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Mutt is a powerful text-based email client. It is used mainly by system administrators and/or those who work remotely in terminal sessions. I wanted to try mutt as an email client for my daily work. And after a week of use I don’t want to return back to Apple Mail.

I have two email accounts and a dozen of aliases. In my configuration together with mutt I use the following applications:

• fetchmail – to retrieve messages from different email accounts
• dropmail – to filter and to save received messages locally in maildir format
• msmtp – to send messages using smtp servers
• mairix – to index and search emails
• emacs – to edit new messages and replies
• aspell – to spell check messages
• lynx – to view html attachments

The result is a small, powerful, and flexible email client. I can name a few inconveniences though:

• It takes time for mutt to parse big maildir boxes (during startup and when changing boxes only).
• There is no simple way to view another email (in a separate window) while you reply to a message. As a workaround you can keep another instance of mutt running just to view emails.

In overall mutt fits very well in the way I manage my daily emails.

To make your newsletters, product updates, and announcements easier to receive do provide the following things with each message you send:

1. Simple mechanism to unsubscribe. Provide the detailed information how to unsubscribe from the future mailings and make this process really simple. Do test your application to make sure that unsubscription actually works.
2. Information about where you got the address. Do remind your recipients why they wanted to receive your mailing. Gentle reminder such as: “you bought our product”, “you subscribed”, “you opted to receive” adds authenticity to your message.
3. Contact information and privacy policy statement. In each message have a link to your site with your contact information and privacy policy statement. The contact information should include your names, the mailing address, and possibly a phone number – just email address is not enough.
4. Appropriate recipient’s address with full name. Never send messages with recipient’s address in Bcc field. The address and the recipient’s full name should appear in To field.
5. When sending HTML messages include the plain text copy in multipart alternative format. If recipient’s mail client is unable to show HTML messages then the plain text copy will be shown.

These technics add credibility to your mailings, show your good intentions and professionalism. They let you avoid spam filters and reach more potential customers.

These days if you want to reach your customers via email you may find that many emails are lost because of aggressive spam filters, abandoned mailboxes, and unreliable (free or shared) hosting. People fight spam at their best and they don’t mind even losing some legitimate emails in the process. Below are some situations when email just doesn’t work:

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