Posts tagged email

A client of mine recently asked for help creating and editing her mailing list messages in Aweber. Aweber is fairly straight forward, they’ve put together a great collection of forms with handy hints and a comprehensive help center. But, sometimes it can get a bit confusing. I’ll break down this single process for you and if there is anything else you’d like to learn to do with Aweber leave a comment to let me know and I’ll put together another tutorial to show you how.

Click on screenshots for full-size images.

1. Ok, start by logging into your Aweber account.

   If you don’t already have one they’re very affordable and are great value for money. You can sign up now and get started with a new mailing list in minutes. I’ll walk you through that process another day but for now, lets assume you already have a mailing list but want to put together a collection of followup messages to send out when people subscribe on your site.

   Enter your username and password, click “remember me” and “Login” to log into your account at Aweber.





2. Select Your Mailing List.
   Select the list you want to work with from the dropdown menu. In this tutorial we are working with a list I manage for one of my clients, “amanifestingmom”.





3. Go To Your FollowUp Messages
   Go to Messages and then FollowUp to show a list of your existing mailing list messages. When you created your list you would also have created the first Follow Up message.





4. View Your Messages
   On this page you can see all of your follow up messages. They’re listed by a message number (mesg) and include other important information. Like the interval between messages (Interval), they type of message (Type), when it was last edited (Modified), if clicks within links from that message are being tracked (Click Tracking), the subject line of the message (Subject),
   how likely it is to be mistaken for spam (Spam?) and links to (Test), (Copy) and (Delete) the message.
   
   

   Now, click on the subject line of the message you want to edit or click “Add New Follow Up Message” to create a brand new email.





5. Include a Subject:
   I recommend including your mailing lists name and enough description to make readers know they want to read it right away. Use the same techniques as you might use when choosing a title for a blog post or story.





6. Choose a Template:
   You can select from the list of templates or you might prefer to have a template designed that is unique for your company or your mailing list. When you choose a template from the list you’ll see an example image. Click “Load Template” to have that template loaded into the editor so you can work within it.





7. Customize your HTML Message:
   Now you have a template you can begin changing the text, images, and links within that template to reflect the email you want your subscribers to receive.

   You can use the buttons and tools in the editors toolbar to make many changes. Customize your email in whatever what you like.





8. Add a Plain Text Alternative:
   Some readers won’t like HTML emails and spam filters hate HTML only formats. Include a plain text alternative. The easiest way to do that is to copy the text you’ve added in your HTML version and present it here without the formatting.





9. Set a delivery Interval:
   Each time you create a new followup message you can decide how long after the message before it the new email will be sent. Having your emails staggared in a regular pattern gives you the opportunity to keep bringing your business to the attention of your subscribers but don’t make it so frequent that their inbox is inundated with your brand.
   
   

   Track Clicks?
   When you want to keep track of how your email messages are performing it’s a good idea to leave this box checked. You’ll be able to view reports on how many of your subscribers click through to your links.

   Finally, Preview and Save.
   Once you save you message will queue ready to send so, if your interval might mean some of your subscribers are due to receive it immediately you need to make sure it’s perfect before you save. Take advantage of the preview option to see how it will look before you save.