We’ve discussed the importance of why you should get yourself a mailing list, and you’ve now decided to start one, well done. Over the next few days, we will go through what that actually entails. First of all you’ll need to select a mailing list service provider.

Most bands don’t have a fan email list and they should.

Simply put, the job of a mailing list provider job is to collate and store your fan’s email addresses and contact details, allow you to draft and create your emails and then to send them out to your subscribers. The amount of information that you can collect from fans is often down to you.  It could be just an email address, it could also be their names or even a postcode too.  With a postcode you’ll then have geographical data as to where your fans live (useful for planning a tour) but be mindful of the fact that the more information you ask, the more reticent fans may be to sign up.

There are many mailing list service providers.

There are many mailing list providers out there including Mailchimp, Aweber and Constant Contact.  You should do your own research as to which best suits your needs but I’d recommend Mailchimp if you are just starting out as they provide customisable drag and drop templates to allow easy email creation allowing you to create your own without too much fuss.  In addition you can email 2,000 subscribers every month for free. Over that amount and you start to incur charges.

Next time we’ll look at how to acquire subscribers emails.