The way we determine how many emails were opened is by embedding an tiny invisible image into your HTML message. Each time this image is ‘downloaded’ from the server another email open is counted.

So what about text emails? Not counted. What about email clients where the ‘images’ are turned off? Not counted. What about filters that prevent images from displaying? Not counted. Starting to see why our email open rate isn’t exactly a 100% accurate measure? On the other side of the table we have some emails shown as open because of the email client’s preview pane. The image is requested so the email is considered open even though the subscriber may simply delete it from there.

So what’s a marketer to do? Continue on I guess. It’s just statistics. Get a great email auto-responder, build your list, promote your products and build relationships. As for the Extreme Ezine, I’ll work on increasing our open rates as well as the click throughs. Eventually I may still think of a tactic to dump the dead weight but in the mean time we’re pushing forward. Any thoughts on the matter? Do you have a list?

No disclaimer required: You will find my affiliate link in the article above for AWeber. I’ve been using AWeber exclusively and it’s one of my top recommended products. Even though I can gain financially should you use my affiliate link, the truth is I would recommend AWeber without a financial incentive.

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An unresponsive list will lower both your open and click rates and even get you into spam reporting troubles. When you are paying a list management company more for a large list and very few even bother opening the email you have essentially failed at list building. You are throwing money away and wasting valuable time.

Inexperienced email marketers may feel the urge to let such a problem slide because the numbers look good but quickly learn a valuable lesson. A clean and active list is the only list worth having. Many marketers boasting their huge list sizes are the ones that didn’t learn. Hint: If a newsletter or ezine’s primary source of income comes from selling email ads be very cautious. If they are selling solo ads then run away as quickly as possible. Oh yeah, that’s going to upset a lot of people – lol. Angry solo-ad selling email marketers feel free to state your case below if you dare. (I’m referring to email lists here, not safelists and such).

1. First, don’t be afraid of unsubscribes and make this step easy and safe for your subscribers. The last thing you want are for subscribers to unsubscribe by hitting the ‘spam’ button or changing their email to a ‘trash’ email.
   “Unsubscribe Please – It’s Truly Safe“

Did you know many subscribers are afraid to unsubscribe? It’s true. Look what peewhy said on WebmasterWorld, “I’m convinced that the moment you click on the fatal ‘unsubscribe’ link, they simply sell your email address on to others“.

See: How to Know When Unsubscribing Isn’t Safe[over 950 diggs]

2. Don’t be in such a hurry - Take your time and built it right. Build a strong and legitimate list. Never ever buy a list.
3. Free bribes - One effective method of building a list is by offering something free to subscribers. This can be a good practice but it shouldn’t be your only or even primary list building tactic, especially if you plan on selling anything using your list.
4. Be honest - We see a lot of ‘tricks’ to build a list but we want to be careful. Tricking people to subscribe to your list is non-productive and will hurt your reputation and overall objective. Have you ever signed up for an email course just to learn you are now on every list that marketer has? Have you ever made an online purchase and somehow magically become a newsletter subscriber?

   If you want to offer a free ebook, for example, to build your list then just be honest. Let subscribers know they will receive your newsletter or future offers. Better yet, give them a choice from the start. We do run such list building campaigns at the Extreme Ezine but we always include a statement such as this:

   * By submitting this form you will be subscribed to the Extreme Ezine. You will receive our newsletter and emails from ExtremeEzine.com including important updates, tips and occasional special offers. Your email address and other information is confidential and will never be shared or sold. You can SAFELY unsubscribe at anytime.

5. Good content - Here’s something that we see being abused by many mega-marketers or email marketing gurus. Everything you get from them is a offer of theirs or one of their partners or affiliates. Nothing of substance. They are far too busy working on the next big send to worry about offering any real content with substance. That’s fine if that’s what your list is about but if it’s a newsletter your subscribers are expecting more.
6. Sample - One way to help new subscribers make an informed decision is by showing past issues. Making archives available for potential subscribers is a sure fire way to build a relevant and responsive list.
7. Respect - Show respect to your subscribers. Don’t assume they are interested in every offer you have or that comes to your inbox. Limit your mailing to once a day, once a week, several times a week – whatever you have established. Don’t send three a day because you ran across some article you like. Save that for your friends and treat your subscribers with a little respect. Your subscribers have other interests and tasks other than your continuos emails.
8. Assurance - Assure your subscribers by including a simple statement at your opt-in form like:
   

   “Your email is safe with us. We respect your privacy and do not share your information with anyone – even if you unsubscribe!”

