Fortunately Google comes to the rescue here with a website they acquired last year. Feedburner.

The Pros

• Its Free! All you need is a Google account.
• Emails get sent out automatically the next morning after posting on your blog.
• You can brand your emails with a logo and a reply email address.
• Feedburner creates a consistent RSS feed url that stays the same even if your website address changes.

The Cons

• You can’t import subscribers into this system. Google is cautious that spammers will use this service. You could ask your current list to sign up again but you may lose some people.
• Emails are simple and you can’t have elaborate themes.

What on earth is RSS you ask? Read more here.

To get your newsletter sign-up form:

1. Create or Sign-in to your Google account.
2. Go to Google Feedburner: http://feedburner.google.com
3. Enter the full url of your website into the Burn a feed right this instant field: e.g. http://mygreatwebsite.com and click Next.
4. Feedburner will search for RSS feeds at your address (there can be more than one). Choose the top option which should look something like, Your Website RSS Feed: http://mygreatwebsite.com/feed/ Click the Next button.
5. Next you will be asked to choose a name for your feed, both the title and the final URL of the new RSS feed. Adjust (or not) and click the Next button.
6. On the next page you receive your feed URL from feedburner. Copy this down to put into your emails and websites as your RSS feed address. Click the Skip directly to feed management link.
7. Click on the Optimize tab at the top then the Smartfeed link on the left sidebar. Press the Activate button to make your feed readable by anything. This just increases readability.
8. Click on the Publicize tab and then the Email Subscriptions link in the sidebar.
9. Click the Activate button.
10. Feedburner will now display some code. The first, long section is for the sign-up form that will go on your website. The second is a direct link to your form that can be used in emails or as links.
11. This code (the longer string) needs to be copy and pasted into your sidebar in WordPress so that people can sign up to your sites updates easily.

NOTE: There are a few other links in the Feedburner sidebar that allow you to customize the look and feel as well as delivery time etc.  Communication Preferences, Email Branding and Delivery Options.

Here I outline instructions for WordPress but it will work fine anywhere that full HTML can be used. e.g. Blogspot, other free Blogging platforms or web design programs such as Dreamweaver.

Including the sign-up form in your WP sidebar.

1. In WordPress go to Appearance >> Widgets.
2. Drag a new Text Widget where you want the form to appear. It’s position can be changed by dragging and dropping also.
3. Call the text Widget something like “Free Newsletter” and paste into the main text field the code we just grabbed from Feedburner.
4. Press Save and open your website address in your browser to see your new sign-up form on the site.
5. Invite your friends and contacts to visit your site and sign-up!

NOTE: You can change the message above the email sign up form by editing the text within the HTML. Look for the section that says, “Enter your email address:” and change that section only.

Now anyone that subscribes to your emails will receive a full html rich email the morning after you submit a new post to your blog.

Right, now invite all your friends to sign-up!

HOT TIP: You can make the email subject the same as the article title by customizing your emails in your Feedburner control panel:

1. Login to Google Feedburner.
2. Click on the Publicize tab at the top.
3. Click the Email Subscriptions link, then Email Branding in the sidebar.
4. In the Email Subject/Title field, enter this code: ${latestItemTitle}
5. Make any other customizations and press the Save button.
6. Publish more cool stuff!

You should also subscribe to your own blog feed so that you can check what everyone is getting.
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With the help of Apple they essentially toppled Microsoft off their perch and created an ever expanding suite of search and discovery tools.

Google Apps is one of their lesser know free services and has the following benefits:

1. You can use anyname@yourdomain.com
2. Its Free
3. Up to 7GB of space.
4. Send 20MB attachments.
5. Fantastic Google spam filtering.
6. Access your account from your computer or from a browser anywhere in the world.
7. Sync with your Mobile.
8. Comes with other cool apps like Google Documents and Google Calendar.
9. Create up to 200 user accounts!
10. Allows you to sync and/or access the same account from more than one terminal or user!

Create a Google apps account for free right here.

But seriously, ISPs or Internet Service Providers ALWAYS give you a FREE email address. You know why?

So that you stay with their (usually crappy) service just to avoid the hassle of changing email addresses.

One of the most annoying things is that you get a very low MB limit for both transfers and storage. Doing business and sending larger files is impossible. They never get through. Also they are typically difficult to access from abroad.

Gmail to the rescue!

• Its free
• 7GB storage limit and growing!
• New! You can now transfer up to 20MB files.
• Access from your favorite email client on your PC or from the web.
• All the other cool free services that Google offer.

