Looking to Make Professional Emails

[CylonGlitch]

I have a friend who runs a business who distributes emails to a few thousand customers at a time. They want to be able to send out emails that looks more professional than just plain text. I think they need to be using HTML to make the email but is there an easier way to do this because they are not very tech savvy. They are not using "Mail" to send out the emails since it is a mass email, they have an email server and a program that they use to send out the emails but just don't know how to make them look better.

Additional information : They don't want to use a service, they do not want their email list exposed to third parties so using one of the email services is out of the question.

Any suggestions?

 

[BrianBaughn]

There is no "magic" way to create slick-looking emails. If your friend's company wants to remain not being "tech savvy" then the emails they send aren't going to improve.

They could hire a designer to create the emails for them without exposing any email addresses. That is the easy way.

Or someone at the company could learn how to create/edit html emails. This is probably a must anyway...as hiccups and quirks in html design are quite common.

 

[S.B.G]

I send and receive professional emails all day long while at the office. My suggestion is to go by the phrase "less is more".

Don't use:

• Background images
• Long email signatures
• Signatures with attached images
• "Disclaimers" at the bottom - unless the company policy calls for it
• Non-standard fonts
• Font colors other than black or default reply colors
• Witty quotes or jokes attached to signatures

I have an email signature that is unassuming, looks very similar to what you would see on a business card in format and text. It's short, simple and to the point.

HTML is fine as long as it's kept simple, otherwise use plain text which is secure and not susceptible to security breaches like HTML can be.

 

[CylonGlitch]

That's what I was thinking about, anyone know of a good free WYSIWYG HTML designer?

 

[S.B.G]

That's what I was thinking about, anyone know of a good free WYSIWYG HTML designer?

It isn't free, but RapidWeaver is probably the most popular one around.

 

[CylonGlitch]

It's isn't free, but RapidWeaver is probably the most popular one around.

I will look into RapidWeaver and show it to them. I think this is the right way to go.

 

[designs216]

I agree with the simplicity approach. HTM emails involve an inordinate amount of work and even designs that would be fairly straight forward in a browser end up being quite time consuming. This is because Word, Outlook's HTM engine bastardizes the code and requires one to write all sorts of arcane workarounds to make the design render properly. The other popular email clients have their rendering quirks as well.

All things considered, bringing in a designer is probably going to be the best solution.