9. Relevancy - Are your E-mail marketing messages relevant to your list? If your newsletter in about woodworking then stick to woodworking related issues. Expanding too far beyond your main niche’s interests are going to hurt your list’s effectiveness.

10. List Management - This is a big one and most of us figure this out after we have already invested time and money into the wrong solution. By the time we figure it out we find ourselves starting at the beginning again. There are many reasons to use a reputable list management and autoresponder service. You gain instant trust by many because they know the list management company is going to keep you honest.

Important - Compliance – Last but certainly not least is staying in compliance with the CAN-SPAM Act and all laws dealing with email marketing.

Related Posts:

• Top 10+ Email Marketing Tips
• The Battle For Email Deliverability
• List Size Doesn’t Matter
• New Study On The Unsubscribe Experience
• 16 Easy As Pie Ways To Grow Your List

Potential Problem

Gmail’s new themes have the potential to pose a readability problem for your newsletter emails or email marketing campaigns. A couple of the themes actually change the background color of the main content area of the email. If you are using HTML in your emails, and you should be, keep this in mind the next time you change the font color. Perhaps you should contrast font colors by specifying the background color as well.

I don’t know how big of a problem this actually is. Gmail is very popular and I’m sure a significant percentage of your list are using Gmail but most of the themes use a white background by default.

Hurt by your own subscribers

Members of AOL, Gmail, Hotmail, Earthlink, Outblaze, Road Runner, Excite and others can push a button to report a message as spam. Unfortunately many people push the button when they no longer wish to receive the newsletter rather than unsubscribing. Some don’t realize what they are doing and just do it so your future emails go into their spam box. If the number of complaints gets too high, ISPs may block your messages altogether.

Advertisers can be the death of your ezine

Quite some time ago we sold solo ads to advertisers to help offset the cost of running our sites and programs. We put a stop to those solo ads because one of our advertisers had apparently used a website link that was known for spamming and we had over 170 undeliverable emails. It happened again with a subscriber’s text ad we sent out with our ezine but this time the bounce numbers were much higher. We started using our own Short URL/Ad Tracker service to insure that didn’t happen again but that would only be a temporary fix. So beware of third party links, they can even get you banned and you don’t want that headache.

Getting through the road blocks

Email deliverability is about as important as it gets when sending to a large list. While using a creditable service like AWeber can do wonders for your open and click thru response rates, there are still a few factors to take into consideration.

ISP’s incorrect spam filter classification can be a frustrating hurdle and the rules change so fast and frequently that the ISP’s themselves don’t seem to know what’s going on. It’s similar to Google’s ranking formula, a mystery to so many you have to wonder if Google even has the answers.

So while writing your newsletter the content begins to suffer due to so much attention going to choosing your content wording carefully trying to avoid known key words and phrases that will get the publication filtered out before it ever reaches the subscriber’s inbox (or even their spam box). Once the final draft is complete we find ourselves editing and re-wording even more to increase our email deliverability.

You see the endless editing daily with publishers and advertisers trying to fool the spam filters. Words like medication, free, mortgages, making money and even the word spam seem to trigger the filtration process. You see free turn to f.ree and money looks like m*ney. I’m not sure how effective these tactics are and I suspect they may do more harm than good.

Another thing we all see when it comes to opt-in lists is list owner’s attempt at getting subscribers to whitelist their email. This poses another problem because the more steps required for someone to receive our emails the more likely they’ll simply decide it’s not worth the trouble. I’ve seen several publishers with an entire page dedicated to whitelisting their URL for their subscribers. Every major service such as Yahoo Aol, Hotmail ect. are covered with step by step directions. I hate to be negative but I have to wonder just how many hoops the average subscriber is willing to jump through to get access to even the best of publications.

So what’s one to do?

I wish I had all the answers. I do have a couple of tips to offer but other than that I’m hoping one of you will be able to help. Feel free to comment below with any advise.

