What is the Special Offers Directory?

Mailshell's Special Offers Directory has thousands of newsletters, services, and other offers that you can subscribe to easily and anonymously. When you subscribe through Mailshell, a random disposable address is automatically created for that offer--that way, if you ever want to unsubscribe, you can easily do so. Each offer has been categorized, rated, and described so that you can make an informed decision before subscribing. You can browse the directory in a variety of ways or search by keyword.

To see the directory, click the "Special Offers" link in Options.

How do I subscribe to newsletters, services, and other offers using the directory?

There are two ways to subscribe to offers using the directory:

• From a page listing offers, check the boxes next to the names of the items you wish to subscribe to and click the "subscribe selected" button.



• When viewing more information about a particular offer, click the "subscribe" link in the upper right corner of the page.

You will then see a listing of the offers you have requested and a brief status message indicating whether the request has been submitted or if additional information is required. If additional information is required, you will need to fill out the forms below to complete those subscriptions. (Using subscription profiles can make this process quick and easy.) If you have requested a magazine subscriptions, you will need to provide payment information; your credit card will be billed directly by the publisher.

Once you have subscribed, a random disposable email address will be automatically created for each offer and the offers will be added to your list of disposable addresses. You can unsubscribe or change the Address Options from the Disposable Email Addresses section of Spam Filtering.

Why do I have to give more information when subscribing to some offers?

Because Mailshell doesn't host or publish any of the offers in the directory except for our own Mailshell Bulletin, we have no control over how much additional information other companies require to accept your subscription. Different companies want different information from their subscribers such as first and last name, address, birth date, gender, and so on; print subscriptions, naturally, require a valid mailing address. Your email address will always be protected when subscribing through Mailshell, but if you don't feel comfortable giving out additional information, you can choose not to subscribe to offers that require it.

How do I unsubscribe from a newsletter, service, or other offer?

If you wish to unsubscribe from an offer, you can do so the same way you would delete a disposable address (Mailshell subscribes you anonymously by creating a new disposable address for each subscription). From the Disposable Email Addresses section of Spam Filtering, select the offers you wish to unsubscribe from using the checkboxes on the left side, then click the "Delete" button at the bottom of the page. All messages sent to the address used for that subscription will bounce back to the sender as undeliverable and the offer will be removed from your list.

What is the pick rating?

The pick rating is an overall score given by the Mailshell editors to help users find the newsletters, services, and other offers in the directory they are likely to consider most interesting. Mailshell's editors take into account not only quality but also such information as popularity of the topic, how well known the author is, and frequency of mailings.

How do I browse the directory?

There are several ways you can browse the directory: by category, popularity, newness, and pick rating.

• To browse by category, click any of the twelve major topics listed on the main directory page's left sidebar. (You can also see a listing of all the topics and their first-level subtopics by clicking the "Full Listing" link on the same sidebar.) From within a topic, you can browse to more specific subtopics. Click the "All Matching Lists" link to see all the offers within a topic.



• To see the most popular offers, click the "Most Popular" link on the main directory page's left sidebar. If you want to see popular offers within a topic, click the "Full Listing" link on the same sidebar, then click the "Most Popular" link for the topic that interests you. (Popular offers are marked with popular.)



• To see the newest offers, click the "Newest" link on the main directory page's left sidebar. If you want to see the newest offers within a topic, click the "Full Listing" link on the same sidebar, then click the "Newest" link for the topic that interests you. (New offers are marked with new.)



• To see the offers with the highest pick rating, click the "Our Picks" link on the main directory page's left sidebar. If you want to see the offers within a topic with the highest pick rating, click the "Full Listing" link on the same sidebar, then click the "Our Picks" link for the topic that interests you. (Offers that qualify as picks are marked with pick.)

How do I search the directory?

In addition to browsing the directory, you can do a search for keywords:

• Enter the keywords you wish to search for in the "Search" box that appears on the main directory page's left sidebar.



• Click the "Search" button.

How can I learn more about a particular offer?

You can get more information about an offer in the directory (including a brief description of its content, its pick rating and popularity ranking, the date it was added to the directory, how frequently messages are sent, and the author's website) by clicking the "learn more" link for the offer you are interested in.

If you like, you can see recent messages under the "Sample past emails" header: click a subject line to view a message, or click the "all sample emails" link to see the last ten messages.

Can I see samples before deciding if I want to subscribe?

Looking at sample messages may help you decide whether or not to subscribe to an offer in the directory. There are two ways to view samples:

• From a topic page, click the "view samples" link for the offer you are interested in.



• From a learn more page, click the "all sample emails" link, or click a subject line to view a message directly.

You'll see a list of the most recent ten messages sent for that offer.

Please note: Some authors elect not to have samples of their mailings displayed on Mailshell. Samples from those authors are unfortunately unavailable.

What are the Quick Guides?

Quick Guides are columns written by Mailshell editors to help you get greater enjoyment and productivity from your email. Quick Guides are organized by topic and answer questions about what different types of newsletters, services, and offers are; why you might want to subscribe; how to decide what type of email account you want; and information on privacy issues. To see the Quick Guides, click the "Quick Guides" link on the main directory page's left sidebar.