Ten Steps To A Responsive Email List

How ‘clean‘ is your email list? Do you get a lot of unsubscribes? If you do then good job! A clean and responsive list is the only list worth having – no matter how big it is. You would much rather have a thousand subscribers that read what you send than fifty thousand emails that are never noticed.

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).

Ok, so how do we keep our lists clean?
  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“

    2. 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. Leave the Pain of Newsletter Design To Us - AWeber Email Marketing
  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.

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Brian on February 28, 2009 | Filed Under Email Marketing, Featured Articles

47 Comments

Ezine Advertising Blog - Adrian Jock  on February 28th, 2009

Good post, Brian. I fully agree with you except for one thing: free bribes is indeed a very popular list building method, but I don’t think that it’s a method for keeping your list clean. As a matter of fact free bribes is a method of adding also a lot of throw away email addresses (instead of potential readers).

And finally, here is a kamikaze method I started to practice two months ago on one of my ezines: I let subscribers know that I remove them if they are not active and … I’m not kidding, I really track everything and remove subscribers fom time to time :-)

Ezine Advertising Blog – Adrian Jocks last blog post..How to identify top quality ezines for your ezine advertising needs? (Part 1)

Brian  on February 28th, 2009

Wow, I like that Adrian. I’m not sure how I would go about that using AWeber but it does sound appealing. If they don’t open, say three emails in a row, delete them. I bet there’s a way to put that on auto-pilot.

I think I’ve advertised on AdsMarket.biz before. I’m not sure but I know I’ve seen it.

Ezine Advertising Blog - Adrian Jock  on February 28th, 2009

1) I don’t know how to do it if you use Aweber. I use an in-house script.

2) Oops! What’s my wife doing in that picture? :-) I think she posted something sometime and now … Any idea how I can remove that picture?

3) Will you please don’t confuse adsmarket dot com and dot biz? :-) Can you please edit your comment?

4) No, you didn’t advertise with ADSMARKET Ezine Advertising Network. You tried to advertise and I suggested you not to do it because you were targetting a wrong market.

Ezine Advertising Blog – Adrian Jocks last blog post..How to identify top quality ezines for your ezine advertising needs? (Part 1)

Brian  on February 28th, 2009

Oops, sorry about that. I fixed it.

To display the pictures we use CommentLuv http://www.commentluv.com/ and I think Gravatar.com http://gravatar.com/. Those are the most popular right now. Setup a free account with each, claim your sites and upload your picture and you should be good to go. Or do a couple photo with your wife for both of you :)

Ezine Advertising Blog - Adrian Jock  on February 28th, 2009

Thank you very much :-)

Marketing Business Review  on March 1st, 2009

Hi Brian,

I personally I am afraid that if you click you can actually be spammed. But I do not believe that from people that I personally subscribed.

But the same it is not true when you got some spam and have an unsubscribe link, I would not dare to click it, I had bad experiences doing so.

Some emails that spammer use are just software generated emails and they dont know its an actual account until someone opens or click on it, then they will know you are real and can begin to spamming you easily.

BTW, I saw you on Peter Lee´s site, If you still looking for a Related post plugin, you can use this one “Similar Posts” it is the same Peter its using, he told me so few days ago, it works fine.

That is not a spam link it is the link to download the plugin.
http://rmarsh.com/plugins/similar-posts/

Luis

Marketing Business Reviews last blog post..How To Be Able Again To Follow At Twitter When You Had Reached Your Following Limit

Pheak Tol  on March 1st, 2009

awesome post, Brian

the free bribes method can add up on your subscription list, so im all for it, just dont start spamming me haha

Pheak Tols last blog post..MyBlogLog – Know What Makes Your Readers Click

Brian  on March 1st, 2009

@Luis: It’s true Luis, I’ve heard it many times that spam bot programs are waiting for unsubscribe requests and replies. Once one of these two things happen the email address goes onto a confirmed list.

The other problem is unscrupulous list owners selling their list of unsubscribes for a quick buck to others that are in turn going to sell them as confirmed leads.

