Sully

KW - As a newbie to this whole hosting thing, I'm still trying to figure a few things out. 1st, can you tell me how to send an email to one's list using Mailman? I have my list set up (I think) but I don't know how to get a message to them. Perhaps I'm daft, but I don't see an option within Mailman to "send to list." I tried checking out your website, which has lots of other good useful info BTW, but nothing that covers this very basic question. Also, I'm trying to figure out how to get information from a sign-in sheet to the mailing list. Is there a way to do this? What I mean is, I'd like to set up a page or a pop-up that would allow people to sign up for my company's newsletter. How do I tie a formatted page like that (where it would take 1st name and email) and get the info into a DB or a mailing list? Any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated!! Sully

Lianna - No worries! Actually you pointed me in the direction that was available. I agree, from what I can tell Mailman is cumbersome, and I'm having trouble figuring it out! I didn't want to re-invent the wheel. The spam thing is a great concern for me, as I want to create an opt-in list whereby people could sign in to a guestbook (or something similar) on my site, and then receive the information they ask for. My problem is, I'm "just" technical enough to know that certain things are possible, but not nearly enough yet to make them a reality!! Thanks for following up on this, and if you hear of anything, please let me know. It's nice to have a place to go for help, which is why I'm here (both on this discussion board, as well as TCH)!! Sully P.S. Part of the trouble I am having is just figuring out HOW to send a message out to the list -- are there instructions on the Mailman site re: this? It's one thing to set it up, but I need to know how to actually send the message to those on the list (i.e., how does it get addressed, etc.)...I don't see an option within Mailman to Send To List. Do I just create an email, and then send it to the address for the list, which in turn sends it out to list members?

Beth - Believe it or not, there are those of us out there who are a small business, but still have a large number of people they need to get information to. Since the Head Guru is very explicit about no spamming, it would not behoove me to try to do something like that, when he is on record as saying they will terminate an account without warning if the account owner is spamming. I have about 1,000 people who have opted in to receive my company's newsletter on leadership, strategic planning, and executive/management development. We're relatively new (the people on our list come from previous lives where we've done this same kind of work individually), so we don't yet have the budget to implement larger scale solutions, hence the need to utilize as many resources as possible with the lowest cost possible (without, of course, limiting operability). Also, I am looking for a way to allow people to sign up via my website to receive information from us. We put on seminars and other events, and sending out emails is the most cost-effective way for us to communicate with a wide (and widely dispersed) audience. If you have some useful suggestions, I'm all ears. I'm the first to admit that I'm a relative newbie; I was referred to this post by Lianna, as she thought Turtle might be able to help me, and simply posted here to see if there was someone out there who has gone through what I'm going through. I don't know anything about Mailman, or it's uses, and I haven't been able to find much here on the boards that answered my questions (perhaps I'm daft, and just missed it somewhere). I don't mean to be rude, but I resent the spam implication, and the reference to "reputable" companies. If you care to share your expertise or a way to help us "budget appropriately" for our email marketing, I'm more than willing to accept any help (including monetary! ) I can get, so if you have something, please send it along! It's tough enough having a small business in an economy like this -- it's even tougher being a start-up in an area that not only has economic problems, but political/terrorism problems as well. Sully

Turtle - Any tips on how I can get a page up that will allow visitors to sign up for my newsletter through my site? I would like to get just a simple form or something that people can fill out, which would then forward the information to my mailing list for distribution. I happen to have a copy of GroupMail (Free), which I could use to send out the emails, but I would like to create a more automated process. Thanks! Sully

Jack - I've found them in many places, but here are a few that have some decent ones: http://www.freeavatars.net/ http://elegantavatars.homestead.com/ If all else fails, just do a search on avatars -- I did once and found over 360,000 sites! Hope this helps. sully