Why spend hundreds of dollars per month when you can send more than 100,000 emails in around $25 per? As you can see if you send ~100,000 emails using Sendy, it would cost $10.02 per month. Do you think why I said $25? Here you go… Sendy is a self-hosted email marketing software which can be installed on VPS or Cloud server. It leverages AWS SES to send emails at a much cheaper cost. You need to pay one time $59 to buy the Sendy software. And as I mentioned you need to get it installed on your server which usually cost around $10 per month. And not just DigitalOcean but you can get it installed on any other cloud platform. Sendy is not a resource intensive software, so entry-level server (1 CPU/1-2GB RAM) should be fine. Here are some options. Until now, you know the pricing benefits. Let’s take a look at some of its features.
A beautiful dashboard – a web-based application where you can manage the entire newsletter operations. You will feel like you are using a SaaS-based marketing email platform.Multi-brand – manage multiple brands under a single account — a perfect for a digital agency.Segmentation – segment your customer and audience in the listAutoresponders – automate your marketing emailsBounce handling – keep the list cleanInsights – know how your campaign is performing – visualize every data (clicks, bounce, unsubscribe, etc.)GDPR readyEnable two-factor authentication for better security
If you are using WordPress, then Sendy got a simple widget to collect emails. Alternatively, you can use Thrive Leads to integrate with Sendy to collect emails faster. Note: you should be familiar with basic Linux administration to log in and install the software. Don’t worry if not; you can hire a professional on Fiverr to get it done for you. Let’s get it started… The following, I will use Ubuntu 18.04 on Google Cloud VM to install MariaDB, Apache, PHP, and Sendy. I’ll set up on a sub-domain called sendy.geekflare.com
Creating AWS IAM Credentials
First thing first – let’s create IAM credential on AWS which will be needed in the next step. I assume you already have AWS account if not, you can signup here.
Once an account is created and logged in, go to IAM UsersClick Add user and enter the username and select access type as programmaticUnder attach existing policy directly, type sesf and snsf to select the policyCopy the access key ID and secret access key
You can also follow the instructions as explained in the video. Don’t share the access and secret key with anyone. Keep it safe!
Installing Sendy
Login to Ubuntu serverInstall Apache HTTP
Enable mod_rewrite
Install PHP-FPM and required library
Install MariaDB
Let’s run the security script to harden the SQL. Run the below command and set the password for root. Press Y for all the options. Ex:
Let’s create a database. Login to MySQL, it will prompt you to enter the password which you defined in the previous step.
It will take you to the MariaDB prompt, where we will create a database called sendy
Grant the permission
Note: change the password to some complex one Its time to upload Sendy software. When you buy, you will receive an email with download link and a license key. You need to upload the downloaded software to your server.
Go to Apache root directory
Move the uploaded Sendy software here and unzip the file
It will create a new folder “sendy” where you will need to update the config.phpGo to includes folder and update config.php
As you can see, you need to update five parameters (APP_PATH, dbHost, dbUser, dbPass, dbName) So far so good? Let’s quickly restart all the necessary software. All the preparation work is done and its time to install Sendy. Before that, let’s ensure the server has all the required library by accessing a compatibility.php file You should see them all green. Great, let’s start the installation…
Access the URL with /sendyEnter all the information and click Install now
It will take a few seconds, and you get a success confirmation.
You will also receive an email from AWS to confirm the email. You have once done, login to Sendy. This concludes Sendy is successfully installed and ready to use. But, wait, don’t go way.. there is more.
Increase AWS SES Quota
If you look at the previous screenshot, you will notice about sending email limit in red color text. By default, AWS allows sending 200 emails daily which may not be sufficient for many cases. To increase the quota, go to service limit increase request and submit it. Note: you need to choose the same region as your Sendy is connected to. By default its N. Virginia. To verify, go to settings on Sendy dashboard » AWS SES region It is not instant, so you got to wait for a few hours to get the sending limits increased. AWS will notify you.
Verifying Domain
For better email delivery, you should consider verifying domain on AWS SES.
Go to AWS SES (again, ensure you are in the same region as Sendy is connected to)Click on Domains at left sidebar » verify a new domainEnter the domain or subdomainSelect Generate DKIM settings and click verify this domain
It will prompt the domain verification records which you’ll need to configure for your domain through the domain registrar.
Once you add the TXT and CNAME records, it may take up to 72 hours to get it verified. And once done, you should see all green under verification, DKIM and enabled for. Next, verify an email which you will be using to send the newsletter.
Click on Email addresses on left sidebar » verify a new email address
You’ll get a verification email to the email address you provided. Once confirmed, you should see the status as verified. Now you are good to use Sendy! Login to Sendy and create a brand, import list (if you already have one), integrate with lead conversion and everything you want to do. Conclusion It takes a little bit of time to setup Sendy but worth it. If you have a large subscribers list, then you could save $$$$ annually.
