Quantcast
PCWorld.com is upgrading some back-end systems. Some site features, such as user registration, may be temporarily unavailable.
Subscribe to magazine

Blogs

    Internet Tips

  • Contributing Editor Scott Spanbauer offers incisive tips, tricks, and commentary on a broad range of online issues.
  • Subscribe to this blog

E-Mail to Many Without Looking Like a Spammer

Scott Spanbauer

Create a Gmail Account

If your e-mail blast is too massive for a distribution-list workaround, consider creating a separate Gmail account just for group mailings. Not only does this allow you to create a more descriptive e-mail address ("GlenEllynSoccerParents@gmail.com", for example, versus "JoeSchmoe@gmail.com"), but Google's free Web-based e-mail service also lets you place up to 500 addresses in the To:, Cc:, and Bcc: fields combined. (In contrast, Yahoo Mail limits you to 100 addressees, with a maximum of 10 in the Bcc: field; and Windows Live Hotmail limits you to 100 messages per day.)

My Gmail account let me get around my ISP's limitations on e-mail addressees, but this solution is clunky. I keep my group's e-mail addresses in a separate database. Managing address changes, vacation stoppages, and other updates was hard enough, but copying and pasting several hundred addresses into the message every time I wanted to send an e-mail was more work than I bargained for.

Fortunately, the free Google Groups and Yahoo Groups services do this grunt work for you, sending out your missives to as many mailing-list members as you want, and giving list members the ability to update their own addresses and delivery options. All you do is send a message to the group's single e-mail distribution address. In addition to working as one-way e-mail distribution lists, both services let you turn the list into an online forum. But that's a topic for another column.

Privacy 101: The Etiquette of Blind Carbon Copies

Sending e-mail to hundreds of contacts via Gmail is easy--just paste the list of addresses into the message's To: field and click Send, right? Sure, but put on your flame-retardant reading glasses. Though your e-mail recipients may have given you their addresses, that doesn't mean they want them shared with everyone. Good manners dictates putting one address in the To: field (your own will do fine) and the rest in the Bcc: field. (Some e-mail programs and services may require an additional step to activate this field.) E-mail servers strip the Bcc: addresses out before forwarding the message, protecting recipients' privacy.

Send your questions and tips to nettips@spanbauer.com. We pay $50 for published items. Scott Spanbauer is a contributing editor for PC World.

  • Recommend this story?
  • 0 Yes
    0 No

"E-Mail to Many Without Looking Like a Spammer" Comments

Learn more about the Windows Phone PCWorld Gift Guide

Focus on Personal Productivitysponsored by Microsoft

  • Personal Finance 2.0 These free and fee-based Web services not only aggregate data from your online bank accounts, they give you tools for managing your money.
  • High-Tech Travel Tips Plenty of stories provide advice for elite mobile professionals. But what about you, the unproductive traveler?

People who read this also read:

All PC World Blogs

  • 15 Minutes to a Secure Business Get the Secure in 15 toolkit starting with the "15 Minutes Month-at-a-Glance" calendar. McAfee will send you additional tools and tricks to stay protected around the clock.
  • A Buyer's Guide to Data Protection Implementing data protection products and processes can be daunting. Make the right decisions by exploring what is available and what makes sense for your organization. Use this simple guide to evaluate different vendor offerings.

Sponsored Links