1. My first tip would be to avoid mailing your list from your domain. That includes list programs that are designed for mass emailing. Unless you know how to prevent it you will eventually find that more and more people can’t receive your emails. Uncle Bob using Comcast and your best friend Benny using Earthlink can’t get a single email from you. You eventually don’t even receive hundreds of bounces, the emails just disappear into the virtual abyss. As a side note, if you are using a shared server you may find additional problems with mass mailing. Uncontrolled mass mailing puts a large strain on server resources so most hosting companies have strict email policies.

2. Number two is to run, don’t walk, to a quality third party list management/autoresponder service.  When I say quality I mean a service like AWeber. An example of where NOT to go for your list management, in my opinion, are those useless membership sites that are run like a multilevel marketing schemes and let you mail your so called downline. If your subscriber did not opt-in to your list then it’s not your subscriber.

3. Another option is to go web based for your newsletters. By that I mean you place your newsletter on your website and send a short note with the link taking the subscriber to the newsletter online. We actually tried this for a while but our click rate dropped significantly. To be fair we didn’t really look into making it work. We just went back to sending the entire publication via email.

4. My fourth tip is going to make this post look like a sales page but I do recommend a short ebook that a friend of mine wrote. It’s called Email Delivery Secret. Yes, that’s an affiliate link and it will cost you seven dollars. It’s a short ebook packed with valuable information that’s worth every penny. Valleyken doesn’t waste everyone’s time with a bunch of fluffy filler to make it look bigger.

What sets them apart from the rest? Well, lets take a look:

:: Minimum Basics – First of all, we have to admit they all have the minimum basics such as drive, dedication and persistence. That and more is all a given.

:: What about money? Money is definitely necessary. The pros have the funds to pay graphic designers, website builders, programmers and anything else they need to outsource. Many had money before they started their online carriers but I’m sure others started out from scratch too. They had to use other resources or rely on some of the other characteristics.

:: Foresight – The gurus are great at watching trends. They can see (or pay someone to see) what direction the industry is moving. They can figure out what is needed or wanted and then figure out how to provide it. It’s really no different online that in business being conducted anywhere else throughout the world.

The lists

We’ve all been flooded with advertisements in the mail for years. We call it junk mail but if it didn’t work no one would waste the huge expenses involved in the endeavor. Small and large companies alike know the value in repeat customers. They understand that the likelihood of a paying customer to purchase again goes way up if you can offer them a reason to come back. So businesses have been collecting contact information and other data for decades. They send out specials, sales incentives and reminders and incur huge expenses while doing so. That’s ok because they know it works! It’s an investment that will pay off.

Online marketers do the same thing but we do have a big advantage. We don’t have to pay printers, sorters and postage. But the concept is the same. We have to realize that no one wants to be on a list just to be sold every item that comes around. But most are willing to make a compromise. We give them quality content that they are interested in. We make offers and deals that are geared toward them. We stay within the niche our business is in and then branch off into related niches. You have to see the benefit to such a list. It is targeted! A targeted list is important for obvious reasons. And the value of such a list is invaluable. I spend 25% or more on list development.

Targeted lists are about as good as it gets. If you have developed trust that is. Do you see how parallel everything is to brick and motor business? Here’s where it gets even harder to do business online. We have to establish a relationship with thousands of people we will never meet. We need to keep their interest and give them quality content that they need and want. It’s much easier to say no to a faceless unsubscribe button than a sells rep looking at you eye to eye.

Balance

We have to have just the right balance of content and advertisement. We also have to balance the frequency of our issues. Is a monthly newsletter too long between issues? Is daily too much? Do we need a regular schedule or is random better? There are two ways to find which answers are right for your list. Track everything and ask! That’s right, ask your list what they want. Send a poll or survey. Give them a little incentive to respond such as a free gift or a mention on your site. Then track everything. Keep a log of what works and what doesn’t. This is an ongoing exercise because you need to know when trends and moods are changing and make the necessary changes yourself.

Why do most Ezine Marketers fail

This should have been a topic in it’s self but I’ll add my two cents now. Most internet marketers fail for the same reasons as the brick and mortar businesses do.

:: Too little capital.
:: Not enough drive.
:: Unwilling to take enough risks.
:: Taking too many risks.
:: Time mismanagement.
:: Impatience and hundreds of other reasons.

