#mailmalade

New feature from Beta testing implemented: “multiple content blocks editor”

After collating the feedback from our beta testers, we have been implementing a number of improvements on the web app. Apart from several adjustments on the functionality and design for a better and simpler user experience, we have incorporated new features, as requested by our beta testers. We will be presenting all of them over the next few weeks but we would like to start with introducing our new “multiple content blocks editor”, which is already available at Mailmalade.

You can find this feature on the Content stage and allows you to simultaneously edit the HTML attributes of multiple content blocks. This can be done by pressing the “SHIFT” key and without releasing it, selecting other content blocks for which you want to have the same HTML attributes (i.e. same links, same text, same colour, etc.). Once you have completed the selection and release the key, the window where you can enter the link, text or select the colour for the content block pops up. After entering this data, the content blocks you selected will have the same attributes.

We believe this is an important feature that helps you to speed up the email building process. This tool allows you to insert the same HTML attributes in different content blocks at the same time, so there is no need to go one by one to enter the same attributes anymore.

Following our Mailmalade principles, this new multiple content blocks editor feature makes your life easier, saving your time and easing the whole process.

Thank you for all those beta testers that have contributed to improve Mailmalade so far. Please keep using our web app, keep providing feedback and keep abreast with this blog on the new improvements that will be rolled out soon.

If you have not yet signed up, let’s start tasting Mailmalade in Beta! You could be the winner of an exclusive Mailmalade T-shirt straight away.

Follow us on Twitter or get in touch by email at [email protected].

Stay tuned! :)

The integration of Mailmalade with Campaign Monitor and MailChimp

This post is not intended to do a critique on which one of the two most popular email marketing services, Campaign Monitor and MailChimp, is better. There are already lots of posts around the web comparing them both and analysing in depth the pros and cons of each. Probably the most accepted conclusion is that both services are suitable for different purposes and even though some people may find MailChimp more attractive from a pricing point of view or Campaign Monitor with more functionality, at the end of the day, it all depends on your business needs.

From the very beginning of the inception of Mailmalade, we believed that the integration of our service with Campaign Monitor and MailChimp would be essential for our users. Mailmalade is aimed at easing the whole process when starting email marketing campaigns, as it provides the front-end service for the creation of an email, allowing the addition of all HTML attributes and being fully compatible, without the need to use predefined templates (you do your email with the design you want, with the colours you want, with the links you want. Forget about templates. Too clunky, too rigid, too old school).

So we have really focused on ensuring a smooth transition to Campaign Monitor and MailChimp once your email is generated with Mailmalade. We do it by directly synchronising your Campaign Monitor or MailChimp accounts with yours on Mailmalade. For this reason we have developed the ‘Export’ tool that allows you to directly export the email created to your favourite email marketing service provider (Campaign Monitor or MailChimp) through syncing. The tool is already up and running and is undergoing final testing at the moment. We are very happy so far with this tool and we hope that you will find it very useful when launching your email marketing campaigns, saving you time and making the whole process, from creation to sending the email to your subscribers, much easier.

Alternatively, the ‘Export’ tool allows you to also download the generated email as a compressed file, ready for use later or uploading to another email marketing service provider.

We are really excited about the great response from the public so far. About to hit the magic number of 1000 Beta testers! So if you have not yet signed up, what are you waiting for tasting Mailmalade in Beta? You could be the winner of an exclusive Mailmalade T-shirt straight away.

The website is now complete and we are just doing the final tweaks before sending the first private invitations in March. Make sure you are one of them!

Follow us on Twitter or get in touch by email at [email protected].

Stay tuned! :)

Why not using Mailmalade to wish a good Christmas?

Christmas holidays are now over. We wonder how many Christmas cards have you received by post this year? Probably less than last year and surely much less than 10 years ago. Santa Claus’ beard hasn’t changed much, smiles and good wishes are the norm these days and unwrapping gifts is the most usual sport. But Christmas cards have changed significantly, with Christmas E-cards being increasingly more common nowadays.

In fact, there is a myriad of advantages when sending Christmas cards by email instead of the traditionally posted cards:

Quicker: people consult frequently their email accounts, which makes your Christmas wishes to arrive faster to the addressee.

Cheaper: no need to buy them in your local shop.

Sustainable: paper-free, so more environmentally friendly.

Efficient: people consult their email regularly and are connected to social networks. They will likely share your Christmas card with their friends and contacts, so your message can get really viral.

The world has moved on and so the Christmas cards have since they were invented in 1846 by Sir Henry Cole, the chief organiser of the Great Exhibition. According to the Greeting Card Association, there are about 102 million Christmas cards annually sent in the UK which represent a total value of nearly £150m. This is just a small proportion of the total greeting card market, with an estimated total value of £1.38bn. Apart from Christmas greetings, there are cards for every occasion: birthdays, weddings, retirements, leaving, parties, babies, engagements, welcomes, etc.

