do any of you do a newsletter?

I am thinking of starting a newsletter for my photography business, but to be honest, Ive only seen a handful of newsletters and Im not really sure where to begin.

To start off with, is it ok to use a web domain to send the emails or do you need something special to send the thousands of emails?

To get the email addresses to start off with, I was thinking of going through my fan page list and getting any addresses that are public, and of course offer an opt out in the message in case they do not want to receive any more.

Does anyone have any tips on sending html emails? I mostly send text ones, but I receive html ones all the time and it will make the newsletter much more eye grabbing.

Any other tips that would be helpful would be great. I did a search for "newsletter" in this business category but only got a couple pricing questions as a result.

Here's something to consider: If you're sending it out to a huge amount of people at one time, It could end up being filtered as spam unless your adddress is in their address book.
Have you thought about creating a blog? What about only using FB?

I have a blog but its not viewed by many. I also have facebook, but Im not sure how many people actually see my updates. I figured this would be yet another way to get information out there.

Good point about being filtered. the emails could come from newsletter@mydomain.co​m, im guessing only that address would be spammed if that did happen, and they would still receive my Gerald@mydomain.com address, hmm.

Newsletters are opt-in. Otherwise they're called spam emails.

Large amounts of unsolicited outgoing email might also run the risk of violating your ISP's terms of service regarding spam.

both are very good points.

How would you recommend getting started on getting a list of email addresses? message everyone first to see if they are interested and only send a message to those that are interested? or would that initial message also be considered as spam?

I think I would offer it through my website and let people contact me if they want to opt in and also mention it in any/all face to face encounters as well.

Is there a specific reason you want a newsletter?
To be honest, I have never seen any need for one.

A point to consider is what you are going to write in it. Do you have enough new stuff that people need or would be interested in knowing, to fill issue after issue?
A newsletter is less than pointless if its just the same random stuff in every one.

Using it as a business tool makes the above point even more critical. Even if people have signed up for it, you still need to keep them reading. If quality drops to a point where its not interesting (or useful), people will most likely marked it as spam. And that will not help your image.

A blog is less formal and could be a good alternative.

quiksquirrel wrote in post #12700861
A blog is less formal and could be a good alternative.

As I mentioned in my 2nd post above, I do have a blog, but not many people view it as far as I know. People would have to make a conscious effort to go there, wheras with a newsletter it would be in their inbox waiting for them.

I would probably only send out one newsletter a month, to help keep it fresh and interesting. I can use it to keep them updated on new things I am offering, maybe show off recent work that I have permission to show and probably do a random fact/joke to make it a bit more interesting.

I'm starting newsletters soon, I've built up about 6 months of content for them and gone back multiple times to edit.

This link is worth a read:
http://www.arrayofsite​s.com …l-newsletter-campaign.htm

templates may want to consider utilizing
http://www.campaignmon​itor.com/templates/

Free newsletter campaign -er thing, tons of resources regarding tutorials and how to set one up
www.mailchimp.com

It's important to view your newsletter from a client's POV - whoever that is you are targeting. Is there something of value in your newsletter that they will benefit from? Perhaps an added benefit to reading the blog, an exclusive offer, an exclusive benefit.

I have one on the go for weddings too.

There are strict laws regarding spam and how you build your lists has to be by opt in only. It's pointless to buy them as these emails will likely flag you as spam, and why market to someone who is not directly able to buy from you? (no sense)

Thanks for the information Karl!

How did the newsletters work out for you?

Karl Johnston wrote in post #12702755
I'm starting newsletters soon, I've built up about 6 months of content for them and gone back multiple times to edit.

This link is worth a read:
http://www.arrayofsite​s.com …l-newsletter-campaign.htm

templates may want to consider utilizing
http://www.campaignmon​itor.com/templates/

Free newsletter campaign -er thing, tons of resources regarding tutorials and how to set one up
www.mailchimp.com

It's important to view your newsletter from a client's POV - whoever that is you are targeting. Is there something of value in your newsletter that they will benefit from? Perhaps an added benefit to reading the blog, an exclusive offer, an exclusive benefit.

I have one on the go for weddings too.

There are strict laws regarding spam and how you build your lists has to be by opt in only. It's pointless to buy them as these emails will likely flag you as spam, and why market to someone who is not directly able to buy from you? (no sense)

Looks like the OP hasn't been active for over a year. I've also considered email newsletters in the past, but I don't know what it would do for me.

Do a Blog, Its an opt in & out, and you get good ways to monitor it for growth
But if you can't post anything interesting no one will return. Its tough.