailer service or Outlook. It is a small download (3.5MB) if you have Microsoft .net service, and 45.4MB if you do not. Mailer4U integrates with antivirus software, Microsoft Office and tracks your efforts 30 days post-campaign. Mailer4U.com is free for 500 e-mails a month with a limit on 10,000 subscribers. It is currently in Beta

www.fanmass.com
The free version of FanBlast! provides full web administration, HTML and text options, code generator to add sign up to your site, unlimited newsletter distributions, rich content options and drafts folder for 100 subscribers. The paid versions offer additional features such advertising in messages and system site, importing and exporting subscriber lists, custom subscriber groups and custom HTML templates. You can try the demo.

Bravenet.com
Bravenet offers a variety of “freebies” for websites. Its list management allows you to customize forms for surveys, customer feedback or collecting customer contact information along with form managers and autoresponders (to send a generic email like “thank you for subscribing to XYZ Newsletter”). It also gives an unsubscribe option, test mode and backup tools.

NotifyList.com
This remote mail list host provides very basic functions suitable for new webmasters such as add and remove members, import existing mailing list, manage different lists (if you have more than one website, customer group, suppliers, retailers, partners, your business network etc.). It provides easy HTML to copy and paste. The missing element is forms for data capture, a solution would be combining it with Bravenet’s form creator and manager capability. Otherwise, you would have to add members manually and find another way to capture their information.

[paulanthony]

Thanks so much. Super info.

[pgolovko]

Might not be exactly what you're looking for, as it wasnt specifically made for an email marketing community... but there's a programm I wrote called Links Wizard that helps you collect email addresses and other information from the internet. It was made for webmasters who own a web directory of link. Also you can send out email messages to other people either anonymously or as you like. All these features have no limitations even in free demo version. Feel free to download and play with the features:
<snip>

I dont know what else to suggest, as I was never really into email marketing. Please post a reply if you find any other useful tools. Thanks!

[edited by: lawman at 12:41 pm (utc) on Aug. 1, 2006]

[pgolovko]

paulanthony, Google.com has all the things you need.

[edited by: lawman at 11:06 pm (utc) on Aug. 1, 2006]