Patron Saint Productions, Inc s1

PATRON SAINT PRODUCTIONS, INC. Bywater Tech Center  538 Louisa Street  New Orleans, LA 70117 USA Voice: (504) 947-4994  [email protected]  Fax: (504) 947-4984

~ Resources for Online Newsletters ~ Updated April 29, 2005

Online Newsletter SuperSites

Yahoo! Groups http://groups.yahoo.com/ As successor to Liszt, OneList and eGroups, Yahoo!Groups is the reigning supersite of online newsletters. You can host your own newsletter here free (albeit with imbedded advertising), and use the site to research other successful lists.

Topica http://lists.topica.com/ Excellent directory of online publications. Topica will host your newsletter for free. Be sure to sample their wares for good examples of newsletter content, format, style, and design.

Online Newsletter Software

Mailman, the GNU Mailing List Manager http://www.list.org/ Mailman is a free mailing list management program that is based on the Python programming language. You have to be technically savvy to run this software, but it's highly regarded and you can't beat the price.

PostCast http://www.postcast.com/ This bulk e-mail and database software comes with high recommendations from online marketing insiders. The price is reasonable, and the support is good.

Lyris http://www.lyris.com/ Lyris produces popular software for newsletter management and bulk e-mailing. Lyris products offer archiving, tracking, automated management, and other desirable features for a range of budgets.

L-Soft http://www.lsoft.com/ L-Soft is maker of the famous Listserv mailing list (newsletter) software and also LSMPT e-mail software. Their products are at the high-end of the spectrum, for heavy users with big budgets.

Online Newsletter Services

SparkLIST http://www.sparklist.com/ This company will host your newsletter operation for a fee. They provide a comprehensive and inexpensive service, managing all the technical details so you can focus on the content. eWayDirect.com http:///www.ewaydirect.com/ Excellent full-service e-publishing solutions provider. Assists with databasing, message creation, direct e-mail, newsletters, and even brokering advertising. Recommended.

Some Successful Online Newsletters

Publishers Lunch http://www.publisherslunch.com/ Produced by Cader Books, this is a great example of an online newsletter. You should use it as a pattern for your own effort.

WritersMarkets.com http://www.writersweekly.com/index-wm.htm Home of Angela & Richard Hoy's profitable online newsletter for freelance writers called "Writers Weekly." The Hoys are experts at marketing through direct mail and newsletters.

The Publicity Hound's Tips of the Week http://www.publicityhound.com/ Joan Stewart's info-packed newsletter includes short news items, lots of reader comments, an advice column, Joke of the Week, and an events calendar.

Marketing Minute http://www.yudkin.com/markmin.htm This newsletter comes from Marcia Yudkin, author of 11 books including the fabulous Six Steps to Free Publicity (Career Press, 2003). Marketing Minute began as TV filler; each issue of the newsletter still takes only one minute to read.

Templates and Links to Online Resources

Patron Saint Productions Resources Page http://www.patronsaintpr.com Source of templates for standard documents used in online campaigns. Sample campaigns and case histories. Annotated lists of online publicity resources for finding chats, discussion groups, supersites, media, etc.