Three ways, one that lasts
The three ways to do it, what each really costs, and the one that lasts.
8 min read
A mailing list is a set of addresses you send the same message to. Nothing more — and that already separates it from a discussion group, where everyone replies to everyone, and from an address book, which has no idea who unsubscribed. There are three ways to keep one, they do not cost the same, and the cost is not the one you expect.
The three ways to keep a list
1. The « Bcc » field of your mailbox
Everyone tries this first: put your contacts in blind copy and hit send. Free, immediate, and it works — up to a point.
The limits come quickly. Inbox providers cap recipients per message and per day: a few hundred with most of them, more on a business account. Beyond that the send is refused, or worse: accepted then filtered.
What is really missing is the exit. No unsubscribe link, so no simple way out — and the only door left to the reader is the « Spam » button. Every report damages the reputation of your personal address, the one you write to your customers with.
2. A list kept by your host
Many hosts offer a group address: writing to team@yourdomain.com forwards the message to everyone on it. Solid for a team, a club, an association.
But it is a technical list, not a list of readers: it does not know who opened, does not handle bouncing addresses, and signing people up is done by hand, by you. It answers « how do I reach a group », not « how do I run a newsletter ».
3. An email tool
It is the only one of the three that holds both ends: joining and leaving. A form brings people in, an unsubscribe link takes them out in one click, and addresses that no longer exist are removed on their own.
On top of that comes what no mailbox does: domain authentication, which proves to inbox providers that you are who you say, and a record of what arrived, was opened, clicked or bounced.
The real cost is not the subscription: it is finding out six months later that your letters land in spam, and not knowing why.
How to fill it without burning yourself
You ask. A form on your site, a link in your signature, an unticked checkbox at checkout. Every signup must keep its date and its origin: that is what proves consent the day you are asked.
You import what you are allowed to import. A file of customers you have already sold something to, yes. A bought file, never: it is illegal in Europe, and the first campaign destroys your domain's sending reputation for months.
You do not wait for a thousand addresses. Forty people who know you beat ten thousand who asked for nothing. The number is not the point; the reason they have to read you is.
What kills a list
Dead addresses. Above 5% bounces over the last thirty days, the sending account goes under review, then suspension, and delivery degrades for everything you send — including to valid addresses.
No visible way out. A difficult unsubscribe keeps nobody: it produces complaints, which cost far more than a departure.
Irregularity. Six months of silence then three letters in a week: providers read regularity as much as volume, and so do your readers.
Words from this guide
A list that fills and clears itself
A hosted signup form, one-click unsubscribe, and dead addresses removed without you thinking about it. 3,000 emails a month, no credit card.