Are you tired of stale and predictable email designs? Do you want to easily customize and brand your email? That's not a problem if you are an expert in email design. But for those without a technical background, you will need an email template, which you can customize with your own content. There are many places that offer email templates. You can purchase a template from a marketplace such as Creative Market or use the email builder that comes with your email marketing account. But if your budget is small, you still have one DIY option, which is a free online email builder.

After comparing many online email template builders, I found that BEE Free really lived up to its five star rating. Unlike some competitors, BEE Free has a large selection of templates from which to choose. Of course, they do have some of the old, predictable favorites but they also have new and trending layout designs. Or, you can start from a blank wireframe template.

BEE Free is a drag-and-drop email editor, no need for HTML or CSS, created by the MailUp Group. BEE stands for Best Email Editor and has both a Free and Pro membership. In fact, you don't even need to create an account to use the free online editor, free templates and to export your email design in a .zip file. The .zip file contains the HTML email file and any images, ready for you to upload to your email service provider (ESP). For example, to send out a BellaOnline email, I just copy/paste the HTML code in the system, upload the images and push the Send button. However, you can't save your BEE Free templates on the site and the online editor only remembers the layout that you last worked on. If you make a change, especially changing templates, you will loose all of your work so far.

But it won't be long before you want to upgrade to a Pro account, so that you can take advantage of the Pro features, which include the ability to save and organize your designs, collaborate with others and export directly to your ESP, such as Mailchimp or Gmail. In fact, some of the BEE Free templates are designed for the popular ESP clients, from Constant Contact to Hubspot.

Why would you use BEE Free for your next newsletter? It's almost impossible to keep up with the numerous and ever-changing HTML and CSS standards and other technical requirements that you must follow in order for your email message will display correctly in any email app. BEE Free does this for you. You can preview your email for desktop and mobile views, as well as send a test email to yourself before you export. The beefree.io website has comprehensive online support and forum. But don't forget to check out their accompanying Email Design blog. There you will find some great inspiration and tutorials.

https://beefree.io/bee-free/