While doing the research for this post I ran across this cool site where you can check a domain or IP address to see if they have been honoring unsubscribe requests. It’s Untrusted Unsubscribe Lookup by LashBack.

Thanks for the link. I’ll install that today. I have a couple other updates I want to do to so it’s perfect timing.

Brian  on March 1st, 2009

@Pheak: Hi Pheak, Adrian was right about offering freebies to subscribers not being the best method of building a list. The theory is, of course, that you’ll have a list of subscriber’s not willing to buy anything.

Personally, I do a little bribing to give quick boosts and I think as long as it’s a secondary method it shouldn’t dilute the list. I base that on just my personal experience so it’s not very scientific. I know I’ve subscribed to lists before to get a free gift and made purchases from that marketer afterwords.

All in all we almost agree on the concept. I also look at it like this, if everyone looking for a freebie will never buy then all of those one-time offers must never work, at least the ones that are being used to build a list.

Khurram Zaveri  on March 1st, 2009

Actually, the “Free Bribes” do work pretty well for me. I offer a watered down version of ePostMailer as a “Free Bribe” to build my mailing list and it working out well.

Ben Pei from Make Money Online  on March 1st, 2009

Surely they are some good tips here. Some of which I haven’t tried before.

By the way Brian, what happened to your Top Commentator and Blogroll? Decided to remove it?

Ben Peis last blog post..Interview With Garry Conn On Google Talk

Brian  on March 1st, 2009

@Khurram: Hi Khurram, that’s a great tactic if a percentage come back and spend the $49.95 on the full version which I’m sure they do if the product is good enough. There seems to be two different theories on the matter yet both seem correct. It is interesting to see the different reasons though.

@Ben: Hi Ben, I deactivated a bunch of plugins while I add a few more. Now I’m going to have a full suite of comment goodies. Comment Luv, Keyword Luv, Top Commenter, Edit comments and I think I’m forgetting one. I’m trying to figure out why the edit comments plugin isn’t working right now but I should have them all up and running in a bit I hope.

YS from IRS Debt Relief  on March 1st, 2009

Now this is one of those things I’m still procrastinating till now, despite what others have told me so.

They say, the money is in the list. I don’t deny it either. It’s coming soon to TSB anyway… ;)

YSs last blog post..What’s IRS Debt Relief?

Brian  on March 1st, 2009

Hi Yan, The money is in the list if the list is clean and responsive. I wish I had your experience when I had started the Extreme Ezine. I wouldn’t have had to spend the last trying to fix it. I was a prime example of someone jumping in without a clue as to what I was doing. What’s helped me the most as far as learning is blogging and social networking. Hey, I think I have a blog post somewhere in there :)

Ezine Advertising Blog - Adrian Jock  on March 1st, 2009

@Khurram and not only …

Of course that “free bribes” works well for building a mailing list. No one said that it doesn’t work well.

There is only one problem though: the blog post we are commenting on doesn’t seem to be on list building topic but on how to clean lists so that to be more responsive ;-)

When you offer freebies as an incentive you get potential buyers but for sure you get on your list also freebies hunters and throw away addresses. Adding to your list throw away addresses doesn’t seem to be a method of cleaning a list ;-)

Dennis Edell  on March 1st, 2009

Excellent tips for sure, but I’m gonna have to “go there” ;)

ALL solo ads are scam lists?

Dennis Edells last blog post..February Link Review – Blog Review Winners – TC Contest March – Guest Posts Wanted – I’m Outa Here!

Brian  on March 1st, 2009

Hi Dennis, I was wondering if someone was going to ‘go there’ lol

I don’t think all solo ads are scams by any means. In fact I have a couple of safelists and a solo-ad site that I swear by. But in my ezine advertising experience, which is admittedly limited, mixing a newsletter and sending solo ads is a bad idea for a clean list. This is where Adrian and I are probably going to disagree.

The exception is when the ‘list’ is designed as an advertising platform rather than content based newsletter.

