Newsletter Review (was: Re: [thelist] Newsletter help)

[Michael Pemberton]

Razvan Pop wrote:
> Hi again,
> 
>    That is what I am going to do. Avoid using images for lists. I am not 
> going to force users. Just my boss doesn't understand what spam is. All 
> the "+" will be replaced by simple dots or squares. What do you think of 
> the newsletter layout? Is it ok?
> 

Personally, I am a fan of the newsletters that are designed to be read, 
rather than ones that are designed to be 'seen'.  If the info I was 
looking for was availble in plain text, I'm more likely to read it, than 
if it was surrounded by a bunch of pretty pictures.

This basically stems from my background of having been a user of 
'cyberspace' back when I was paying $0.01/k for my email.  But it also 
comes from the knowledge that more and more people are using remote 
email clients such as PDAs and the headache of downloading a large 
email, just to find it is a glorified pamphlet, is a turn off.

Just like in your HTML on a website must consider low bandwidth users, 
so to should the HTML in your email. It all comes down to your target 
audience.  If they have opted in to recieve a graphic email, then the 
email is great.  But, if they were expecting something with a little 
less bloat, then they may be turned off.

It might be worth looking at a method of allowing the users to select a 
preferred format.

-- 
Michael Pemberton
evolt at mpember.net.au