Internet: The Critical Tool That Powers The List - The 13 Questions You Must Ask When Choosing A Listserver For Your Business

The Critical Tool That Powers The List - The 13 Questions You Must Ask When Choosing A Listserver For Your Business

Written by Paula Morrow

Without a doubt, being able to market through email plays a critical role in how successful you will be on repparttar

internet. So, choosing repparttar 118951

right listserver to power it will be one of your most important decisions.

So, which one to choose?

There are many worth consideration, so here is a list of 'filter' questions that will help you make your decision. Remember, no listserver has ALL of these features - prioritize their importance based on your business:

*Do You Want Your Listserver Located In Your Desktop, Or Hosted By A Third Party?

A Desktop Listserver (as repparttar 118952 name implies) is installed in your own desktop computer. ASP (Application Service Provider) programs are hosted on a separate server.

ASP enables a quicker distribution of email, since outside servers typically have access to faster internet connections. However, if you choose to use a desktop listserver, ask whether it distributes emails using multi-threaded internet connections (instead of sending out emails sequentially, one by one, does it search out different 'threads' and distribute multiple emails simultaneously, through your internet connection)?

*Does repparttar 118953 Listserver Support Both Text and HTML Messages?

Most emails are sent in simple 'text' format, though sending graphics, banners, etc., through HTML, is becoming more popular. Consider your current and future needs; many listservers offer both options.

*Does The System Support Multiple Languages?

Group Mail, for example, currently supports 30 international character sets. Remember, repparttar 118954 internet is a GLOBAL medium.

*Does It Have An Autoresponder Function For Automated Follow-up?

*Does The Listserver Offer An Automated Subscription and Removal Support for Newsletters?

At repparttar 118955 bottom of newsletter messages, there MUST be a way for repparttar 118956 recipient to unsubscribe, if they wish.

*Can Your Listserver Process and Remove 'Bounces' (Returned Emails)?

*Can New Prospects Be Added To An Opt-in List Automatically?

[NOTE: Make sure these last three functions can be applied to multiple mailing lists, email accounts and newsletters, if you have more than one site. ]

Choosing the Right Web Designer

Written by Andy Quick

Title: "Choosing repparttar

Right Web Designer" Copyright (c) 2002 Author: Andy Quick Contact Author: mailto:andy@findmyhosting.com Website: findmyhosting-webhostingsearch (http://www.findmyhosting.com) Publishing Guidelines: You have permission to publish this article electronically or in print, free of charge, as long as repparttar 118950

resource box at bottom is included. No notification required. An individual or organization may use a quote or excerpt from this article freely and without prior permission, provided that it clearly attributes repparttar 118951

quote or excerpt to Andy Quick and to FindMyHosting.com and a link to FindMyHosting - Web Hosting Search is present.

Introduction

Creating your web site can be a tricky process. Choosing repparttar 118952 best web design company for your site is extremely important. Unless you run a web-based business, you probably do not have web design experience within your company. Building your web site will take time and a little homework!

To create a web site for your business, follow these 4 simple steps:

1. Establish your goals 2. Determine your budget 3. Pick a web design company 4. Pick a web hosting company

Establish Your Goals

Before you begin looking for company to help you design and build your web site, take repparttar 118953 time to understand repparttar 118954 goals of your web site. This will be extremely important to help set expectations with repparttar 118955 web design company you choose.

In order to set your web site goals, ask yourself repparttar 118956 following questions:

- Why do you want a web site? - Are you selling something? - Do you have a catalog of products that changes on a regular basis? - Who is your target market? - Do you already have a brand? - What is your industry? - Who are your competitors? - Do they already have web sites? If so, what do they look like? - If you're selling something, will you accept credit cards over repparttar 118957 internet? - How soon do you want your web site? - What happens if you never create a web site for your business?

Take repparttar 118958 time to answer each of repparttar 118959 above questions and if you have time, write repparttar 118960 answers down on a sheet of paper. These are repparttar 118961 same questions most web design companies will ask you before they begin to create your site. If you have these questions answered up front, you will have some criteria for choosing repparttar 118962 right web design company. For example, if you are a real estate agent, and want to publish listings on your web site, you should seek a web design company that knows about repparttar 118963 real estate business and has created web pages for other real estate agents.

Determine Your Budget

How much do you want to spend on your web site. Web sites can cost you anywhere from $100 to $100,000 depending upon what you want it to do. Know your spending constraints before you begin negotiating with design companies. Whatever you do, do not tell a web design company what your budget is!! Always get pricing based on your needs, not you budget.

Pick a Web Design Company

Your choice of a web design company is a very important step. Take your time to investigate all of your options. Here are some important items to consider.

Design vs. Build

Depending upon repparttar 118964 scope of your web site, you may need to choose two different companies. Building a web site is a highly technical process. Designing a web site is a highly creative process. Many advertising firms specialize in web site design which does not necessarily require any web development skills whatsoever. The process of creating a web site is similar to repparttar 118965 process of building a new home. Before you ask a construction company to start building, you first seek out an architect who creates a blueprint of your house taking into account what you want (number of stories, square footage, etc.). Creating a detailed blueprint before construction begins can help you accurately estimate repparttar 118966 final price. Without repparttar 118967 blueprint, you may end up paying a lot of money for a house that does not fit your needs. Creating a web site is exactly repparttar 118968 same except most web site "builders" also claim to be "designers". The good news is that you can look at other sites a web design company has created (like looking at other homes that a home builder has made). Make sure you ask repparttar 118969 web design company what their process is for designing a web site vs. building a web site. They should understand repparttar 118970 difference between these two concepts. If they don't, they're probably builder that think they can also architect.

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