Many people don’t care for safelists and I’m one of them for the most part but if the admin knows what they are doing and working on a clean list solos ads can be a decent way to advertise. The reason is incentive. That type of list has an incentive to open and even click in order to build points. I wouldn’t put it at the top of my advertising arsenal but it’s a nice alternative with the right product. With that said let me stick my neck out a little more and say that most safelist advertising is no better than a traffic exchange. It’s bottom of the barrel and a waste of time when the admins are centered on numbers and not quality.

That incentive is completely missing with content based newsletters. It’s simply selling advertising without the perceived attachment or recommendation that goes with a product or two in an article. Without the incentive and trust the list becomes diluted and unresponsive.

Dennis Edell  on March 1st, 2009

First, I’m not getting sucked into a safelist/traffic exchange discussion, that’s a loser no matter what side you pick. LOL

I do however think solo-ads within content based newsletters can work, if also done correctly…the same as you would selling/affiliating your own stuff to your list.

A few tips I thought up for myself…

1. Make it known right from the jump. Advise subscribers right in the welcome email EVERYTHING that they can expect.

1.5. Obviously not too often.

2. Only sell adspace to fellow subscribers. I think this is where things go wonky. I believe one subscriber is a lot more likely to open an ad from someone else who subscribes to the same newsletter then an outsider.

3. Get a copy yourself ahead of time. This one is very important…

A subscriber of yours emails you a solo-ad idea he/she wants to run. As the list owner, you get a free copy for perusal first…this way you can also recommend it.

Think of it like marketing any affiliate product. The best way to do it is to use the product yourself first (if applicable). The difference being, the “commission” in this case is the price of the ad.

This method being the best, does have it’s drawbacks, mainly for the seller. He/she does have to give up a copy of whatever it is with no guarantees that you’ll run it, but if your list is big and responsive enough they should still go for it.

Bottom line – any product from a fellow subscriber that you also endorse, really shouldn’t be an issue for other subscribers. Again follow 1 & 2 first.

Whatcha think?

Oh and I plan to use this comment as a trackback post, so don’t swipe it. :)

Dennis Edells last blog post..February Link Review – Blog Review Winners – TC Contest March – Guest Posts Wanted – I’m Outa Here!

Brian  on March 1st, 2009

You are right about safelist/traffic exchange discussions. It’s It’s like clean water or abortion, I was very reluctant to bring it up.

I have to admit, I do like the idea of getting a free copy of the product to try first. That’s a great idea. If you personally endorse the products and build a nice relationship starting with respect then you may be onto something.

It’s a bit of a stretch but in a marketing course I took a few years back we learned of a radio talk show host that would never endorse a product until he personally tried it. His ad rates sold for nearly twice the national average because his listener base trusted his judgment and he could make the products fly off the shelves. Advertisers were lined up to give their product away for his review. These were big ticket items too. That kind of reputation was probably hard to develop but I’m certain it paid off in a big way.

Dennis Edell  on March 1st, 2009

It does take time, but I think it would work well. :)

@Adrian – what exactly do you mean by “active”.

Dennis Edells last blog post..February Link Review – Blog Review Winners – TC Contest March – Guest Posts Wanted – I’m Outa Here!

Brian  on March 2nd, 2009

My friend Gyutae Park just posted a similar piece on this topic that I think everyone would be interested in. Gyutae does a much better job than I do but it’s expected because, well, he’s smarter than I am :)
It’s Internet Marketing Isn’t a Buffet – Why You Need Quality Traffic Over Quantity

Ezine Advertising Blog - Adrian Jock  on March 2nd, 2009

@Dennis For me an active subscriber is a subscriber who … from time to time … reads the newsletter. (Why from time to time? Because no one reads EVERYTHING and no one can be interested in EVERYTHING a publisher publishes.)

@Brian You’re right when you assumed that I won’t agree with you that mixing a newsletter with solo ads is a bad idea for a clean list. If a publisher sells solo ad space it doesn’t mean that the list is not clean. There is absolutely no connection between publishing solo ads and maintaining a clean list. Sorry, but you’re making a big confusion.

