The first thing most people think of when they hear the term "bulk email" is spam. But bulk email sent responsibly by a reputable sender is not spam.

Bulk email is usually sent by a business that has built up a mailing list of interested customers. Sometimes it can simply be an email that a private individual is sending to all their friends and family.

Businesses sending bulk emails will probably be doing so to advertise a new product, service or event. Let's look at the do's and don'ts of bullk emailing. Bulk emailing done responsibily will inform and encourage your customers. Bulk emailing done irresponsibly will disenfranchise your customers and lose your business income and goodwill.

a) ALWAYS put all your recipients email addresses in BCC. This is an absolute basic of bulk emailing and one that many senders overlook. How many times have you received an email, only to find that the first page is taken up with the endless addresses of other recipients? This is extremely bad practice. Your recipients don't want the first part of the email to be taken up with these addresses, especially if they want to print your email. More seriously, it is a breach of confidentiality to give out other people's email addresses in this way.

Putting all the addresses in the "To" or "CC" fields can result in recipients receiving replies they don't understand from people they have never heard of. Inexperienced email users might click on "reply to all" instead of "reply" to answer you, resulting in their answer being sent to all the recipients.

b) If you are sending bulk emails to customers, don't send them too frequently. How often have you signed up to an email list, only to be bombarded with emails? After the first few you simply stop reading them and hit the delete button. Make sure your emails are interesting to your customers and are only sent when you have something to say. If you are informing your customers of events, one "What's on" email a month will do the job.

c) Make sure you state clearly how your customers can unsubscribe from your emailing list. If your customers receive emails they cannot stop, your bulk emails quickly become spam.

In summary, if you are sending bulk emails, take time and thought to make your bulk emails work for you not against you.

Learn more about this author, Carol Smith.
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