How Many E-mails is too many?

[Steve B]

I now have 700 customer e-mails in my database. About 4 or 5 times a year I like to send out an e-mail to them with helpful tips about their dog fence etc. I don't want to get flagged by my ISP for sending out Spam (since it's not Spam) but I know sending e-mails to many recipients at the same time might look suspicious. So far, I've been sending out less than 100 at a time and do it over the course of 2 or 3 days. I put all the e-mails in the BCC section so nobody can see who else it is being sent to.

Do I need to worry about this? Can I just send it to all 700 at the same time? I looked into the limits of my ISP and they were very vague and didn't give a specific number.

Any tips?

[vangogh]

I want to say 500 is a limit of some sort. That number is in my head for whatever reason. However I think there's more to it than just the number sent. This isn't really an answer, but have you ever thought of using a service like Mailchimp (http://mailchimp.com/) or Aweber (http://www.aweber.com/)? They both let you build email lists and send emails or newsletters to everyone on the list. Their servers handle everything so you don't have to worry about how many is too many.

Both also let you send out newsletters based on some nicely designed templates and let you track things like whether or not the email is opened and how many people click links in the email etc. You can set the emails to send at a time in the future. They both have lots of features.

Mailchimp is free up to the first 2,000 people on your list and you can send out up to 12,000 individual emails per month. After that they start charging from $10/month. Aweber doesn't have a free option, though I think more people suggest they offer more in terms of what you can do.

Both work with ISPs to help make sure the email is received. I'm not sure if it has to do with how much they send at once. I think they also have their own checks on what's being sent and have developed trust with the ISPs. Mailchimp's free option might be something to look into. They even have something called email beamer (http://mailchimp.com/features/email-beamer/) which lets you write the email in Outlook and send it to a Mailchimp address and they take care of the rest. It seems like a good fit for you.

[Steve B]

Thanks Steve - yes, I actually used two similar services. One was constant contact and I forget the other one. I found out sending my own e-mails were much more effective.

Here is my theory why sending without a "service" made them more effective. I think as soon as someone sees a professional looking e-mail with nice borders and fancy formatting - they automatically dismiss it as a "marketing" piece and either delete it or save it so they can read it later - which they don't. When I used these services I probably only had about 300 e-mails and I got 2 or 3 ask to be taken off the list each time I sent one. Now, with 700 e-mails I don't EVER get anyone ask to be taken off the list (and, yes, it's clearly stated at the bottom that they can). So, I think my customers actually read the e-mail because they think it is just written by the small business owner from his basement office. In my case it works well because I have personally met 99% of my customers.

But, the downside of sending it from my regular account is that I might have a problem if they think I'm spamming. I also mix it up when I send them, sometimes I send 50 at a time, then the next time I might send 99 a few hours later. Based on how vague they are about the "limit" I figure it's not as simple as going above a certain number.

[vangogh]

I think you can send the emails out looking like ordinary emails though. I'm on lists for people that get sent through both and they send me normal looking emails like anyone would. They don't have to look like professionally designed newsletters.

[kerrylinux]

But, the downside of sending it from my regular account is that I might have a problem if they think I'm spamming.

Steve, have you ever thought about using your own mail server hosted on a virtual private server to send out your emails?

It would not only remove your headache with your current ISP, you can also benefit from having your own domain name attached to a fixed IP number. If your mail originates from a single machine that is associated to your business domain that would give your mails even more credibility. And your own business server could do much more for you than only sending out your emails. You might need a hand to set it up securely, but you will gain control over what is important to your business.

[Steve B]

Hi Kerry - no I never thought about it because I really don't understand most of what you're saying. I might have to have my IT Consultant (Van Gogh) translate for me and let me know if it makes sense for me to do. It sounds interesting ...

VG - I've used the formats that don't look like a "format", but it still was always obvious to the user that it was coming from a professional e-mail blasting site.

Back to my original question - does anyone know if there is a limit in the quantity of e-mails sent at one time?

[kerrylinux]

Hi Kerry - no I never thought about it because I really don't understand most of what you're saying.

Sorry, I wasn't aware that I spoke in miracles. I wonder what Steve's translation would be like. In the meantime I can offer you an explanation of the benefits of your own server on the internet here (http://kerry-linux.ie/business-server).

[vangogh]

does anyone know if there is a limit in the quantity of e-mails sent at one time?

It might be ISP related. Have you checked with them? I'm thinking there's not a single number for all ISPs and I'm also thinking they look at more than the absolute number when determining what is and isn't spam.

[kerrylinux]

I'm also thinking they look at more than the absolute number when determining what is and isn't spam.

I took a look at the terms and conditions of one of my ISPs (tagadab.com) from which I purchase virtual private servers on demand.

They say (http://www.tagadab.com/aup.pdf) :



The use of email address lists obtained from third parties is not allowed. Email address lists may be used for sending bulk emails only if they are compiled from double opt-in registration on the customer's own site. You may not use a third party to advertise, by bulk email, any website housed on your Tagadab server.


It's interesting to see that even if you have your own server for your business domain there are still regulations regarding who you send an email to, but there is no mention of limits in numbers. They only seem to worry about how the email list has been created, and stating that the list has to be compiled from double opt-in procedures they assume, that the customer's own website plays the important role here. I wonder how they will enforce such regulations, but the onus is on the side of the business owner to prove that he has a legitimate email list that he's using.

[billbenson]

It's almost certainly a setting set by the ISP.

KerryLinux - wouldn't web hosts also have limits on sending out emails?

[Steve B]

Yes - VG I checked with my ISP and they were very vague and didn't give a specific number.

[kerrylinux]

wouldn't web hosts also have limits on sending out emails?

You mean technically? If you host your own mailserver on your server machine you certainly can send a couple of emails per second as long as you wish.
But that's not the point.

[billbenson]

You mean technically? If you host your own mailserver on your server machine you certainly can send a couple of emails per second as long as you wish.
But that's not the point.

No I didn't mean technically. I assume hosts will limit the number of emails or at least look at the site if some amount are sent out from a script to be sure they as a host aren't spamming. Just wondering what those thresholds might be?

[vangogh]

I checked with my ISP and they were very vague and didn't give a specific number.

Unfortunately they might be the only ones who can really answer. I'm not sure there's a set number for all ISPs and I have a feeling there's more to it than just the number itself. If you don't want to give one of the services I suggested then maybe you can divide your customer list into several groups in Outlook with maybe 100 customers in each group. You'll still have to send out the email a few times, but it would be easy to include everyone over those few emails.

[billbenson]

You may be able to find a script you can put on your website that will send them out in groups with one click. Depending on your web design knowledge you may have to have a web developer install it for you. If you know how to do it its pretty easy. You can frequently modify the script to meet your needs. A lot of them are free. The link below is a good place to find scripts.

Search Listings (http://www.hotscripts.com/search/php/email)

[fivewarp]

No I didn't mean technically. I assume hosts will limit the number of emails or at least look at the site if some amount are sent out from a script to be sure they as a host aren't spamming. Just wondering what those thresholds might be?

Most hosts do put security measures in place to limit the number of emails sent per hour/day/month on shared servers. However, it is a little difficult for VPS or Dedicated solutions since the limitation is usually in the mail server's configuration. The limit that is imposed depends on the host.