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Toolbox: Email Newsletter Toolbox

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Summary:

Tools for putting together email newsletters and action alerts through email blasting programs

Some Simple Steps:

  • Start with a plain text editor
  • Don't switch back and forth between your blaster's HTML & WYSIWYG editors
  • Put together your content
  • Create your buttons
  • Resize your images and THEN upload them
  • Run your code through Premailer
  • Test that message in as many email clients as possible making sure it at least looks decent in Outlook

Don't forget to check out the Useful Links

 

 
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14 Tools - Sort by: popularity | last updated | name
  • 6584 Adobe Photoshop in 72 toolboxes
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    The gold standard tool for image manipulation. If you don't have big bucks to buy this guy you can use other tools like Seashore or Picnik.

    The big thing to remember is to resize your images before you upload them into your email blasting program.

  • 6588 ColorPicker in 1 toolbox
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    I use ColorPicker for quick hex codes when customizing a template or adding some color snazz to an email.

    ColorPicker

  • 6582 Facebook in 114 toolboxes
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    Be sure to include a link to your organization's Facebook page or group in your email as well as inserting "Share this on Facebook" links where appropriate. They're an easy way for people to promote your email.

    Facebook Like

  • 6583 Illustrator in 16 toolboxes
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    I use Illustrator when I need to create a cool button for an email. If you don't have it, you can use Inkscape or even the Vertical Response Button Builder to create some great looking buttons in a pinch.

    Register Button

  • 332 Inkscape in 39 toolboxes
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    The open-source alternative to Illustrator. Not the best tool but impressive for an open source initiative.

  • 3904 Notepad++ in 20 toolboxes
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    When editing HTML, make sure you use a plain text editor like Notepad++ (Windows) or Tincta (Mac OS X). Don't copy from Microsoft Word or Open Office. These programs add their own formatting that doesn't work with HTML. "Clean it up" by pasting into a plain text editor first.

    An added bonus is that Notepad++ and Tincta highlight your code and give you other great features to make your document easier to read and edit. Winning.


    Code Highlighting

  • 1535 Outlook in 27 toolboxes
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    The bane of email newsletter creators. Outlook is by far the problem child in terms of what HTML and CSS it will display but unfortunately, Outlook has a huge share of the email client market. Make sure your email looks good in Outlook. Otherwise many people will get a bad impression of your org (or at least your design skills)...

  • 3843 Premailer in 2 toolboxes
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    Checks your HTML emails to make sure that the CSS is inline and flags potential problems in the coding that might cause problems in various email clients.

    Premailer is a good last step to make sure you caught all the troublesome bits in your email.

  • 2849 seashore in 4 toolboxes
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    Seashore is a simple image editor that can be a bit buggy sometimes but it's a lightweight tool that is good for simple things like resizing images when you don't want to load a behemoth like Photoshop.

    tagged: editing, image, photo
  • 6543 The Noun Project in 5 toolboxes
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    The Noun Project is a great place to get free simple, icon-like images for use in your emails.

    Icons

  • 6586 Tincta in 1 toolbox
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    Like Notepad++ described above, Tincta is a great text editor for Mac that highlights code so it's easier to read.

  • 6581 Twitter in 125 toolboxes
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    Everyone's favorite 140 character social network, Twitter is the gold standard nowadays for sharing links and small bits of news. Be sure to have Share this on Twitter buttons where it makes sense to make it easy for your readers to forward your email.

    Tweet Button

  • 6587 Vertical Response Button Builder in 2 toolboxes
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    When you're in a pinch, VR's Button Builder will spit you out a simple, clean button with custom text and colors even if you're not a Vertical Response customer. While they aren't going to win any design competitions, these buttons will certainly do the job.

  • 5377 VerticalResponse in 15 toolboxes
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    Love it or hate it, VR is our email blasting tool of choice. With 10,000 free messages a month for nonprofit organizations, it's hard to beat in the value department.