An e-mail "newsletter" is one of the oldest, most basic, and most effective ways to communicate with prospects (online, that is).  In the online group world, a newsletter can be used to keep prospect up to date on what is happening with your online group, and provide reasons for them, on a regular basis, to join your group.  It is simple, and it works.

With iGrOOps, you can have the newsletter feature setup with a few clicks (literally!)  Once setup, the newsletter signup box will appear on the right or left column of your home page (see figure 1) and can be inserted any another website (a non-iGrOOp) if you have one.

figure 1

Prospects can quickly and easily sign up for your newsletter, thus maximizing your prospect list.  You can then send mailings to this list using your communication system, where each mailing you sent is archived in a category you setup in your forum.  If they want to unsubscribe, they can do so in one simple click -- by clicking the unsubscribe link that is attached to every e-mail sent out.

"Double Opt-in"

The iGrOOps newsletter is considered a "double opt-in" newsletter.  This protects everybody involved and ensures good net-business practices.  This means that the subscription process is a multi-step process that goes like this:

1. The subscriber enters his or her name and e-mail address in your subscribe form.
2. They are immediately sent an e-mail to their address they entered, asking them to click on a link to verify and complete their subscription.
3. Once they click on the link, they type an easy to read word they see on the screen and click the button.

Why a Newsletter?  The Funnel Method

In marketing there is something called the sales funnel.  This is a cycle that the average prospect will take before they become a buyer.  The newsletter is the ideal tool to "feed your funnel", since you are most likely to get many more prospects sign up for a newsletter than join your group as a paid member.  Once they are in your newsletter list, you can work on getting them to become limited members, then finally paid members.

Web surfers are generally lazy.  If they are not motivated enough to fill out your registration form for a free limited membership, they may be motivated enough to simply give their name and e-mail.  As a rule of thumb, the less you require a prospect to do, the more prospects you will have.

The Difference Between Newsletter Subscribers and Members

In iGrOOps, you may have limited access members, full access members, and exclusive access members. All of whom are considered "members" of your group.  Newsletter subscribers are not members of your group.  They have the same access as guests (or visitors).  They are more than just guests, however, because they have given you their name and e-mail, so you can choose to include them in any post you make on your discussion forum (and for the Standard iGrOOps package and above, you can send them autoresponder messages).

Another difference is that the newsletter is a one way communication vehicle between an administrator of the iGrOOp (members cannot see or send to this list) and the subscribers.   With members, you have the option of making your communication system (forums, mail list) two way, meaning members can post on the forums and communicate with each other.  Newsletter subscribers can not post on your forum and they cannot communicate with other newsletter subscribers.  If they respond to your newsletter post, their responses are sent directly to your e-mail address as listed in your iGrOOps profile.

You can only send e-mail to your newsletter subscribers from the communication system web interface or the smart autoresponder.  You cannot e-mail to them directly (there is no e-mail address attached to your group of newsletter subscribers).  Your group list address will NOT include newsletter subscribers.

Activating the Newsletter Feature

You can activate this feature and begin building your newsletter subscriber base right away.

1. As administrator, click on the homepage editor in the footer of your homepage.
2. Click on the "Newsletter Options" link to expand the section of options.
3. Check the box that reads "Use the Newsletter Subscription Feature" on either the right or left column
4. [optional] Enter a custom message asking prospects to subscribe.
5. At the bottom of the page, click the "Save Settings" button.

Now if you visit your home page, you will see the subscribe box on the right or left column (if you do not, reload your homepage by clicking the "F5" button).

Mailing To Your Newsletter Subscribers

As an administrator, or someone with administration rights to your communication system, you can send a copy of any post you make on any of your forums (excluding subgroops, which ONLY send to members of the subgroop) to your newsletter subscribers.

You must have the list serve feature of your communication system active to mail to your newsletter subscribers.  This feature is turned on or off in the administrator's settings within the communication system application.

When you post a message, you have the option to also send the message by email (see figure 2).  Uncheck the box that reads "Post on forum only - do not e-mail to the iGrOOp".  A menu will expand giving you the choice to send the message to full, limited, trail members, and/or newsletter subscribers.  Be sure to check the newsletter subscribers box.  Then click the "Post New Message" button.

figure 2

If you are sending messages to newsletter subscribers through the forum, create a category specifically for your newsletters.  This way, all postings can be well organized and your members can choose to read them or not.If you want to keep your newsletter postings private from your members, simply delete the post immediately after you post it.  The content will be e-mailed to your newsletter members even if your post on the forum does not exist!

