I’ll be honest, I don’t send out as many newsletters as I should – for three reasons. One – I’m lazy, Two – I don’t like bombarding people’s inboxes unless I have something important to say, and Three – I hate fighting with my email template when I want to change up the look.
I don’t know how many times I’ve spent hours trying to fix a broken template after trying to alter one simple little feature. I’ve since turned into an obsessive-compulsive “saver” – I’m constantly stopping to back-up my work at every stage – this totally jacks up my productivity!
How many times have you created what you thought was going to be a beautiful email template, only to discover that none of the features carried over once it was delivered. Depending on the email provider, various parts of the code get stripped from the message and you really have no clue what your email is going to look like when the recipient opens it.
If looking professional is important to you, accepting this unpredictability is difficult and a highly nerve-wrecking!
But what can you do about it if you’re not an experienced coder?
I’ve discovered that you can “Drag and Drop”!
GetResponse has a new feature that makes creating an email newsletter so much simpler! With the beta version of the new Email Creator, now you can design beautiful email newsletters and move things around using a drag-and-drop editor.
You can drop in text or photos and make changes without worrying about breaking the code. It also stores your history of changes, so if you ever save something, but want to go back to your previous template, you can leave the OCD behaviors behind and be rest assured that your work is saved.
It also allows you to preview the message you’ve created in the browser so you can have some idea about what your email is going to look like once it’s been sent.
GetResponse Email Creator also features a Time Travel feature that enables marketers to schedule and deliver emails at the same local time all over the world. Those who market their products internationally can improve the results of their email marketing campaigns by optimizing the time of delivery based on their customers time zone.
I think this is ingenious!
So if you’re tired of fighting with your email template, give GetResponse’s new feature a try and let me know how it works out for you. Try GetResponse for Free!
Tell me about your experience with email templates – are you doing more fighting than sending?
About Kiesha Easley
Twitter: goodwebsitesnz
says:
As long as you use one of the biggies (MailChimp, Get Respons, Campaign Monitor to name a few) and their templates your normally not fighting the newsletter layouts.
Erwin recently posted..Is the .nz domain coming?
I think that the email template are very good option in the email
Twitter: GlynisJolly1
says:
Hi Kiesha
I’m not doing any email marketing at the present time but I do have the updates going out for my posts. I’ve been using MailChimp and so far have not had any problems with my template. However, I am going to be making a new template within the next week. I’m probably going to go for a more simple design. Thanks for the ‘heads-up’ on this problem.
Twitter: hugeheadca
says:
Hi Kiesha!
Thanks for the great post about our new Email Creator! We aren’t done by a long shot either! We are still tweaking and adding to it. We also make it easy for you to see how your email template will look in over 20+ email clients with our Inbox Preview tool! Combine these and our analytics and easy segmenting and we take a lot of the headache our of email marketing for people.
Drop me an email when you can Kiesha.
If anyone has any questions just tweet me or @GetResponse or visit our website. We are happy to help.
Regards,
Jim Ducharme
Community Manager
GetResponse
Email Marketing
These are all wonderful points. I totally agree to use Feedburner to get my daily posts to RSS.
This is helpful, alright! My inner OC-ness comes out when email templates or any kind of templates are concerned. I have to check out this one.
Twitter: weblogbetter
says:
Hi Henry!
LOL! You sound like me! Who knew trying to design and send an email could be so stressful! Hope this helps you, too.
I also hate email templates – sending them and receiving them! This info is a real discovery for me!
Mona recently posted..Healthy Trim Reviews – What User’s Really Experienced
Twitter: weblogbetter
says:
Hi Mona,
I can totally relate! I’m glad to hear this this post has been helpful.
Twitter: Janis167
says:
I haven’t had problems with email marketing… I just don’t do it :) Nevetheless its a great possibility, I know :)
met?la žogi recently posted..Tempofor v?rti sp?l?s lomu film?
Twitter: weblogbetter
says:
Hi Met!
Been there done that! Glad you’re enjoying the possibility. :)
Twitter: collegeocontent
says:
Kiesha,
College of Content guesses that you’re lazy in your e-mail marketing campaign, because your United States Alexa search engine traffic rank is so low… LOL
Girl, don’t you know to e-mail marketing is just as effective as posting new blogs daily? And, the beauty of e-mail marketing in sending out a newsletter to your RSS subscribers is that you can include it affiliate links to targeted affiliate programs, while increasing your online revenue. Yes, it’s easy to use a voice recognition program and easily kick out almost 2000 words in less than 20 min. in a Microsoft Word and make your final revisions to it for publishing to your blog, but don’t ever ignore the beautiful power of e-mail/newsletter marketing. Besides, it would be a great addition, alongside the AdSense revenue you’re already earning.
Keep up the good work. College of Content supports you :-)
Twitter: weblogbetter
says:
Hi College of Content! Thanks for your support! I really appreciate it! Yeah, I totally agree with what you’re saying. I use Feedburner to get my daily posts to RSS subscribers, but it’s the other types of emails that I usually drop the ball on. I’m a work in progress. I plan on reviving my email campaigns soon – no worries! :)
Twitter: internetdreamof
says:
You’ve had quite an ordeal with your email template, Kiesha. Glad you survived and found GetResponse. I’ve got Wijisa for WordPress. For some bizarre reason, with Wisija, you can’t save a template, but you can copy it. Strange, but it works. GetResponse looks awesome and I’ll keep it in mind.
Samuel recently posted..How To Write A Good Article!