If I had to narrow it down to one big reason I’d have to say it’s because most people come online thinking it’s going to be easier! They didn’t realize how many hours it would take. They didn’t realize the expenses involved. And these misunderstandings can cause the would-be internet marketer to steer way off course trying to find that ’secret’ they know is out there. They sign up for every program that hit’s their inbox and use every free advertising method they can find. They join affiliate program after affiliate program because they are sure someone’s onto the big secret. They signup for every software give-a-way hoping that one of those free gifts will launch them into successes orbit!

“That’s not internet marketing! That’s being a customer!”

Sound like you? That’s not internet marketing! That’s being a customer. There’s nothing wrong with that as long as that’s what you are trying to accomplish. I know several people that have done very nicely with affiliate programs almost exclusively. But it’s not going to lead you to the big secret. I’ll tell you the secret, “There secret is there is no secret!” It’s the same as any other business:

:: You have to know what you are out to accomplish.
:: You have to have a plan. Set some goals.
:: Set your priorities.
:: Work with like minded people.
:: Don’t be afraid to stick your neck out.
:: Spend the money if it’s required.

Here’s my three biggest tips:

1. Build your list!
2. Find your own product or program!
3. Build your list!

With a little patience and a lot of persistence you can have a highly targeted list rivaling any other. You’ll be able to offer cost effective and targeted advertising to third parties if you choose. Or you’ll be able to write articles like this to offer your Blog readers a little quality content .

Build your list, treat them right, cover your basics and you’ll soon be off to a successful internet marketing career.

Since the early nineties businesses have known the value of using email to promote their products to new and past customers. Whether promoting products, searching for new customers, up-selling, or simply strengthening our brand, email marketing is an important business tool that needs to be mastered and used properly to be effective. Used incorrectly, email marketing can be a huge waste of time at the very least.

1. Stay on target -
Know your target market and don’t allow yourself to stray off course. Some marketers randomly send emails to people who have absolutely no interest in what is being advertised. Not only will this type of desperation deliver a very low response rate it can increase your spam complaints. Ask every customer and site visitor if they are interested in receiving e-mail advertisements and promotions from you.

Samples of asking for subscribers:

• Would you like a FREE Subscription to our weekly newsletter that’s filled with news, tips and other relevant information?
• Are you interested in receiving announcements and information by E-mail about our products and company news?
• Would you enjoy an occasional email from us with information and news about our products?
• May we update you by email when we have news and information about products that may be of interest to you?
• We can keep you informed about all the new products we offer in our monthly newsletter.

Always allow your list’s subscribers to decide on their own to opt-in. Never ‘trick‘ them into subscribing. If they choose not to subscribe then don’t add them to your data base that’s used for email marketing. You must have the permission of the consumer to send future emails and you are required by law to include an opt out link in the event the consumer no longer wishes to receive such emails from you.

2. Know When to send -
I’ve seen different statistics that show different days and times that are most effective when sending your mailings. Many believe that just before a weekend is best and others feel Tuesday and Wednesday are the most effective days to send out marketing emails. Others think Mondays are best. Times to mail are not any clearer. Some research shows in the middle of the night is best so the consumer will see it first thing in the morning. Some say to send during office breaks or lunch hours and others insist it’s best to send in the early evening! Here’s my advice – Don’t accept anyone’s advice and do your own research. It’s very easy if you’re using a quality third-party list management service. The better services keep very detailed stats that will let you know everything from how many emails were opened to which links were clicked. They can tell you how long it took your subscribers to confirm their emails to what country or zip codes they are from. Some even make split-testing a piece of cake. With a quality list management service you can quickly decide when it’s best to send to your list. Play around with the days and times until you achieve the best possible results and then watch closely to stay ahead of the trend, or at the very least to keep up with it.

3. Quality Content Is King -
Send only what is of interest to your target market. Don’t send a bunch of junk as filler and don’t send junk because you have nothing of value to share. It’s better to send nothing than to generate a ton of unsubscribes. Give your subscribers a reason to look forward to opening your emails. Special offers that are only available to them or an occasional freebie are good examples. No one cares that your sales are down and you want them to buy something, you need to make them want to read your message and want to act on it. Split testing can do wonders when it comes to knowing what your subscribers want and expect.

