Check out this article from Mashable on amazing ways to build email newsletters and send them out. Personally, I've heard a lot of good things about MailChimp (which is on the list as well).

why waste the money. It amazes me how we are so willing to annoy people. email people read or want come from a friend or something to do with business.. those matter.. you have so many ways to reach people through social networks.. to reach them in social ways and use that connection to talk about your job.. what you do.. what parts of the product or software you do.. the hard part about making it or your business. Not to mention social networks are way better for getting a share or a retweet or a video shared in the users friends news feed. It is why your facebook vanity is the most important on the web...

you all should be offering discounts if people share the purchase on their feed. You won't though.. cause 99% of the people in marketing were taught by profs that had never heard of facebook, youtube and twitter... and how it changed everything..

The example I will use is sears. They had someone or a bot go to my website. Scrape off the email I had there and spam me.. I went to their facebook page and ripped them. All cause of an email at the wrong time. People are tired of being sold too in private places like email.. they are tired of popup ads, they are tired of ads that trick them or take them to crap sites..

And now they have the tools to fight back.. to lambaste you in every media possible and there will be nothing you can do.. and all it takes is for 1 bad comment to give a person enough doubt to try somewhere else..

tis my 2 cents who learned what he knows about the web by spending an unhealthy amount of time online...

I'd go with Aweber and feedburner, most of the Top sellers I know still make most of their money via e-mail - social networks are places to get to meet people not to sell products, so to convert those browsers/contacts into buyers you still need to get people double opted (with permission) into your e-mail list which means them choosing to sign up to updates or a course you run or a mailing list.

Igebadia - I agree with your reason for getting fed up with scams, but this is completely different to genuine shop sellers using a mailing list to get in contact with their customers, social networking hasn't replaced e-mail marketing it has just made it easier for business and customer to find each other.

A potential customer can go direct to a facebook fan page for example, but unless they are signed up to a newsletter of some sort the person is walking out the door without a reminder to visit again - if you paid to get that visitor you have just lost a buck or two - this is why most facebook apps will try and get you to hand over your e-mail address it's like a downpayment.

other note of interest: Most social networks are valued on the amount of e-mail addresses they have in their database and how targeted they are - this is why large networks are worth a fortune, not just because of the content or the community.

We are developing a low cost solution for email and direct mail marketing. Currently under development and now accepting focus group members: http://www.BusinessList.com/focusgroup if you are interested.

MailChimp has a "forever free" plan for small business (w/ small lists). Here's the link: http://bit.ly/bR6z0y

Scott | Indiemark