Solicited sales email distribution - advice needed

[Gary Stainburn]

Hi Folks.

I have at work one of our salesmen who has an opt-in stock-list distribution 
that has been running for some time now. He has in excess of 2500 recipients 
on this list.

Up until now he has simply had a Distribution list in his MS Outlook which he 
maintains himself. He then sends himself an email every week containing the 
stock list and BCC's the distribution list.  Other than generating an 
excessive load on my EXIM server there has been no  real down side to this as 
it meant that I didn't have to get involved.

However, we are now experiencing problems and I would like a better solution.

I need a system that will distribute the email to each recipient as a seperate 
message, and if possible will monitor and highlight any emails that fail.

Can anyone suggest a way of doing this? Ideally I would like the salesman to 
still be able to administer it but that isn't essential. If it is a system 
that is either text file or database driven  I can create a UI that he would 
be able to use.

Gary

[Jack Craig]

sounds like a perfect perl app, have you posted to odesk.com?

just a thought, ..

On Mon, May 20, 2013 at 8:31 AM, Gary Stainburn <
[e-mail]> wrote:
> Hi Folks.
>
> I have at work one of our salesmen who has an opt-in stock-list
> distribution
> that has been running for some time now. He has in excess of 2500
> recipients
> on this list.
>
> Up until now he has simply had a Distribution list in his MS Outlook which
> he
> maintains himself. He then sends himself an email every week containing the
> stock list and BCC's the distribution list.  Other than generating an
> excessive load on my EXIM server there has been no  real down side to this
> as
> it meant that I didn't have to get involved.
>
> However, we are now experiencing problems and I would like a better
> solution.
>
> I need a system that will distribute the email to each recipient as a
> seperate
> message, and if possible will monitor and highlight any emails that fail.
>
> Can anyone suggest a way of doing this? Ideally I would like the salesman
> to
> still be able to administer it but that isn't essential. If it is a system
> that is either text file or database driven  I can create a UI that he
> would
> be able to use.
> Gary
>
> users mailing list
> [e-mail]
> To unsubscribe or change subscription options:
> https://admin.fedoraproject.org/mailman/listinfo/users
> Guidelines: http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Mailing_list_guidelines
> Have a question? Ask away: http://ask.fedoraproject.org

[Gary Stainburn]

Hi Jack

Before I put finger to keyboard I thought I would ask to see if there was 
already something out there.  If not, I'll knock something up.

Gary

On Monday 20 May 2013 16:40:06 Jack Craig wrote:
> sounds like a perfect perl app, have you posted to odesk.com?
>
> just a thought, ..
>
> On Mon, May 20, 2013 at 8:31 AM, Gary Stainburn <
>
> [e-mail]> wrote:
> > Hi Folks.
> >
> > I have at work one of our salesmen who has an opt-in stock-list
> > distribution
> > that has been running for some time now. He has in excess of 2500
> > recipients
> > on this list.
> >
> > Up until now he has simply had a Distribution list in his MS Outlook
> > which he
> > maintains himself. He then sends himself an email every week containing
> > the stock list and BCC's the distribution list.  Other than generating an
> > excessive load on my EXIM server there has been no  real down side to
> > this as
> > it meant that I didn't have to get involved.
> >
> > However, we are now experiencing problems and I would like a better
> > solution.
> >
> > I need a system that will distribute the email to each recipient as a
> > seperate
> > message, and if possible will monitor and highlight any emails that fail.
> >
> > Can anyone suggest a way of doing this? Ideally I would like the salesman
> > to
> > still be able to administer it but that isn't essential. If it is a
> > system that is either text file or database driven  I can create a UI
> > that he would
> > be able to use.
> > Gary
> >
> > users mailing list
> > [e-mail]
> > To unsubscribe or change subscription options:
> > https://admin.fedoraproject.org/mailman/listinfo/users
> > Guidelines: http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Mailing_list_guidelines
> > Have a question? Ask away: http://ask.fedoraproject.org

[Jack Craig]

good luck!