Check out more groovy new Gmail features here.

Liberate your inbox.

Get a Google account now.

How to setup Google in your email application? Click here.

Happy Surfing!

Have a look at this email I received recently and tell me if you don’t start feeling special. Click on the image at right to make it larger for a moment.

Don’t worry none of the links go anywhere, they’re screen shots.

It’s tempting isn’t it? You’re itching to click on those links. Well here’s THE crucial bit of advice in this post.

Let the mouse hover over the link. DO NOT CLICK!

If you allow your pointer to simply hover for a few moments, over any link in an email, it will show you the URL or web address that it points to. If that address says something like – http://youidiot.come-on-you-fool/23/455.67.54/ – there is a pit trap just around the corner for you and your favorite browser. The second you click that link you have put yourself at risk for phishing, and spam and SpyWare and all that exciting stuff.

Here’s what the link in this email showed when my mouse hovered over it baring its teeth :

The Lesson : Sometimes spam screams at you as it arrives, and sometimes it poses as a long lost friend.

Here is another scam email that came in a while ago. It didn’t take me long to discover is true intentions, but I was so impressed at the quality and attention to detail that I kept it to show to you.

And again the hovering mouse told me what this email wanted.

You can go ahead and click on it to make it larger. Don’t be afraid.

Be skeptical especially if the email you are receiving it on is one that you never give out to anyone. Its called unsolicited email.

Heres a very important tip:

Use one email only for friends and family, and another for registering on weblogs, posting to forums and general web surfing. Then at least you only have to be cautious with one email address.

Until we chat again, stay warm and fuzzy inside and remember, out there somewhere is a Hallmark E-Card with your email address on it.

Safe Surfing!

UPDATE: I’ve been getting a lot of these ebay fraud emails and thought I would give you a look at what they look like. Again the same principle applies. Let your mouse hover over the links and if you see a string as shown in the screenshot, with no reference to ebay whatsoever then simply delete it!

Download This Page as a PDF Now.

Keep in mind that if you use WordPress for your website, the contact form can be configured to send to any email address. This effectively bypasses the need for a domain email account like greatguy@effectiveclassywebsites.com and it means you don’t get any spam. Yay!

Here are some of the benefits of a Gmail account:

1. A permanent email address that hopefully will never have to be changed.
2. An email account that you can check from your favorite email client OR from anywhere in the world through a browser on the net.
3. A huge storage space (3GB and growing) means that you’re very unlikely to go over the quota and miss emails. You can also send email attachments up to 10MB. Very cool.
4. Access to loads of other free services that automatically come with a Gmail account. Things like, Google Calendar, Maps, iGoogle home page, Language Tools, Analytics (for website monitoring), Google Desktop and many more other free goodies.

So if you don’t already have a Gmail account I guess its time to get one!

Sign Up for a Gmail Account here.

How to setup Gmail with your favorite email client:

In this tutorial I will use screen shots with the instructions to guide you through setting up Gmail in your POP mail client.

1. Start at your inbox in Gmail.
2. 
3. On the top right of the screen click the Settings link.
4. From the settings page you are look for the Forwarding and POP link.
5. 
6. Now we want to configure this page to enable POP access. We have 2 choices. We can set it to receive all mail, both previous and in the future, or just from now on. Its up to you.
7. 
8. We can also choose whether we want the mail we check from our client to be automatically archived on the web Gmail or kept in the Inbox. I prefer the archive choice so that when I check my mail from a browser I see only new mail that I haven’t already checked with my computer.
9. Click Save Changes at the bottom of the page.
10. Now we want to configure our mail client to send and receive from our Gmail account.(this will open a new window) Go to the Supported POP Client list page on Google.
    
11. From here we can see all the mail client applications. Each one has a unique setup. Click on the link for your mail client.
12. For your reference I have collected the specific information you will need here as well. Make sure you follow the instructions to the letter and enter all details Verbatim.

Do it once thoroughly and you will be up and running in no time.

• Incoming Mail Server : pop.gmail.com
• User Name : yourname@gmail.com
• Password : *********
• Outgoing Mail Server : smtp.gmail.com
• Server port: 587
• Check the box next to ‘Use Secure Sockets Layer (SSL).
• Use authentication for sending mail by entering your full username and password into the outgoing server section.

And here again in Google Format

Servers tab

Outgoing Mail Server: Settings

Advanced tab

If you followed these instructions you should be able now to send and receive mail to your email application. You are Gmailed up!