Twitter: weblogbetter
says:
Hi Samuel,
I’m glad you’ve found a solution that works for you – I firmly believe, if it isn’t broken and it’s working – there’s no need to fix it. :)
Twitter: melaniekissell
says:
Kiesha, this topic will surely resonate with the masses!
Oh, brother. Don’t get me started on working with templates. Aaargh!! My level of frustration reaches the ceiling sometimes and I just want to scream or throw in the ever lovin’ towel.
I coordinate the marketing for an ophthalmology practice and I was recently asked to create a monthly email newsletter. Swell. Here’s the rub: The doctor does NOT want to subscribe to a contact management system — e.g. Get Response. So in order to be able to email a newsletter to our database via our electronic medical records program …
I had to search for a template to upload to Word and begin this UN-fun project. I won’t bore you with the details of days and days and days of trying to fill template “cells” with text and images and having nothing looking good. Suffice to say it was a nightmare. :(
I don’t currently send out an email newsletter to my subscribers. I’m “lazy”, too. LOL! Instead, I send them a blog broadcast via my contact management system and it arrives in their inboxes intact and looking spiffy each and every time. :)
Awesome post, Kiesha, with very helpful tips!
Melanie Kissell recently posted..Poem: “The Post Nobody Shared”
Twitter: weblogbetter
says:
Hi Melanie!
I’m sooooo sorry to hear about your UN-Fun project! I’ve been there, done that and burned the T-shirt! I’m definitely going to revamp the email campaign, when I get some time – whenever that will be :)
Hello, I know what you mean by news letter not arriving the way you intended. It is very annoying when you put all the work in. I’ve looked at the GetResponse – looks like something to consider.
Twitter: weblogbetter
says:
Hi Possum,
Yes, that is definitely an annoying problem! I’ve been there and done that too many times already. I hope it works out for you! :)
Twitter: semaglive
says:
its nice kiesha looking awesome thanks for the info…..
SEM recently posted..How to Improve ROI of Your PPC Campaigns [Part 2]
Twitter: weblogbetter
says:
Thanks, SEM! Thanks for stopping by!
Twitter: howtospecialist
says:
It is nice to know there are soft that make this job easy, even if we aren’t too goods at coding. Thank you for sharing this with us and congratulations for your presentation.
Jack Sander recently posted..Patio table plans
Twitter: weblogbetter
says:
Hi Jack,
Thanks for dropping in – I’m glad you found this information to be useful.
Hello, Kiesha! A friend of mine says we have to test things until we get them right. So the answer to your title would be to keep on changing email templates until you have found one that suits you (and it seems you succeeded).
Fernando recently posted..Weber 721001 Smokey Mountain Cooker Smoker Review
Twitter: weblogbetter
says:
Hi Fernando,
You sound like you have a very wise friend! Thanks for chiming in today!
Despite the fact that the program is expensive, in terms of performance, I believe that it is worth every penny.
Twitter: weblogbetter
says:
Hi Alex,
I think of it as an investment, but just like any other, you still need to consider your needs and compare your expenses before making a commitment. In the email marketing world, there’s no such thing as a one size fits all situation.
Hi Kiesha
Great post..Thanks for sharing. The presentation is really good. Will surely try the Get Response Email Creator.
Twitter: weblogbetter
says:
HI Richa,
Glad you enjoyed it!
Twitter: antonrsa
says:
Yes – Most people don’t have the time nor the energy to fight with a template if you want to change something (especially if the change is something small like changing an image). In today’s fast life one don’t have the time or energy to fight with a template where one could’ve been spending that time more constructively.
Anton Koekemoer recently posted..The importance of personal branding online
Twitter: weblogbetter
says:
Hi Anton,
Yeah, I’ve definitely had my days where it took me the whole day just to change one little thing. I think I’ve reached my limit – that’s like the one thing that can drive me totally crazy!
Building a custom HTML email template is a time-saving exercise that allows you to create enhanced messages for indefinite use. Templates permit you to do the layout and design of your message just once so that you can go straight to editing the content the next time.
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Twitter: VirdiAmrik
says:
Yes, I am a big fan of this product. It has always met almost every need I have had for an autoresponder service. There are a few minor things I would prefer like the ability to integrate my own domains into the service (which can be done on a limited basis) and the recurring monthly fee is kind of a drag, but well worth it! If these two features are very important to you, you may want to check out MailLoop, but for 95% of you, a service like GetResponse (or Aweber for that matter), will do an unbelievable job for you.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
Amrik recently posted..Why I Think SEO Is Still Alive After Google Penguin Update
Twitter: weblogbetter
says:
Hi Amrik,
Thanks for chiming in and sharing your thought! Greatly appreciated.
Twitter: problogsuccess
says:
Kiesha, how true! You really have no idea how your email will look. This depends upon the email service provider. I’ve tried some handmade templates; some look perfect on gmail some look good on Yahoo. But none look alike in all the emails.
Aweber has also recently introduced the drag drop option!
Jane recently posted..Thesis Theme Vs Genesis: A Detailed Comparison To Help You Decide
Twitter: weblogbetter
says:
Hi Jane!
Sounds like this drag drop thing is catching on. It just makes sense to make it more user friendly. Everybody is not into coding or either doesn’t have the time to.
Twitter: FindHomesNow
says:
Thanks for the email tips, Kiesha. I haven’t ever tried creating a template with my email and saving it, but after reading your great article I can’t wait to try.
Rob White recently posted..Luxury Ski Homes Market Report
Twitter: weblogbetter
says:
Hi Rob,
I hope it works out for you! Let me know how it turns out.