On Mon, May 20, 2013 at 8:43 AM, Gary Stainburn <
[e-mail]> wrote:
> Hi Jack
>
> Before I put finger to keyboard I thought I would ask to see if there was
> already something out there.  If not, I'll knock something up.
>
> Gary
>
> On Monday 20 May 2013 16:40:06 Jack Craig wrote:
> > sounds like a perfect perl app, have you posted to odesk.com?
> >
> > just a thought, ..
> >
> > On Mon, May 20, 2013 at 8:31 AM, Gary Stainburn <
> >
> > [e-mail]> wrote:
> > > Hi Folks.
> > >
> > > I have at work one of our salesmen who has an opt-in stock-list
> > > distribution
> > > that has been running for some time now. He has in excess of 2500
> > > recipients
> > > on this list.
> > >
> > > Up until now he has simply had a Distribution list in his MS Outlook
> > > which he
> > > maintains himself. He then sends himself an email every week containing
> > > the stock list and BCC's the distribution list.  Other than generating
>
> an
> > > excessive load on my EXIM server there has been no  real down side to
> > > this as
> > > it meant that I didn't have to get involved.
> > >
> > > However, we are now experiencing problems and I would like a better
> > > solution.
> > >
> > > I need a system that will distribute the email to each recipient as a
> > > seperate
> > > message, and if possible will monitor and highlight any emails that
>
> fail.
> > > Can anyone suggest a way of doing this? Ideally I would like the
>
> salesman
> > > to
> > > still be able to administer it but that isn't essential. If it is a
> > > system that is either text file or database driven  I can create a UI
> > > that he would
> > > be able to use.
> > > Gary
> > >
> > > users mailing list
> > > [e-mail]
> > > To unsubscribe or change subscription options:
> > > https://admin.fedoraproject.org/mailman/listinfo/users
> > > Guidelines: http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Mailing_list_guidelines
> > > Have a question? Ask away: http://ask.fedoraproject.org
>
> --
> Gary Stainburn
> Group I.T. Manager
> Ringways Garages
> http://www.ringways.co.uk
> --
> users mailing list
> [e-mail]
> To unsubscribe or change subscription options:
> https://admin.fedoraproject.org/mailman/listinfo/users
> Guidelines: http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Mailing_list_guidelines
> Have a question? Ask away: http://ask.fedoraproject.org

[Michael Schwendt]

On Mon, 20 May 2013 08:40:06 -0700, Jack Craig wrote:
> sounds like a perfect perl app, have you posted to odesk.com?

Perl? Perhaps working on this package review might be an idea then:
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/705382

[Michael Parker]

On Mon, May 20, 2013 at 04:31:18PM +0100, Gary Stainburn wrote:
> Hi Folks.
>
> I have at work one of our salesmen who has an opt-in stock-list distribution 
> that has been running for some time now. He has in excess of 2500 recipients 
> on this list.
>
> Up until now he has simply had a Distribution list in his MS Outlook which he 
> maintains himself. He then sends himself an email every week containing the 
> stock list and BCC's the distribution list.  Other than generating an 
> excessive load on my EXIM server there has been no  real down side to this as 
> it meant that I didn't have to get involved.
>
> However, we are now experiencing problems and I would like a better solution.
>
> I need a system that will distribute the email to each recipient as a seperate 
> message, and if possible will monitor and highlight any emails that fail.
>
> Can anyone suggest a way of doing this? Ideally I would like the salesman to 
> still be able to administer it but that isn't essential. If it is a system 
> that is either text file or database driven  I can create a UI that he would 
> be able to use.
>
> Gary

I think Mailman, http://www.gnu.org/software/mailman/index.html, would do
everything you want.