Double opt-in will make your list cleaner. Is this related to solo ads? No.

Removing immediatelly bouncing email addresses will make your list cleaner. Is this related to solo ads?

Removing not active subscribers (by tracking their activity) will make your list cleaner. Is this related to solo ads?

Not offering incentives against signups will make your list cleaner. Is this related to solo ads?

And so on. Once again: there is no connection between publishing or not solo ads and maintaining a clean list.

Brian  on March 2nd, 2009

Hi Adrian, Thanks for your input. I love your passion. I think between you taking those steps to maintain your list and Dennis’ trying products before endorsing you guys have a good plan.

Overall we will have to agree to disagree but like I said there are exceptions and you both are exceptions if I’ve ever seen one :)

Ezine Advertising Blog - Adrian Jock  on March 2nd, 2009

Closing a dispute a) at the right time & b) so that no one loses … is an intelligent way to handle such a discussion. You’ve earned my vote :-)

Ezine Advertising Blog – Adrian Jocks last blog post..How to identify top quality ezines for your ezine advertising needs? (Part 2)

Dennis Edell  on March 2nd, 2009

Adrian – just checking lol. I remember one marketer quite awhile ago that got BLASTED for his version of “active” subscribers.

He actually tried giving time limits on subscribers according to sales. Something to the effect of, “if you don’t purchase X amount of products in X amount of time, you will be unsubscribed”…I think it was 1 or 2 per year, something like that.

Not a bad goal to set quietly, but to actually tell your subs that?? Unreal.

Dennis Edells last blog post..Comment Contest March – Sponsors and Prizes

Ezine Advertising Blog - Adrian Jock  on March 2nd, 2009

@ Dennis LOL, no, I’m not asking them to buy anything. I only ask them to play fair. Are they interested in what I publish? Great! Not interested? Fine, please unsubscribe. You don’t do it? I’ll unsubscribe you :-)

Why I do this? Because I run an ezine advertising network at http://www.adsmarket.biz where I sell ad space in newsletters. I cannot run a perfectly honest business charging the right prices (I don’t do it yet!) while my own “subscribers” don’t read what I publish, can I?

I know that not many publishers are wasting their time like this, but I don’t care :-)

I know that I still have a lot of subscribers that are not quite subscribers, but I’ll do my best ;-)

Then I will be able to charge the right prices. The prices the majority of the publishers already charge without this cleaning effort (their problem, not mine).

Will I succeed? Does the effort worth? I don’t know, we’ll see :-)

Ezine Advertising Blog – Adrian Jocks last blog post..How to identify top quality ezines for your ezine advertising needs? (Part 2)

Gennaro  on March 2nd, 2009

Interesting topic. I would think that offering free stuff would also give you an idea about which subscribers are paying attention to your content and e-mails. It’s something that just about every reader wil want to click through. It may be smart to also require there e-mail address for the free item confirming the subscribers activity.

Gennaros last blog post..San Marcos La Laguna: A Peaceful Retreat

Brian  on March 2nd, 2009

Hi Gennaro, I’m surprised at the interest this topic had generated. There seem to be several ways of thinking on the subject yet we are pretty adamant on our point of views. That’s the best kind of debate in my mind. I love this stuff :)

Kikolani from Blogging, Poetry, Photography  on March 2nd, 2009

I’ve been thinking about doing a newsletter for sometime. These are some tips I will reference when I get to that point. Thanks for sharing!

~ Kristi

Kikolanis last blog post..Prolonging a Productivity Drought

Brian  on March 2nd, 2009

No problem Kristi, when you get it started let me know and I’ll be one of your first subscribers :) If there’s any way I can help just ask.

Paul Shuteev  on March 2nd, 2009

Hey guys, nice article! I’ve written one about creating opt-in lists too.

Maybe we can do some link-exchange? Is your blog marketing-related?

Sire  on March 2nd, 2009

I think you have outdone yourself Brian, and I think that the post really impressed Kristi as it was because of her tweet that you find me writing this now. I can’t see myself doing email marketing anytime soon, but if I do I will certainly come back to this post.

