You will need:

• ODB, running on Windows
• An email client such as Microsoft Outlook, Eudora, or Thunderbird. (Web-based email programs such as Hotmail will not suffice.)
• Fletmail (see below)

Obtaining Fletmail

1. Download Fletmail from here. It's free. The latest (beta) version works well. Click on the fmail1104b.zip link at the Fletmail web site.
1. Choose "Save" from the prompt window that appears.
2. It is best to save Fletmail in a new folder. To do this, click on the Create New Folder icon (one of the icons in the upper right hand corner of the Save As window. Then, rename the folder to "Fletmail."
3. Open up your new folder by double-clicking on it. Then click the "Save" button. The Fletmail program will be saved in your new Fletmail folder.
2. The first time that you use Fletmail, you will need to set your preferences. Choose Preferences from the Edit menu, and click on the tab for "Internet Settings." Fill in your information:
   1. "SMTP Server" - An SMTP server is a server used for sending mail. If you use any of the email programs mentioned above, you can see what your SMTP server is by looking at your email account and mail sending settings.
   2. "SMTP Port" - The default setting is 25 and it is very unlikely that you will need to change this.
   3. "Name" - Type in your name here - this is the name that will show up as the sender of your mass email.
   4. "Email" - Your email address, or the email that you want to show up as the sender of the mass email.

Setting up the File in the Fletmail Folder

3. Now you need to add three text documents to the folder where you're keeping Fletmail. The easiest way to do this is to right-click in a blank space within the Fletmail folder and choose "New" and then "Text Document".
4. You'll be prompted to name the new files as you create them. In this example, name the three files:
1. Fields.txt
2. Message.txt
3. Recipients.txt
5. Double click on Fields.txt to open it. If you are planning to include the recipients' names in the email (i.e., "Dear John Brown,"), then type "Name," press Enter, and then type "Email." If you are not planning to include the recipients' name in the email, then type "Email" only. Close and save the file when done.
6. Double click on Message.txt to open it. Here is where the text of your email message goes. Paste your message into this file and then save it.
7. Now choose the people you want to send emails to from ODB. Choose the recipients of the email using the "Record Selection Tool" in ODB. Click Search to see the search results, and then click "OK" when you are satisfied with your selection to go back to the Main Menu. Then, right-click on "Copy Emails." You have several choices:
1. If you want to include the recipients' names in the email, then choose "Copy Mass tabbed list: Name, Email (no duplicates)."

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2. If you do not want to include the recipients' names in the email, then choose "Copy Mass Email List, One on Each Line."

ODB will tell you how many emails were copied to the clipboard. Duplicate emails will be screened out automatically, and people who have the "nospam" box checked in ODB will also be omitted from the list of emails that were copied.

8. Double click on Recipients.txt to open it. Then choose Paste from the Edit menu to paste all the people you copied from step 7 into this document. Then close the file and be sure to save your changes.

Sending your emails

9. Now you have all of the tools that you need to send the email. Open up Fletmail.exe by double clicking on it. Now choose Open... from the File menu and you will notice three options. Choose all three one by one:
1. Choose "Open Fields." Select the fields.txt file mentioned above.
2. Choose "Open DBEntries." Select the recipients.txt file mentioned above.
3. Choose "Open Mail Message." Select the message.txt file mentioned above.
10. If you are not including the names of the recipients in the email, delete "[name]" from the "To" field. Otherwise, leave that field alone.
11. Fill in a subject line. This is the subject that will appear as the title of the email in the recipients' inboxes.
12. If you want your message to say, for example, "Dear John Brown," then click on the box where your message is. Type the following exactly:
    Dear [name],
    This will enable the Fletmail program to insert each individual recipient's name into the email sent to that person. Note that this will only work if you have followed the steps above to include names in the email.
13. You should note that Fletmail lists your recipients in the "Available" column on the left side. To send emails to these people you will need to move them to the right side underneath "Recepients [sic]." Click on the single right-arrow to move one recipient name at a time to the right side. Click on the double right-arrow to move everyone at once.
14. It is important to test out this feature by sending out a test message. Just highlight the email address of yourself or a colleague, and click the arrow to move it to the recipients area. Then click on the "Send" button to send the mass email to this test list. Then check the email of the recipient to make sure that everything looks good. If changes are necessary, you can edit the email directly within Fletmail. Note: You can also see a preview of the email by clicking on the round button beside the "Send" button.
15. Now you are ready to send email to a larger list. Move as many recipients as you want to the "Recipients" side, and then click "Send."

Sending Messages with a Delay

16. If you're having trouble with getting your ISP to allow you to relay a large number of emails, or you want to avoid getting labeled as a spammer, you can delay the sending of messages by an interval of your specification:
1. Choose Preferences from the Edit Menu.
2. Click on the "Advanced" tab.
3. Select the time interval (in seconds) that you would like between emails.

Note: This feature is only available in Fletmail version 1.104 or higher.