4. Leave Out The Fluff -
Keep your emails short and to the point. Most internet users like to go through their emails very quickly. If yours is too lengthy it will more than likely get deleted or saved to be read later. Your goal should be for the reader to open and read the entire message at one time and to act on the content. Keep in mind your subscriber may have hundreds of other emails and your message should be clear within seconds of opening. Newsletters and Ezines are a little different. Quality content should be a newsletter’s goal and going a little long is ok if the topic demands and earns it.

5. Select Your JV Partners Carefully -
Joint Ventures are a great way for marketers to share their lists while still protecting their subscriber’s privacy and information. Marketer ‘A’ launches a new campaign and offers Marketer ‘B’ a percentage to send the offer to their list. This as a very effective form of marketing and should be encouraged.

We’ve all seen recently an over-abundance of joint venture email when it comes to the heavy hitters of internet marketing. When one of the big players launches a new affiliate program we suddenly see dozens of nearly identical emails from dozens of marketers. I try to avoid jumping on that bandwagon whenever possible. Sure, I may pass on a little quick cash but I like to think my subscribers appreciate one less sales pitch about the same product they’ve seen ten times that day.

One more thing about choosing your joint venture partners. Too many marketers are selling their souls, so to speak, when they promote every single piece of junk that flies their way. I’m even seeing this from people that I thought were well respected and professional marketers. It’s obvious they didn’t even look at some of the stuff they send much less test the product they’re promoting. This builds distrust very quickly and I recommend you only promote the products that you would personally recommend. If you’re not that impressed with a product then simply pass on the joint venture and earn some respect.

6. The Subject Line Is The First Impression -
Think about all those unopened emails you delete everyday. You delete many because you’re not interested in the sender but what about those subject lines? I try to notice the great subject lines that grab my attention and get me to open the email. I even go as far as to add them to a personal database that I keep and use. It will probably be released as an eBook someday but I use it often when considering my next subject line.

Always be truthful. Stay on subject and leave the trickery to the spammers. If you are offering a fifty percent discount then don’t be afraid to state it in the subject line but be sure it’s accurate.

A quick note about subject lines and spam filters. Many spam filters will delete or tag your email due to the content of both the email body and the subject lines. I use and highly recommend Aweber and I’m in love with their online content grading tool that actually tests and grades the e-mail’s chances of getting through the spam filters before I send them.

7. Plan For Holidays And Special Occasions -
Many marketers cash in big on holidays. There is a great deal of competition in the world of e-commerce and planning an effective holiday email marketing campaign will help you compete. Start early and build the campaign up a little. Watch the pros and learn from them.

8. Subscribe To Yourself -
It is important to test your marketing email in the various email programs including Gmail, Yahoo, MSN, Hotmail, and AOL. They all work differently, especially if you’re sending in HTML format. It’s simple to sign up for these various free email accounts and send your ezine to yourself to see what your list will see.

9. Show You’re Trustworthy -
Privacy and confidentiality is very important to most consumers. Make sure your email sign up pages clearly state that you will not sell their information and that it will be safe with you. Many people won’t give their email to those that don’t offer this bit of information. Never trade lists with other marketers or sell your list for quick cash. Those low-brow tactics are very damaging to the entire industry.

10. Ask Them What They Want -
Don’t make the mistake of assuming you know what your consumers want. Take the time to ask and then consider the answers. Offer an easy way for your subscribers to send their comments, questions and suggestions. Letting them know you are available for such customer service is a great way to earn their loyalty.

10+. Know The Laws and Rules -
Many marketers have had the misfortune of watching their online business fall to it’s knees when they suddenly can’t even send a simple support email because they’re on every black list imaginable and the spam filters wipe their mail off the web before it hits most of their list’s inboxes. Make sure you are familiar with the various rules and laws that regulate email marketing.

Well, there you have it. My top ten plus tips for effective email marketing. Email marketing is a very effective and useful strategy for building your e-business and one that can offer rewards bigger than our wildest dreams – if we learn quickly and know what we’re doing.

Good luck with your next email marketing campaign,
Brian Hawkins

Resources:

• Federal Trade Commission’s Spam Page
• CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 (Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act of 2003)
• SpamLaws.com
• Secure Your Server
  http://www.ftc.gov/secureyourserver/
  http://spamlinks.net/prevent-secure.htm
  http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/buspubs/secureyourserver.shtm
• Federal Communications Commission Consumer Facts
• OnGuard Online
• Spam Links
• Spam Abuse .net