Mike

[John Aldrich]

Quoting Gary Stainburn :
> Hi Folks.
>
> I have at work one of our salesmen who has an opt-in stock-list distribution
> that has been running for some time now. He has in excess of 2500 recipients
> on this list.
>
> Up until now he has simply had a Distribution list in his MS Outlook which he
> maintains himself. He then sends himself an email every week containing the
> stock list and BCC's the distribution list.  Other than generating an
> excessive load on my EXIM server there has been no  real down side to this as
> it meant that I didn't have to get involved.
>
> However, we are now experiencing problems and I would like a better solution.
>
> I need a system that will distribute the email to each recipient as   
> a seperate
> message, and if possible will monitor and highlight any emails that fail.
>
> Can anyone suggest a way of doing this? Ideally I would like the salesman to
> still be able to administer it but that isn't essential. If it is a system
> that is either text file or database driven  I can create a UI that he would
> be able to use.

Simple... use a service such as Constant Contact. I believe they will  
accept that this list was generated as an opt-in list, but I'd be  
prepared for some questions from the recipients. If it were me, I'd  
send a couple emails out advising I was moving the list to a  
list-management service (such as CC) ahead of time to try and reduce  
the "surprise" factor.

[Jonathan Allen]

John Aldrich wrote:
> Simple ... use a service such as Constant Contact ...

If I may humbly say so, that's not a great idea.  Many, many spam recipes
on a wide range of platforms automatically drop anything from Constant
Contact in the spam bucket without a second look.

Jonathan
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jonathan Allen             | [e-mail] | Voice: 01404-823670
Barum Computer Consultants |                             | Fax:   [phone]
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[Tim]

Allegedly, on or about 20 May 2013, Gary Stainburn sent:
> I have at work one of our salesmen who has an opt-in stock-list
> distribution that has been running for some time now. He has in excess
> of 2500 recipients on this list.
>
> Up until now he has simply had a Distribution list in his MS Outlook
> which he maintains himself. He then sends himself an email every week
> containing the stock list and BCC's the distribution list.  Other than
> generating an excessive load on my EXIM server there has been no  real
> down side to this as it meant that I didn't have to get involved.

There's any number of cost-free services that can do things just like
that, such as yahoo's mailing lists (yahoogroups).  I'm not sure how
they, in particular, handle an administrator adding mail addresses to
the distribution list (as doing that too-simply would allow spammers to
thrive), but it certainly allows individuals to subscribe and
unsubscribe.

One place to ask would be their ISP, presuming that's not you, they
might offer a solution.

VERP and Exim sender_verify - was Re: Solicited sales email distribution - advice needed

[Gary Stainburn]

Hi folks

I haven't re-invented the wheel but have borrowed someone else's. I'm managed 
to do all of the functionality within EXIM and have even managed to manage 
the subscription list from our CRM :-)

I basically have /etc/aliases.d/list.<listname> which is used to inform EXIM 
(a) that the mailing list exists and (b) contains the addresses of 
administrators who are allowed to post and who receive errors.

I then have /etc/aliases.d/list.<listname>.members which contains the target 
addresses.

I then set up EXIM as per 
http://www.exim.org/exim-html-current/doc/html/spec_html/ch-some_common_conf...
including using VERP  and other settings to generate individual outgoing 
emails and individual incoming error messages.

All works as expected except where the remote mail server does a 
sender_verify. For some reason when the remote server does a sender_verify my 
EXIM server doesn't verify the sender (VERP generated FROM address) despite 
being able to handle errors coming back to the same address. Anyone got a 
clue what I've missed.

