Setting up email for new site / platform

ideaburst

Hi folks,

I am launching a new online startup within the next week, and naturally enough I will need the facility to email users when it comes to having them sign-up and when they receive a notification on the site (auto-emails), and then just to proactively email them, etc.

So I am wondering what you generally use for this when launching new sites? I am guessing Google Apps is by far the most popular solution - is it easy to set up? I have Blacknight hosting too though and I know they do email (Michele will surely be along shortly ), and so I am open to all options.

Look forward to your thoughts and tips.

Thanks

daymobrew

ideaburst wrote: »

I have Blacknight hosting too though and I know they do email (Michele will surely be along shortly ), and so I am open to all options.

Most hosts will have limits on the number of emails you can send per minute/hour/day. Using an external service (like MailChimp) avoids this issue - and you get stats of the emails you send (here is an article about using external services)

ideaburst

daymobrew wrote: »

Most hosts will have limits on the number of emails you can send per minute/hour/day. Using an external service (like MailChimp) avoids this issue - and you get stats of the emails you send (here is an article about using external services)

I think I saw that article before alright, makes a lot of sense. Does Mailchimp also work for sending automated emails to new sign-ups though? So, each new sign-up on the site will need to receive an automated sign-up confirmation / please validate your account email, etc.

I most associate Mailchimp with having an existing list of users / customers you want to reach.

Talisman

MailChimp is for marketing types that don't know any better.

If you are a developing something then you want an API to a service - the most cost effective offerings are Mandrill and MailGun. Mandrill is the engine behind MailChimp. There are other providers such as Mailjet and SendGrid which you might want to look at but the first two mentioned offer 10,000+ free emails a month.

ideaburst

Talisman wrote: »

MailChimp is for marketing types that don't know any better.

If you are a developing something then you want an API to a service - the most cost effective offerings are Mandrill and MailGun. Mandrill is the engine behind MailChimp. There are other providers such as Mailjet and SendGrid which you might want to look at but the first two mentioned offer 10,000+ free emails a month.

That seems more like it alright. I assume that any competent developer should find it pretty easy to set up? I am looking to go live within the coming days.

Talisman

I built a newsletter management system for a client last week, the Mailgun element took 10 minutes as the documentation is great and full of code examples in C#, Java, PHP, Python and Ruby.

Mailgun Documentation