[snizzle]

Hey guys,

I want to start sending out flyers like this as opposed to actual Press Kits. How do I do this? Is it html?

Do any of you guys know how to create an e-mailout like this? Is it html?
(I received an e-mail and copy/pasted it into word. Formatting should still be correct)

I really appreciate any help!

[zekthedeadcow]

looks like tables...so could be done in HTML but was probably done in word.

[snizzle]

Originally Posted by zekthedeadcow

looks like tables...so could be done in HTML but was probably done in word.

Thanks! So I dropped it into Word and basically just replaced their words and pics with ours, just to see if I could get the hang of it. I've got it done, but it doesn't appear in the format that you see in Word. It simply appears as text.

What am I doing wrong?

Here's the one that I made. How do I get it to show up like this in an e-mail?
-shane

[snizzle]

I can put it as an attachment and it comes out fine. But how do I make it show up in the body of my e-mail? I'm using Yahoo, if that helps.
-shane

[snizzle]

Ok, I'm getting increasingly frustrated as I've spent the last several hours trying to make this work. It doesn't seem like this should be a hard thing. Can someone help me?
-shane

[Ryan Freeland]

Word is definitely not the best program for editing HTML.. but if you don't know HTML/CSS, it will be extremely difficult for you either way..

What exactly are you trying to accomplish?

[snizzle]

Originally Posted by Ryan Freeland

Word is definitely not the best program for editing HTML.. but if you don't know HTML/CSS, it will be extremely difficult for you either way..

What exactly are you trying to accomplish?

I want to be able to send out something a lot like the first one, but with my band's info...like the second one.

We want to send these out as Electronic Press Kits, instead of sending out press kits via snail mail.

I just need an easy (or at least learnable...i don't really know html) way to send out an e-mail that looks proffesional, like the first one.

What do I need to do? I'm currently looking at html e-mail templates. It doesn't need to be anything super fancy...just proffesional and customizable.
-shane

[zekthedeadcow]

so... you want it to appear that way in the body of an email? Thats a bad idea:

1. it's mean
2. It spreads viruses
3. a lot of people only view emails as text...so html emails look like a mess
4. a lot of html emails are marked as spam

If you must then set it up how you like it and have Word export it as a html document... I assume it can do that ...I havn't used Word for about 5 years... I'm not exactly sure how to include the images in html emails as they're a general evil and I would never do it myself...

I would suggest exporting it as a fairly highly compressed PDF and attaching that to the email

[Nate]

Professionals expect emails to be to electronic press kits what cover letters or personal conversation would be to a physical press kit, Shane. Make up your electronic press kit in whatever document editing software you usually use, then export it to a PDF file (I use PrimoPdf) so you can be sure any person who opens it on any computer will see the exact same thing. Then attach the PDF to an email that has a brief message about whatever gig / event you're interested in, why you're contacting them, who you / your band is, and what to look for in the attached press kit. That way, they can get a gist of what you're looking for from the "cover letter" and can look at the electronic press kit at their convenience (as they would with a regular press kit). As an added bonus, this will save you from having to learn even the first thing about HTML.

[snizzle]

Originally Posted by Nate

Professionals expect emails to be to electronic press kits what cover letters or personal conversation would be to a physical press kit, Shane. Make up your electronic press kit in whatever document editing software you usually use, then export it to a PDF file (I use PrimoPdf) so you can be sure any person who opens it on any computer will see the exact same thing. Then attach the PDF to an email that has a brief message about whatever gig / event you're interested in, why you're contacting them, who you / your band is, and what to look for in the attached press kit. That way, they can get a gist of what you're looking for from the "cover letter" and can look at the electronic press kit at their convenience (as they would with a regular press kit). As an added bonus, this will save you from having to learn even the first thing about HTML.

Thanks Nate.

We were trying to have something that would 'catch the eye' more than a standard text e-mail with an attachment. Do you think we would get the same (or better? or worse?) response with a text e-mail with all they fancy stuff in an attachment?
-shane

[Nate]

Originally Posted by snizzle

Thanks Nate.

We were trying to have something that would 'catch the eye' more than a standard text e-mail with an attachment. Do you think we would get the same (or better? or worse?) response with a text e-mail with all they fancy stuff in an attachment?
-shane

I think you would get a better response if you used the text+attachments model and a) selected only those contacts that best fit your band's goals and b) tailored each "cover letter" email to the individual contact instead of using a form letter.

[snizzle]

Originally Posted by Nate

I think you would get a better response if you used the text+attachments model and a) selected only those contacts that best fit your band's goals and b) tailored each "cover letter" email to the individual contact instead of using a form letter.

The problem is that this was going to be a mass mailout kind of thing. We're just finishing up the demo (check out the first song in the Members Bands Section - HOPES FISH) and were basically going to hit up every church and venue we could find between Texas and Virginia.

I guess it could still be done by addressing each e-mail to an individual and mentioning their church or group, even if we have a basic form that we follow for the e-mails right?
-shane

[Nate]

Originally Posted by snizzle

were basically going to hit up every church and venue we could find between Texas and Virginia.

Haha... mass mailout, indeed.

I guess it could still be done by addressing each e-mail to an individual and mentioning their church or group, even if we have a basic form that we follow for the e-mails right?

Sure. You might be alright with a "stock" cover letter. I still think the text+attachments is going to do better than html-enhanced emails.

[snizzle]

Originally Posted by Nate

Haha... mass mailout, indeed.



Sure. You might be alright with a "stock" cover letter. I still think the text+attachments is going to do better than html-enhanced emails.

Yep. We've been sticking around the Bham area for long enough. Our drummer is from Tennessee. I know enough people around Louisiana and Justin is still in Nac. So, we're basically looking for churches and venues to 'fill in the gaps'. Hopefully we'll be down around the Luling area sometime in the next 6 months. Know anyone looking for a band?

We were also going to include a song or at least song clip. Should we attach this file as well or point them elsewhere for sound clip(myspace, etc.)?
-shane

[Jay Tea]

Point them elsewhere. As much as nobody wants to get unsolicited email, they certainly don't want to get a huge sound file attachment.