MadMimi is an marketing email creation and delivery service that allows you to manage the email list of your fans.  This quick tutorial will walk through how to set-up an account, import your emails, and send a promotion.

Steps

1. Go to MadMimi.com and click on any one of the “sign up” links
2. Choose the free plan with up to 100 contacts.  But what if I have more, shouldn’t I get a paying plan, you ask?  Well, because you want to test it out and make sure it’s something you’ll actually use and then just upgrade to a paying when you’re ready.  See, we know how commitment-phobic you are!
3. Give them your info, username, password and the like.
4. Figure out how many lists you’ll want to have.  Most artists just need one, but if you have vastly different content to send to say, fans in town vs. out of town, then you may want to segment them.
5. Add your subscribers email addresses.  If you’ve been keeping them in a spreadsheet you have to make sure it’s in the right format and then can upload it.  The quick and dirty way is to click “Add 5 People” which lets you type in up to five email addresses along with first and last names.
6. Once you’ve added some peeps, you’ll notice two tabs on the right side.  Make yourself a “Web Form” to put on your website/MySpace page/etc (”Suppressed” will show you those who are signed up but haven’t confirmed clicking on a link in their email.)
7. Now for the fun part, find the “Promotions” tab and start creating your newsletter.  Upload your logo, pics from your last show, or anything else that will make your promotional email look more interesting than plain text.
8. Click “send”, choose your audience, and watch it fly!

What’s Next?

You’ll want to send you and your band members a test email first to get used to the interface.  Check out the “track” link associated with your promotion to get a feel for what types of statistics you’ll be able to see.

Finally, start communicating with your audience!  Tell them about upcoming shows, a new song, or just a weekly this-is-what-we’ve-been-up-to email.  Don’t go overboard but definitely let your fans know that you’re still around.