‘Sending Email’ Articles

1. Does my subject line entice readers to open?
   They are the most important 8-10 words in your campaign. Make sure yours is a clear, concise introduction that entices your readers to take a look inside.
2. Am I making the most of the preview pane?
   At first glance, many of your recipients will just see the first few inches of your campaign, so make your point and your brand standout, also assume they may not see your graphics USE TEXT!
3. Is my email easy on the eyes?
   With simple, intentional font and style choices, you’ll help grab and keep your readers’ attention.
4. Does the message come through, even if the images don’t?
   Since many email clients don’t automatically display images, balancing yours with text will help you make your point in any display possibility.
5. Does this email have a personal touch?
   Whether it’s with a personalized greeting, warm tone, or specialized content, make sure your email feels like a conversation with people who know you, not a blinding “blast”.
6. Does my email need to be gender specific?
   Fact: Women read, men scan bullets & images – the List Builder “Signup Form” lets you ask and Email Builder “Target Filters” help you target your audience – it only takes a few seconds to ask. For help contact Customer Service.

One question I often hear from clients is “Does text email work?” and invariably I tell them “Text is King.” Why do I say this? Text emails are less likely to be BLOCKED and if the content of the email is important to the recipient it can be just as effective–sometimes even more!

The following is a well thought-out example of a text email newsletter and its layout can be used as guide for non-technical applications as well. The top section summarizes the information covered in the email newsletter. Then the  body offers excerpts and highlights with a link to a more in depth story posted on a website.  There are advantages to leting your website do the heavy lifting, especially with rich media and critical placement of content. In addition to having  more control, articles on your website can prove to be valuable for increasing search engine traffic.

MySQL Newsletter
February 2008
newsletter@mysql.com

Articles in this newsletter:

Highlights:
- Letter from Mårten Mickos, SVP, Database Group, and Rich Green, EVP, Software, Sun Microsystems
- Letter from Jonathan Schwartz, CEO & President, Sun Microsystems
- Press Release: Sun Microsystems Announces Completion of MySQL Acquisition
- MySQL and Sun World Tour
- MySQL and Sun Community Townhall
- Gartner News: Analysis on MySQL Acquisition
- MySQL Conference and Expo 2008 – Register Now
- White Paper: MySQL Enterprise for Managed Hosting & SaaS Providers
- Case Study: Alstom Selects MySQL as a Database Standard for Power Plant Monitoring
- MySQL Jobs

New Product Releases:
- New Release of MySQL Community Server 5.1.23 (Release Candidate)
- New Release of MySQL Community Server 5.0.51a (GA)
- New Release of MySQL Workbench 5.0.14 (Beta)

Hints & Tips:
- Article: A Q&A Session with Mårten Mickos about the Sun Acquisition
- Article: MySQL Information Schema Plugins: the best kept secret of MySQL 5.1
- Article: Reporting MySQL Internals with Information Schema plug-ins
- PlanetMySQL Blog Posts
- PlanetMySQL Blog: Using Events to Manage Table Partitioning by Date: Wrap-up
- PlanetMySQL Blog: PlanetMySQL Blog: Spring cleaning in MySQL supported platforms
- PlanetMySQL Blog: MySQL Cluster Features – What They Are, What They Do
- PlanetMySQL Blog: Analyze This

Events:
- Live Webinar: MySQL Guide to Choosing an Embedded Relational Database (EMEA)
- Live Webinar: MySQL Crazy Data Formats and Multiple Data Sources? Taming Your Messy Mashups

Training, Consulting & Certification:
- Consulting: MySQL Architecture & Design (2+ Days)
- Training: MySQL Performance Tuning (4 Days)

Sun & MySQL Privacy Policy Notice

Highlights

Letter from Mårten Mickos, SVP, Database Group, and Rich Green, EVP, Software, Sun Microsystems

Today, MySQL proudly joins forces with Sun Microsystems, the leading provider of platforms for the Web economy and the largest commercial open source contributor. We thank you – our customers, developers and community members – for your trust and continued support. Our commitment to you is that MySQL will continue to be a leader in the open source community and now, as a part of Sun, we will provide a new level of innovation, service and support.

Read the Letter:

http://mysql.com/news-and-events/sun/marten_mickos.html

Letter from Jonathan Schwartz, CEO & President, Sun Microsystems

Today is a big day for Sun and the MySQL community. We have closed our acquisition of MySQL AB and proudly join forces with this open source icon and the company behind the world’s most popular open source database. Sun already is the leading provider of platforms for the Web economy and the largest commercial open source contributor. As of today, Sun also is a formidable player in the $15 billion database market. We thank you – our joint customers, developers and community members – for making this possible.

Read the Letter:

http://mysql.com/news-and-events/sun/jonathan_schwartz.html

Press Release: Sun Microsystems Announces Completion of MySQL Acquisition

Sun Microsystems, Inc. today announced it has completed the acquisition of MySQL AB, developer of the world’s most popular open source database, for approximately $1 billion in total consideration. Sun also unveiled the immediate availability of MySQL’s complete portfolio of products and enterprise services backed by its 17,000-strong global sales and services organization and its extensive international network of authorized distribution channels. Sun now provides a single, secure choice for customers and developers seeking to put MySQL into deployment on a global basis.

Read the Press Release:

http://mysql.com/news-and-events/sun/

MySQL and Sun World Tour
February – April

We see more and more clients using text again. Since many email programs block images, this is not surprising! If you do not have the time and resources to develop a well planned HTML layout so your email looks professional, both with and without images, it can make you look bad. Text emails are a simple alternative that allow you to focus on your content and what you have to offer.

When you send out an email campaign, there are a number of statistics that come into play.

Bounces- When you send email, there’s always a chance that some messages may not be delivered and will be returned. This is called a ‘Bounce’. This is quite normal, due to the volatile nature of email addresses. However, if you see a sudden increase of bounces on a new campaign, you may want to review your email’s contents to determine any deliverability issues.

Admail.net automatically handles bounces and will clean your list as you send mail. (more…)

Many Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and email systems address the problems of SPAM by blocking or filtering email that is not from a “safe sender.” To avoid having your campaigns blocked or filtered you will have to work with your list members. (more…)

• Put your company name or brand in the “From” line. There is a higher likelihood if you are a source the recipient knows, they will open your email.
• Keep the subject line relevant to the recipient. Most recipients make split-second decisions whether or not to open an email. You have a moments’ opportunity to capture their interest and entice them to read more.
• Don’t design your email campaign to be read in it’s entirety. Email is scrolled through, in a small preview pane. Design your email campaign so the key message appears above the fold line…above where the recipient has to scroll down. The challenge is to get the recipient to read further and ultimately click through to your web site.
• Keep your email about the recipient. It’s tempting to focus on your company, your product or your technology. However, the recipient cares about their needs, wants, frustrations, challenges, fears, concerns, and problems. Address these issues by answering their question…”how can this benefit me?” ~ and you’ll see higher click-through and conversion rates.