First question.
I find the best solution is a free open source project called "
PHPlist". It is a nice mailing list with lots of features, and it is highly customizable if you know how to edit basic code. As long as your website host supports
PHP you should have no problem getting that program to work.
Question 2.
It is really simple; it is called an
HTML email. Another nice feature with
PHP-list is the ability to send such emails, with out having to know too much code. Also PHPlist allows your clients to select the way they like to receive messages, for example...text-based email...
html email, I am sure you have seen that before yourself.
Sorry to base everything around one program, as there are thousands out there, PHPlist is just one of the ones I find to be the best option. Let me know if you have any other questions/problems.