You might be thinking…..I can run a listserve in less than an hour a week?!?
You betcha!
In fact, that’s the norm around here at Mail-List.com. Actually, some people feel the most valuable listserves are those where the moderator has the lightest touch and stays in the background.
We asked some of our clients how THEY do it. Here are a few of their answers:
| Type of Group | Hepatitis B Information and Support |
| List Members | 650 |
| Messages per Week | 100 |
| Approve all Messages? | No |
| Written Guidelines? | No, not really. We tell people that we only have a couple of rules: 1) Be nice to each other, 2) No religious or political discussions, and 3) No promotion of brand products. |
| Time Spent per Week? | Actually “running” the list is next to no time at all. We will respond to questions after waiting a day or two for one of the list members to respond in order to allow them to share their usually new-found knowledge with others. We tell members that if they don’t get a question answered, please ask again. And that the only stupid question is the one not asked. |
| Type of Group | Intranet Leadership Forum |
| List Members | 80 |
| Messages per Week | 5 |
| Approve all Messages? | No |
| Written Guidelines? | Yes, just a single page. |
| Time Spent per Week? | 30 minutes |
| Type of Group | Fellowship |
| List Members | 105 |
| Messages per Week | 30 |
| Approve all Messages? | No |
| Written Guidelines? | Nothing firm. In fact, there’s nothing in writing, just a common understanding within the list membership of the intent and use of the list. |
| Time Spent per Week? | Maybe 1 hour. |
| Type of Group | Criminal Justice Journalists |
| List Members | 500 |
| Messages per Week | 5 |
| Approve all Messages? | No |
| Written Guidelines? | Yes |
| Time Spent per Week? | It varies. Usually only an hour or less for administrative things. I spend more time on substantive posts on the subject matter of the list. |
| Type of Group | Birmingham Friends |
| List Members | 100 |
| Messages per Week | 10 |
| Approve all Messages? | No. When inappropriate messages are sent (not pertaining to our group), it is dealt with on an individual basis. Because the list isn’t large, this is easy enough to do. Sometimes subscribers will check with me if they aren’t sure if their email should be sent to the list. |
| Written Guidelines? | Not really. Potential subscribers have to be known to be legitimately associated with our group before they are added. |
| Time Spent per Week? | I spend almost no time on a weekly basis – other than deleting (and sometimes reviewing) the reports. Periodically, I spend a couple of hours reviewing the list and cleaning it up if need be. This happens once or twice a year. |
Just like 90% of our clients, none of these clients approve messages before being sent to the group. Most do approve of adding new subscribers, though.
For those with Group Guidelines, a private message to a member is usually all it takes to resolve a problem. We’ve all heard the urban legends about knockdown, drag-out cat fights on listserves, but it very rarely happens.
Have you been worrying about the time needed to manage a listserve? No need to worry! You can run an active group without much time at all, just like so many of our other customers.
