Sending to Multiple E-mail Addresses
 Table of Contents
In practice, the problem of sending messages to a number of different
e-mail addresses is often solved by entering a list of addresses separated
by the comma character in the 'To', 'BCC', or 'CC' field of the message.
There are two reasons why PostCast Server does not support this method:
- PostCast Server is
not a Spam program. Using this method
to deliver messages is often practiced when sending unsolicited commercial
e-mail.
- This method does NOT
ensure faster message delivery when the SMTP server is installed on your
computer.
If you enter more than one address in the 'BCC' (blind carbon copy)
or 'CC' (carbon copy) field of your e-mail message, the program will deliver
the message only to the first 50 addresses in line. The remaining addresses
will be ignored.
Server Problems
When such a message is forwarded to the ISP's server, it makes as many
copies of the message as there are addresses entered. After that, the
server sends each copy of the message separately. Although the user is
under the impression that he/she has sent only one message to the server,
the ultimate effect is exactly the same as if a different message was
sent to each address on the list. Instead of solving the problem, it has
only been made worse. The server that should deliver those messages creates
congestion on the Internet connection and its performance deteriorates.
No administrator likes such things, and almost every ISP quickly closes
the accounts of users who send a large number of messages at once.
To and CC Fields
If several addresses were entered in the 'To' or 'CC' field, each recipient
would be in a position to see every address from your list. Your message
would look unprofessional.
The marketing effect produced by such a sending method is extremely
unfavorable due to two main reasons:
- Message is not personalized;
it is not personally addressed to the recipient
- If you were so careless
or unprofessional to expose your entire mailing list to everyone's eyes,
to what extent do you think your potential customers would be inclined
to make a purchase from you and disclose their confidential information,
like credit card data, to you?
BCC Field
If you enter addresses in the "BCC" field of the message, the recipient
cannot see the addresses from the list as when they are entered in the
"CC" and "To" fields. In order for a message to reach its destination
at all and for the server to accept it, it is necessary to enter some
arbitrary value in the "To" field. This value will be the same for all
recipients and thus, if you enter, for instance, "",
every message recipient will see that address where his/her personal address
should be. As in the previous case, the message is not personally addressed
to the recipient, which can be seen at first glance.
When the server, on which the mailbox indicated by one of the addresses
from your list is located, accepts such a message, it might identify it
as Spam. Mechanisms used for blacklisting
the persons who send Spam are almost completely automated (of course,
everything depends on the administrator and the software installed on
the server). Your message contains sufficient data about you. Losing the
account with your ISP is just one of the measures that could be applied.
What is the Solution?
Never send messages that are not personally addressed to the recipient.
Any e-mail program can forward a message to the SMTP server with a bunch
of addresses entered in the "To", "CC", or "BCC" field, but, in that case,
you will end up making the described mistakes.
It all depends, in fact, on the number of messages you need to send
and on how often you need to send them. Some ISPs do not mind if you send
about 50 messages at once on a daily basis. However, things differ from
one case to another. If you have shorter lists with 100 or 200 users,
this might be a temporary solution. As your list expands and your business
develops, your appetites will build up and you will be forced to look
for some other solution.
If you need to send a large number of messages, the best and the simplest
solution is to install PostCast Server on your computer. The program has
been particularly optimized to reach maximum speeds
with limited Internet connections (like a modem one), but its real performance
is best achieved with bigger capacities.
For creating e-mail messages from your existing mailing list and for
addressing them directly to each recipient, I recommend PostCast (http://www.postcast.com/), a special
program that generates messages and then forwards them to PostCast Server. |