Jump to the following topics:

1. What is an email discussion list?
2. Advantages and disadvantages. 
3. We can publicize the discussion list.  
4. We can acquire articles for our discussion list.
5. We get the means for distributing the list.

What is an email discussion list? It is a group of people who "converse" via email. When we want to say something to the group, we send an email to the address of the list; from there, our email is distributed to all of the other members. Then, the other members can comment on our email, or they can start a new topic of discussion. An email discussion list is usually called a "mailing list"; however, the latter term is ambiguous, because it can also refer to (1) a list of addresses for direct mailings via postal mail, or (2) email mailings which are one-way, i.e., they go from the business to the customers (but not vice versa).

Advantages and disadvantages.  

1. Advantages.  
   • We gain recognition as the editor of this discussion list. The recognition can translate into credibility, trust, and a high profile.
   • We can earn a profit in various ways:  
     • We can sell advertising space within the discussion list.
     • We can advertise our own products and services. Because the newsletter is sent periodically, we can announce new products, sales, and company news.
     • We can sell subscriptions. However, our list's information must be truly unique and valuable in order to attract subscribers; we are in competition with many discussion lists which are free.
2. Disadvantages.
   • The discussion list will require a considerable amount of time. Some of the tasks include:
     • Writing a FAQ. The FAQ ("Frequently Asked Questions") explains the rules for the discussion list. You can read an example of a discussion-list FAQ at my website.
     • Answering questions from subscribers and advertisers.
     • Handling disputes among the subscribers. We might need to moderate these disagreements.
     • Managing the archive of past issues.

We can publicize the discussion list.

1. We can publicize the list on our own website. People can subscribe there.
2. We can ask our subscribers to tell their friends about the list. The subscribers can even forward copies of the list to their friends.
3. We can use the other means of internet advertising: banners, sig files, newsgroups, etc.

We can acquire articles for our discussion list.   

1. Our own subscribers will write messages to be posted in the discussion list.
2. We can invite experts to participate in our list. These experts will grant credibility to our list, and they will be able to answer the questions which are presented by the other subscribers.
3. We can reprint articles from people's websites (with permission).

We can get the means for distributing the list.

1. We can use our browser's "address book." This method is practical only if we have a very small number of subscribers.
2. We can use email software. This software will handle mailings to large numbers of people. We can look for these features in our email software for the purposes of email discussion lists:
   • Price.
   • Ease of use.
   • Tech support. By phone and email? Quick replies? 24/7?
   • Automatic deletion of email addresses where the email is undeliverable.
   • The selection of suitable software.
     • Pegasus.
     • Eudora.
     • Majordomo.
     • Listserv.
3. We can find another company to distribute our list. There are many companies which will manage the subscriptions, unsubscriptions, and distribution from their server. We simply register with these companies, and then put a subscription form on our website. We can look for these features in a discussion-list management company:  
   • Price. The companies finance this service in various ways:  
     • A monthly fee.
     • A small ad at the bottom of each email.
   • Ease of use.
   • Tech support. By phone and email? Quick replies? 24/7?
   • Ability to moderate.
     • In an unmoderated list, the subscribers' emails are sent to the service; then the emails are immediately distributed to the group.
     • In a moderated list, the subscribers' emails are sent to the service; then they are stored there until we read them. The emails which are acceptable are distributed to the group -- but we can reject the emails which are unacceptable.
   • Archiving. "Archiving" is the storage of past issues. If the service does not archive our past issues, we can archive them on our own site. We can have a "search" capability for the archive, so that people can find emails which referred to specific topics.  
   • Digesting.
     • In an undigested list, the subscribers' emails are distributed as individual emails.
     • In a digested list, the subscribers' emails are distributed in a batch. The batch can contain all of the emails which were submitted in a 24-hour period. Many people like digests, because they receive only one email per day, instead of many.
   • A selection of free discussion-list providers.
     • Coollist.
     • eGroups.
     • ListBot.
     • OneList.