The Smart Autoresponder is a more elegant method for sending newsletters, and affords you the ability to send HTML messages. For more information on the Smart Autoresponder, please see view our Admin Manual. If your package does not include the Smart Autoresponder, you can add it by upgrading to the Standard package or above, by clicking the [Change Service] link in the header of your iGrOOp.

Managing Your Newsletter Subscriptions

You can manage your subscriptions through your "Search Membership List" tool -- click the See Group Members link in your header (if you deactivated this link, you will see it in your footer).  As an administrator, you will see the administrator options below the search bar.  The option you want to click is the "show newsletter subscribers" option.

Regular members do not see these admin options.  They cannot see or search your newsletter subscribers.

Your newsletter subscribers will be listed in a table with the following headers:

• Select: a checkbox to mass delete selected subscribers or resend verification notices. 
• Status: if a red x icon is shown, that means the address has bounced.  If a person icon is shown, it means that this subscriber is also a member of the group.  The info icon will tell you the IP address and confirmation status of the subscriber if you put your mouse over it.
• Subscribe / Verify Date: the date the member subscribed or the date the member verified their subscription (if verified).  No date will show if the member was imported and not confirmed.
• Name: the name of the subscriber
• E-mail: the email address of the subscriber

Importing Your Existing List

While you cannot import members into your iGrOOp, you CAN import subscribers into your newsletter list.  Use the import feature below the listing of subscribers.  Use the space provided to import names / e-mail addresses into your list. Format: one entry per line. Separate the fields with a *: NAME * E-MAIL * [optional IP address] Ex. "Fred Subscriber * fred@subscriber.com" or "Fred Subscriber * fred@subscriber.com * 123.123.123.123".

Importing is only the first step.  Once imported, the subscribers MUST verify their subscription -- you cannot do this for them.  This ensures a 100% opt-in list, protects iGrOOps from getting blocked by ISPs for spam, and gives you an opportunity to purge you list of invalid addresses or uninterested parties.

Some How To's

How to managed bounced e-mail.  Every time you send a message to your list, all bounced e-mail is returned to the server and collected.  You can then see which subscribers have bounced e-mail (indicated by red x icon) when you display your subscribers.  This keeps a running count of all bounced e-mail.  Once a subscriber address has bounced 3 times, the checkbox associated with the address is checked by default, suggesting that you should (not must) delete this address from your list. You can adjust this "bounce threshold" in the advanced newsletter options.

Bad e-mail messages not only clutter your lists, but make it so it takes longer for your valid members to receive their messages.  Keep your lists clean for your subscribers, the server, and your country.

How to search through your list.  When your full list is displayed, use your browser's "find" feature to find the matching text on the page.

How to deal with subscribers who become members.  When this happens, you sill see a person icon in the status field of their listing.  You may consider removing them from your list if you also have members lists with similar content.  This is not done automatically.

How to correct / modify subscriber information.  Simply delete them and resubscribe them.  They will have to re-confirm their address.

How to add your newsletter sign up box to an outside website.  Once you activate your newsletter box, go to your iGrOOps homepage and click "view source" for the page.  Copy the newsletter widget code that looks something like this:

<!--iGrOOps Newsletter Widget Code BEGIN -->
<table border=0 cellpadding=1 cellspacing=1 width=190 align=center>
<tr>
<td>
<form method=post action="/members/[FOLDER]">
<input type=hidden name=redirecturl value="">

<p><span style="color: #ff0000;"><strong>Want Even More Success? Sign up for my&nbsp;Success Newsletter and receive a FREE gift -- my short story,&nbsp;<em>The Journey</em></strong></span></p></p>
<p><table border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0><tr><td>Name:</td><td><input type=text name=name size=14></td></tr><tr><td><nobr>E-mail</nobr>:</td><td><input type=text name=email size=14></td></tr></table>
<br><center><input type=submit value="Subscribe" name="newsletter_subscribe"></center>
</form>
</tr>
</td>
</table>
<!--iGrOOps Newsletter Widget Code END -->

If you want your subscribers to be redirected to another URL after signup, enter the FULL URL as the "redirecturl" variable.