About mail-list.com

Greetings from Houston Texas, USA, where it's me

mark david mcCreary

and a cast of thousands running mail-list.com.

Open Source Software Foundation

mail-list.com is primarily a software system, using Linux, Apache, Perl, Exim, Procmail, Smartlist and a host of other specialized tools as the base. These open source programs were written by volunteer programmers, are constantly updated, and given away freely. My thanks to Linus Torvalds, Brian Behlendorf, Larry Wall, Philip Hazel, Stephen van den Berg and the tens of thousands of other programmers for their generous contributions.

Custom Software For Today's Email World

On top of this foundation, I have built a custom software layer needed to run a mailing list in today's environment. Programs that run the confirmation process, allow people to easily unsubscribe or change their email address, bounce identification and removal, converting HTML email to plain text, re-sending bogus bounce messages, authenticating email via SPF and DomainKeys, and a zillion other things. Not bad for a guy that flunked Com Sci 102 in college :-)

My programs make it easy to use for both list owners (my clients) and list subscribers (their customers). And most importantly, my programs get the email delivered, and if needed, re-delivered.

Since 1995

I started mail-list.com in 1995 on a Macintosh using a package called Liststar. In those days we did not have spam, and delivering the email was not the problem. The problem was handling all the bounced email that came back. Identifying exactly which address was being rejected, and then getting it removed from the list. Which is why I switched over to the Unix/Linux platform a few years later, as it gave me the capability to customize things.

In the beginning I did all of the programming myself, but nowadays I outsource most of the coding to a team of programmers from around the world. Outsourcing allows me to try out new programmers on small projects, pay people only when I need them, and to find a specialist when necessary.

I actually answer my own phone !

These days, I spend my time doing all of the client support, solving day to day problems, keeping up with industry trends, and looking for ways to improve the system.

I am in the office for telephone or email support for my clients during business hours in Texas (Central USA Time Zone). Because mail-list.com runs so smoothly, I am able to offer my personal expertise when needed. My clients span the United States and the world, as I have clients in most of the 50 states, and Argentina, Australia, Belize, Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Seychelles, South Africa, and Spain. mail-list.com is truly a global small business.

Experience Counts

My experience has been that after I have trained my clients on using this system, they rarely need help. And when problems occur, it's better to have the knowledge of the person who built the system, rather than that underpaid, undertrained clerks that you usually deal with at other companies. The mail-list.com computers are monitored 24 hours a day, and I'm notified whenever any problems arise. So even when I'm not in the office, I'm able to quickly solve problems remotely via the Internet.

I have been administering mailing lists for the past 12 years, and I plan on doing it for at least the next 12 years. I have met and worked with lots of fascinating people, people who are passionate about a wide variety of interesting topics. It has been a pleasure to play a small part in their email success. I only wish I had the time to read all the email that goes out through mail-list.com :-)

I'm starting the McDonald's of the Internet :-)

This year I plan on franchising my software to other technical entrepreneurs. My vision is that each owner/operator has their own location, their own clients, their own computers, and that we share the constant improvements we all make to the software and procedures.

Do You Rely On Your Email Being Delivered ?

Delivering mailing list messages is all I do, and I've built the best mailing list system on the Internet. If you want your email delivered AND personal service, please start here. Or if you have any questions, please call me at 1-713-527-9393 or send email via this web page.

mark david mcCreary
President
Internet Tools, Inc.
Home of mail-list.com

P.S. If you have an idea for a mailing list feature that will help you, I will be happy to program it and add it to my system for you.