The relevent sections of my config consists of:

begin routers

#Added because Yahoo based services are blocking 88.211.105.30
smarthost:
  driver = manualroute
  domains = +smarthost_domains 
  transport = remote_smtp
  route_data = mail.vaioni.com
  no_more

verp_dnslookup:
  driver = dnslookup
  domains = ! +local_domains
  transport = remote_smtp
  condition = ${if match {$return_path}{^(.+?)[e-mail]$} {yes} 
{no}}
  errors_to = ${if match {$return_path}{^(.+?)[e-mail]$}\
     {$1-bounce+$local_part=$[e-mail]}fail}
  no_more

dnslookup:
  driver = dnslookup
  domains = ! +local_domains
# domains = groucho.ringways.co.uk
  transport = ${if match {$return_path}{^(.+?)[e-mail]$}\
                    {verp_smtp}{remote_smtp}}
  ignore_target_hosts = 0.0.0.0 : 127.0.0.0/8
  no_more

# The remaining routers handle addresses in the local domain(s), that is those
# domains that are defined by "domainlist local_domains" above.

# handle distribution lists
distribution_lists:
  driver = redirect
  domains = ringways.co.uk
  condition = ${if exists {/etc/aliases.d/lists.$local_part.members} {yes}
{no}}
  file = /etc/aliases.d/lists.$local_part.members
# forbid_pipe
  forbid_file
  errors_to = $[e-mail]
  no_more

distribution_list_requests:
  driver = redirect
  domains = ringways.co.uk
  local_part_suffix = -bounce*
  file = /etc/aliases.d/lists.$local_part
  no_more

..........

begin transports

# This transport is used for delivering messages over SMTP connections.

remote_smtp:
  driver = smtp

# used with distribution lists

verp_smtp:
  driver = smtp
  max_rcpt = 1
  return_path = ${if match {$return_path}{^(.+?)[e-mail]$}\
                      {$1-bounce+$local_part=$[e-mail]}fail}

# This transport is used for delivering messages over SMTP using the
# "message submission" port (RFC4409).

On Monday 20 May 2013 16:31:18 Gary Stainburn wrote:
> Hi Folks.
>
> I have at work one of our salesmen who has an opt-in stock-list
> distribution that has been running for some time now. He has in excess of
> 2500 recipients on this list.
>
> Up until now he has simply had a Distribution list in his MS Outlook which
> he maintains himself. He then sends himself an email every week containing
> the stock list and BCC's the distribution list.  Other than generating an
> excessive load on my EXIM server there has been no  real down side to this
> as it meant that I didn't have to get involved.
>
> However, we are now experiencing problems and I would like a better
> solution.
>
> I need a system that will distribute the email to each recipient as a
> seperate message, and if possible will monitor and highlight any emails
> that fail.
>
> Can anyone suggest a way of doing this? Ideally I would like the salesman
> to still be able to administer it but that isn't essential. If it is a
> system that is either text file or database driven  I can create a UI that
> he would be able to use.
>
> Gary

[Bill Davidsen]

Gary Stainburn wrote:
> Hi Folks.
>
> I have at work one of our salesmen who has an opt-in stock-list distribution
> that has been running for some time now. He has in excess of 2500 recipients
> on this list.
>
> Up until now he has simply had a Distribution list in his MS Outlook which he
> maintains himself. He then sends himself an email every week containing the
> stock list and BCC's the distribution list.  Other than generating an
> excessive load on my EXIM server there has been no  real down side to this as
> it meant that I didn't have to get involved.
>
> However, we are now experiencing problems and I would like a better solution.
>
> I need a system that will distribute the email to each recipient as a seperate
> message, and if possible will monitor and highlight any emails that fail.
>
> Can anyone suggest a way of doing this? Ideally I would like the salesman to
> still be able to administer it but that isn't essential. If it is a system
> that is either text file or database driven  I can create a UI that he would
> be able to use.

I did a perl script, reads all of the addresses from a list, the mail text from 
another, command line options to control the number of recipients per connect 
(sounds like you want one) and time between connects. Also copes with the fact 
that the master list gets updated by someone else, so I have a file of addresses 
to rewrite to something working and one of addresses to just drop, even though 
they're in the master list. Set the From header to a unique value so you can 
isolate the bounces, or use a unique string in the subject, I tried "Bounces-To" 
and found little sites use dumb mail programs which use from even if sender or 
bounces-to are present.

Enjoy.