June 10, 2008

Table of Contents   

Tee Up for Education
CoolerEmail is proud to sponsor the "Birdies & Butterflies Golf Tournament," a charity event on April 25 at Rancho Bernardo Double Tree, a golf resort in San Diego, Calif.

Proceeds will benefit a unique, holistic program of personal transformation for young women ages 15 to 30. Shakti Rising, a leading-edge organization, provides more than 500 hours of education annually and 24-hour support to women who are dealing with multiple issues.

The event begins at 1 p.m. in a shotgun start; individuals may play for $160, or $640 for a foursome. Learn more about the tournament and how to participate or sponsor the event on the Shakti Rising Annual Golf Tournament page.
Attachment Alternative
For a whole host of reasons, some of which are discussed below, it is not good practice to email documents, images and files as attachments to large groups of people. The alternative that is recommended is to simply include a link to wherever those types of files can be found. If you don't have easy access to your own web server, you can access a CoolerEmail server from within your account (click on the "libraries tab") to upload documents, images and files to your very own "web-based document library". After uploading, you can email the web address (URL) to anybody you would like - including large groups of people.
To make this easy process even simpler, CoolerEmail enables you to automatically add the link to the document directly from the CoolerEditor - with just one click of a button!

What's wrong with attachments?

There are a number of reasons why CoolerEmail doesn't allow attachments in emails you send out.

1. Attachments make your messages "heavy,"meaning that all of your recipients would now receive more than just a normal HTML/text email message. For those with limited connection speeds, receiving a large message at the wrong time can be disruptive and irritating. Rather, recipients can access documents at their leisure using the links you provide.

2. Many viruses are sent through attachments. The virus threat causes many recipients, particularly corporate recipients, to completely filter out messages with attachments.

3. Even if you sent an attachment with your email, anything done with that attachment would not be trackable. One of the great strengths of the CoolerEmail system is the ability to track what links people click on. Due to the nature of attachments, you would not be able to track them.
Therefore, it is in everyone's best interest to create a link to a file, rather than attach the file to an email.
Remember, if you need to put your file on the web, consider using your Document Library! Document Library storage is included with every paying account.

Cooler by Design

Send a Cooler cartoon suggestion, to Bill Mitchell!
Beautiful HTML
How to Make HTML Email a 'Beautiful Thing'

Studies show that you have about three seconds to catch someone's attention with a commercial email. Make those three seconds count by making your HTML email beautiful. A recent article by our friends at Sitepoint.com tells us how in an informative article recently published on its site, "The Principles of Beautiful HTML Email."

First, there are those few key things that every good email should have: a permission reminder, one that's up front and large enough to read; well-formatted copy, something that HTML lends itself to; a prominent unsubscribe link, which CoolerEmail strongly encourages; a text version in addition to the HTML version, an option that's built-in with CoolerEmail; legally required details, such as a street address required by CAN-SPAM laws; and a visual connection to the brand.

With those core elements in place, turn to designing your email with your topic and audience in mind, using these principles.

1. Treat your email as if it is an email, not a web page.

2. Prioritize content and get to the point quickly. Consider placing a table of contents near the top (as this email does).

3. Decide whether to include full articles or extracts that link off to websites. Use the method that suits your style and goals.

4. Include a clear call to action. The design should make that task simple and obvious.

5. Spend time designing your plain text email, too. Use short lines with hard returns, the shortest URLs possible, and headings and sections.

Once the design and layout is planned, get into the nitty gritty of HTML design, paying attention to key technical constraints and techniques.

1. Do your coding like it's 1999. When it comes time to actually build the HTML, designers have to consider that many email clients are in the dark ages. To learn more, see "How to Code HTML Email Newsletters" at Sitepoint.com.

2. Craft your message so that when readers get a glimpse of your email in their preview pane, that narrow view about 200 pixels high, it makes them want to open it.

3. Image blocking, a common security measure in newer email clients, means you should make your email immediately readable and useful, even without images showing. Include real text content on the page to give the reader a reason to turn images on.

4. No-Nos are audio files, Flash files and JavaScript. The wise course is to keep them out of emails. Multimedia content is likely to be blocked, or worse, cause your message may be filtered.

5. Test your emails to see if they look good in the major email clients. Set up a test list of email addresses and take the extra time to find problems before you send out the real thing.

6. The Email Standards Project is working with email client developers toward getting consistent, modern HTML and CSS rendering. Go to the Project's website to see email client reports and progress thus far.

In short, HTML emails can be done right so that they are easier to read, attractive and much more useful. Learn more and see examples by reading the full article by Mathew Patterson on Sitepoint.com.



Thank you ...

We are always striving to make CoolerEmail ever better. Customer requests for feature enhancements are responsible for many additions. If you have feedback or suggestions, please send them to suggest@cooleremail.com.


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