Sires last blog post..In Search Of Fame And Glory

Brian  on March 2nd, 2009

Hi Sire, I didn’t realize Kristi had Tweeted it. That was very kind of her. Thanks for letting me know.

Sire  on March 2nd, 2009

Yes it was. She is such a nice young lass.

Sires last blog post..Chitika The Mark Of A Good Affiliate

James King  on March 6th, 2009

Hi Brian,

I found your blog from Searchforblogging.com. I’ve just had a look around your blog, there is awesome content here, I strongly believe that the mailing list is the most powerful assest any blogger or webmaster can have.

Keep up the great posts.

All the best

James King

Brian  on March 6th, 2009

Hi James, I love Mert’s site. Thanks for checking us out.

Brad West  on March 6th, 2009

Thanks Brian,

I have read quite a number of list tips before and never one so honest and straight forward. As you know from our past i have built my lists through forum boards. There is good and bad with this tact also, but all in all I think I am a little more intimate with my list this way.

I do have one of my old boards I just dumped thousands of members off of. I am down to some 300+. The new board I have been trying to give away free paid memberships to responsible people that understand the need for backlinking. I just don’t think people understand why you would do that.

So being one that is out of the norm for list building I am trying to be creative and come up with extra things that I can offer with out filling my list with do nothing freebie getters.

Kind of an odd way to do things, but that would be me. You have out done yourself with your post here and reinforced some real values.

Thanks
Brad West

Brad Wests last blog post..Googles Instant Earthquake Updates

Kevin Johnson from Nannies  on March 23rd, 2009

this post is very well done, and there is a lot to learn from it. It really makes sense that unsubscribes are ok when you put it that way. thanks for the tips.

Brian  on March 23rd, 2009

Thanks Brad, I appreciate that. Somehow I overlooked your comment. Sorry about that, especially since it’s a nice compliment :)

It sounds like we are both a little out of the norm but I think that’s a good thing.

Brian  on March 23rd, 2009

Thank Kevin, I’m glad you liked it.

Tim from mortgage calculator  on May 12th, 2009

I always struggle with building a list with a free report. It’s a fast was to build but I rarely get people buying if they opt-in for a free report.

Tims last blog post..Is Mortgage Refinancing for You?

Brian  on May 12th, 2009

Hi Tim, That’s the big debate when it come to free gifts for subscribing. I’ve offered it in the past and will probably do it again but it really can dilute the list.

Interview with Brian Hawkins founder of Extreme Ezine – Famous Bloggers Club | New Media Bloggers  on July 21st, 2009

[...] in my writing and that could be the problem. As for the most famous I guess I would have to go with Ten Steps To A Responsive Email List because it started a nice conversation. Only 42 comments so far but they are quality comments [...]

Steve from LizardSEO  on November 4th, 2009

Nice post, and good information. May new website owners think it is an extremely easy thing to build a good email list, but as this list so nicely points out, there is a lot of thought and effort that goes into a good list.

Brian D. Hawkins  on November 6th, 2009

It’s true Steve, and the continuous testing and maintenance.
Brian D. Hawkins´s last blog ..Interview With Toilets.com Founder Earl Braxton – The Don of Porta John® My ComLuv Profile

dave from home improvements  on December 12th, 2009

Thanks for the tips on building a great email list. I have been using Aweber for 3 months now and only sold one eBook through an email, and spent 40 bucks on the service (first month free), I know that it is a numbers game though and I have managed to get close to 100 niche targeted emails…just need to make it profitable, which I really suck at – at the moment.
dave@home improvements´s last blog ..How To Fix a Leaking Faucet My ComLuv Profile

Brian D. Hawkins  on December 20th, 2009

List building truly is a tough business, but it can be very rewarding once mastered. At least that’s what I hear lol
Brian D. Hawkins´s last blog ..Extreme Advertising By Reebok – Better Legs And A Better Butt With Every Step My ComLuv Profile

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