Everything you need for successful bulk email marketing in 2024.
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I am a Mail Op and have been sending bulk emails and setting up bulk email servers for more than 20 years. Since at that time Twilio SendGrid, MailChimp, Brevo, etc weren’t around yet I had to figure out how to send mass emails to a bought/scraped list. Lucky for me I work in IT so setup and configuration weren’t the problems.
The biggest problem was my job. Ok, I am not a very open person, but sitting alone in a server room with AC turned to a minimum. It was killing me! I had to figure out a way to quit my well-paid job as fast as possible and bulk emailing was my way out.
In my years in the email marketing business, I learned a lot. What is even more important is that after years and many tests, I finally came up with a system that is easy to set up and use. A bulk email system with no rules and no limits.
Now I am making it available to you. The catch? You will set it up on your own.
Can You Do It?
Don’t worry! I prepared an extended guide that will teach you and give you everything there is to know about bulk email systems, their setup, and configuration. If you’ll ever get stuck you can always use the FAQ or ask me for help. Both options are available in the Members dashboard.
Of course, this is a bit harder than setting up a new email account in Outlook for your mom. To follow my guide you must have basic knowledge of Linux and how the Internet and email work in general.
I did my best to make this guide as informative and entertaining as a guide like this can be. The rest is up to you!
About My Bulk Email System
Did you notice I said “Bulk Email System” and not “Bulk Email Server”?
Yes, we are not talking about one server. We’ll set up a High-Performance network of email servers to ensure the best possible deliverability, security, and of course income.
My whole system is made out of two parts
The Main Server is the server where your Email Marketing Software (EMS) is installed. Since we are getting ready to set up a bulk email server with an option to scale it up if needed I recommend you pick a bit more powerful VPS for it.
MTA server is a server where PowerMTA is installed. These servers are doing all the sending. This is just one layer of protection to keep your MTA servers away from your Main server. In case there is ever a problem your main server will never be taken down since it’s not doing any sending at all. MTA server can be any budget VPS with at least 1GB RAM. I am using cheap $2 servers for sending.
I’ve been in this business for more than 20 years and saw every possible scenario. Since the lists, I sent to aren’t actually mine it is normal that from time to time my sending servers are taken down due to spam complaints.
Let’s take a look at what happens when you have:
Everything on one server
You bought a super expensive VPS with 128GB RAM and 256 IPs. In case there is a problem you will lose everything and if you don’t have a backup and let’s be honest, most don’t, you will be forced to start from scratch. Can you imagine all those hours of work lost? And guess what, all emails you already sent out and the links in them will become useless. Maybe it’s better to buy a gun, eh?
Another bad thing with setups like this is that usually, your IPs will come in a range. Why is this bad? When blacklistings will start rolling in they will simply blacklist your whole IP range and you are done. Bye-bye inbox!
Multi-Server Install
Now let’s take a look at what will happen in the same scenario, but this time with my setup. You got so many spam complaints that your VPS provider decides it’s time to take you offline. Since all complaints are regarding one MTA only that server will be taken offline. Your Main server and other MTAs (which should be hosted on other accounts/providers) will keep working and continue sending emails.
You will have to set up a new sending server but by using my guide this shouldn’t take you more than 30 minutes once you get used to the process.
Do you see the difference?
With a single server setup, we were talking about buying a gun. With my setup, this is just a few clicks and a new sending server will be up and ready to start sending.
Of course, it is more work, but believe me, it is worth it. After your whole bulk email system is taken offline you will never sleep again. For me, meh, doesn’t affect me, a few clicks and it’s back.
Bulk Email Guide Starts Here!
Table of Contents
- Customer Testimonials: Hear What Our Users Have to Say
- What do we want?
Before we start, let us take a quick look at what we’ll do on your soon-to-be-perfect bulk email server. - System Requirements
Here are recommended system requirements based on the number of used IPs/domains
- Get everything ready
Here you'll create all necessary accounts, install recommended software, add domains to Cloudflare, change name servers, and so on. Do not miss this step! - Step 1 - Main server
In this step you'll learn how to set up a server we'll call Main. This is the most powerful server you'll need. After configuration, we'll install a control panel for easier administration, PowerMTA Management Console, and custom Email marketing software, but you can use anything you like (Mumara, Interspire, Mailwizz, ...). - Step 2 - MTA server
Here you will learn how to prepare the server and install PowerMTA. This can be a budget VPS for no more than a few dollars per month. - Step 3 - Configuration
After your main and at least one MTA server are online it's time to make them talk to each other. Here you'll learn how to connect PowerMTA with the PowerMTA Management Console, How to integrate PowerMTA with EMS for proper bounce processing, complete DNS records, how to create a PowerMTA config file, and so on. - Step 4 - Fine-tuning
Your Bulk Email System should be up and running, but before you start sending let's fine-tune things for the best performance. - Step 5 - Start sending
This is the moment you have been waiting for. Your Bulk Email Marketing System is ready to start sending. In this last step, you'll learn how to use PowerMTA Management Console to control and configure your MTA servers with PowerMTA, and how to create good email marketing campaigns that pass spam filters and land in Inbox, ...
- Video Guide
All the steps in a video!
- Useful resources
Here you will find useful software, online services, etc that helped me with bulk email sending.
Bulk Email Guide Ends Here!
So what’s in the box, err, server?
Flawless System
- Secure configuration based on the Linux operating system
- SSH access with full root access
- SFTP access for easy file transfer
- Webmail, POP3, IMAP, and SMTP for postmaster, abuse, bounce, FBL, … emails
- Automatic daily backups
- Reverse DNS (rDNS) or PTR
- Multi-IP and domain/subdomain setup
- Free SSL on all domains
Perfect Mail Server
- Multi MTAs/SMTPs with smart queue (IP rotation)
- Automatic bounce processing
- Auto-processing spam complaints with Feedback loops (FBL)
- Valid DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) records
- Valid Sender Policy Framework (SPF) records
- Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance (DMARC)
- Automatic backoff rules in case of delivery problems
- Custom ISP rules to ensure the best delivery rates
Ideal Email Manager
- Create and Manage Contact Lists
- Create Email Campaigns
- Stay Delegate with auto follow-ups
- Spin the words within your email campaign(s) to avoid being spammed
- Manage your lists with triggers for the best conversions
- Get the best stats with split (A/B) tests
- Keep your lists clean by filtering spam complaints and abusers
- Mask your main domain with multiple remote domains
- Use multiple MTA/SMTP for better emailing practice
- Be informed when the reputation gets down
- Create user groups and user accounts
- Track real-time advanced statistics along with Geo Location
Excellent Monitoring
- Server uptime
- SMTP uptime
- Blacklist
Seriously, What are You waiting for?
Start the Guide Now
Legacy version is available here.