Over the Internet, there are plenty of web applications and companies that help you design E-cards. You can customise the design, add text and appearance effects, embed videos, etc. But at the end of the day, you are sending a customised email, mostly based on an image. And this is precisely the principle of Mailmalade: “easily build compatible HTML emails using your own design”.

So, next Christmas, why not making use of the versatility of Mailmalade to prepare your Christmas cards? Use your own design, save time and get full compatibility when your friends receive your best wishes.

More than 600 Beta testers have already signed up for tasting Mailmalade in Beta, and growing. We are in the very last stage of the development of the site and the first private invitations are coming up this month. Make sure you are one of them! You could be the winner of an exclusive Mailmalade T-shirt by just signing up.

Follow us on Twitter or get in touch by email at [email protected].

Stay tuned! :)

Mailmalade pitching in the Apple Store of Regent Street (London)

The development of Mailmalade is progressing fast and we are now close to open the site for Beta testing. In parallel to our technical development we have intensified our campaign both on the Internet and at start-up-focused events around London to explain better the features of the web application and the benefits it brings to the community.

Our co-founder and CEO, Henry Stables, was invited recently to deliver an elevator pitch about Mailmalade in the Apple Store of Regent Street (London). The event was focused on funding opportunities for start-ups. Top speakers Tim Jackson, partner of Lean Investments, and Nick Holzerr, cofounder of Whisk, provided an excellent master class about all aspects to consider when seeking funding for start-ups, mostly based on their successful experience of growing Internet businesses and hurdles they had to overcome. The 1-hour long event revolved around funding sources for start-ups, business differentiation tips, competitors’ analysis, practical application of lean concepts and also many personal stories, which were put as an example to support the statements that Tim and Nick provided. They both delivered a very engaging debate with the audience at the end with a Q&A session.

About 200 Internet enthusiasts and start-up entrepreneurs gathered in the Apple Store that evening. At the end, there was time for Mailmalade. In his pitch, Henry introduced Mailmalade for the very first time to a large audience, explaining the whole concept behind the new web application, the 3-step process in which it is based and the benefits it brings over existing systems. Other start-up leaders also delivered an elevator pitch in their respective businesses.

The pitch was an excellent opportunity to get the people to know Mailmalade. At the end of the event, there was time for networking. Henry’s pitch sparked the interest of the attendees for Mailmalade, as proved by the fact that many people approached him requesting more information about our site and the key features it has. It was an invaluable opportunity for the Mailmalade team, represented by Henry that evening, to grasp the views and the needs of the community and to contribute in improving the web application before the immediate Beta testing opening.

This was the first of a series of presentations planned in our pipeline and focused to spread the world about Mailmalade and its benefits.

Keep abreast with this blog and Twitter for regular updates and the list of the upcoming events in which Mailmalade will be pitching.

Also, don’t forget to sign up for tasting Mailmalade in Beta. More than 500 Beta testers are already registered from all over the world and this figure is growing every day. Do you want to be one of them? You could be the winner of an exclusive Mailmalade T-shirt by just signing up.

Follow us on Twitter or get in touch by email at [email protected].

Stay tuned! :)

Setting off towards making life easier

The final countdown starts today. Tedious programming, visualisation errors, long hours, out-of-wack designs, misaligned images, severe testing... are all gone. The old painful days when generating HTML emails are now coming to an end. Mailmalade is here and ready to make our lives easier. Much easier.

Mailmalade is a new SaaS aimed at facilitating the creation of HTML emails to anyone in a quick, easy and effortless manner. No coding knowledge is required at all. No long hours are needed to check and test the compatibility of the designs anymore. No unexpected errors are coming up in the final HTML email anymore. Mailmalade brings it all: simplicity and convenience and more importantly, time savings.

The service is based on a 3-step process. Start with uploading your own design as an image. Then, a very user friendly drag & drop interface allows you to crop and define the uploaded design, adding the HTML attributes you want. Finally, you can choose from either exporting the email template to an email marketing service provider (Campaign Monitor or MailChimp), or simply downloading it ready to use.

The Mailmalade team is made up of young multi-disciplinary people, with passion for new technologies and enthusiasm for improving our lives. Dually based in London and Barcelona, we have a strong focus for the details and the design of our service to make sure you find it easy and reliable to use.

With this first post, we are proud to announce the immediate launch of Mailmalade in Beta for free. During this initial phase, we would like to receive your feedback as how we can improve the service, hear from your user experiences and tailor the service as much as possible to your needs. Please feel free to talk about the features you find or you miss, the design, the interface, your pricing thoughts, etc. Anything you want. We really want to get your views to make your lives easier.

Keep abreast with this blog for regular updates on the progress of the Mailmalade in Beta.

You can already sign up for tasting Mailmalade in Beta and you will shortly start getting the benefits it brings. In addition, you will automatically enter in a draw for winning an exclusive Mailmalade T-shirt only available to our beta testers.

Post your comments on this blog, follow us on Twitter or get in touch by email at [email protected].

Stay tuned! :)