It would be nice if GoldMine’s email editor offered as many features as Outlook. The most common HTML editing functions/actions are available on the email composition toolbar, but here are a few features that GoldMine offers that users are often not aware of.
Bullets – Adding bullets to emails is possible! It’s not an icon, like we’re used to. However, if you “right click” on your highlighted text you’ll be able to select “Style” from the local menu and on that list you’ll see the option for “Bulleted List.”
Numbered List – Creating a numbered list is also available from the “Style” menu.
Background Image – Inserting a background image, perhaps just for the purposes of a color, or maybe a watermark, is available from the toolbar as well as the “right click” menu under “Insert.”
Heading Options – A quick way to create a bold heading at the top of your email is to select from one of the various heading options available under the “Style” menu. They go from largest to smallest with 1 being the largest.
Inserting a Hyperlink – You can insert a link behind any text, which will be available when the reader clicks on your text. Sometimes this is preferable to pasting the actual link into your text. This way your link can be a “call to action” with the URL, and maybe even a tracking code for your web site analytics, can be in the link. This feature is available from the toolbar as well as by right clicking on your highlighted text and selecting “Insert” > “Insert Link” from the menu.
For even more robust email designs consider a full fledged HTML editor, the same software one would use to design a web site. HTML can be copied and pasted into your GoldMine email templates. Doing this enables you to create elaborate emails with interactivity, fancy graphics and much more!
A final word to the wise. Sometimes in an effort to get fancy we forget the value of simplicity. There’s an old marketing expression “test ugly early.” I often find that the briefest, simpler communications get past the “spam radar” and are more likely to be read and replied to. And, since that is the objective, there’s a lot to be said for keeping it simple. By the same token, the editing options above can help you to make your message clear … and clarity is paramount, because if you confuse them you lose them!
