Creating An Email Discussion Group

Ready to start an email discussion group?

Let’s get started! It’s easy! You need just 3 ingredients.

An Administrator (or List Owner)
A listserve system consisting of a computer, software, and an internet connection.
People.

An Admin is easy to find…..YOU! And if you’re thinking of starting a group, you probably know some people who are interested in joining. Once you get rolling and gain internet visibility, who knows who else might find you and join? (We have more tips for promoting your listserve.)

This just leaves one more thing you need to create an email group, and that’s the listserve system itself.

Listserves (IE email discussion groups) are basically gigantic email chains. If you have a really small group, you could put everybody’s email address in the CC or BCC field and send a message to create a group email. Your group can do the same thing or hit Reply All to keep the discussion going.

But, you will quickly have problems when you grow and add more people. How will your group members keep up with all the new email addresses or changes? Multiple group emails mean things get out of sync, and some people won’t receive all the messages. At some point, somebody’s ISP will think you all are sending spam and block your email.

Some Listserve Solutions

Instead of starting a giant email chain, you could find a listserve host instead.

Some are paid. Some are free. They all do the same thing. One master email address is used for the entire mailing list. Members send their messages to that address, and it is sent (or “reflected”) to all Subscribers.

Now, you have a choice. Paid or free?

Free sounds tempting. (We’ve all been there.) The problem is….free solutions are usually supported by 1) advertising inside the emails and 2) collecting and selling the demographic and behavioral data of your Subscribers. (Hint: That’s how all those marketing emails find your Inbox.)

The free solutions often don’t have anyone to support you. So, if somebody is having trouble getting subscribed or can’t receive or send email messages, you might be on your own. There may be little or no technical help and no access to things like server logs, inbox delivery monitor, or ISP delivery stats to help investigate the issue.

On the other hand, paid solutions include 1) technical assistance, 2) more and better features, and 3) better at avoiding spam filters. Best of all, they allow your Subscribers relief from all that ad noise and also…. no privacy issues. (We’re looking at you, Facebook.)

Here’s a short list of listserve software providers. Let us know if you have any questions or need help!

And be sure to check out these tips for starting a group mailing list.

We are always here to help!