Category — Email Marketing

This post is inspired by Bob Poole’s post yesterday (Did You Just Sucker Punch a Potential Customer?)

He compared spamming people (sending email to someone who didn’t ask for it, doesn’t want it, and doesn’t know you) to visiting a prospect and punching them in the nose when they open the door.

Not good.

So, a few words about permission, list “rental,” and list building.

You Need Real Permission

There are people (even consultants) who think it’s OK to spam a big list “just once.” Or, to use a two-year-old list that they inherited from another company. Or even that it’s OK to send unsolicited emails as long as they’re text, but not HTML (pretty pictures and fonts).

All bad ideas.

Using names you got from a directory, a contact form, or a carbon copy is not permission. The people on that old list opted in for a different company (not yours). Plus, the list that’s two years old is useless. (Jodi’s rule of lists: Lists are like fish. The older they are, the more they stink).

An out-of-the-blue email from a company they never heard of will go straight to the spam folder.

Yes, it’s technically legal to send email to people out of the blue (an odd quirk of CAN-SPAM is that it created more spam).

However, the people who get it will think it’s junk. They will bounce it, mark it spam, blacklist the company that sent it, and after a while the messages won’t get through.

What do YOU do when you get email like that? Do you smile happily? Or do you hit that spam button as fast as you can?

Is a sucker punch the best way to make a good first impression?

The Truth About Buying Lists

Most email lists for sale are garbage. The rented ones are a bit better, but they’re expensive. B to B lists can be up to $350 per thousand names (minimum order 5,000 names). If someone is offering to send the list directly to you, run away.

Reputable list owners have their emails delivered by a third party. If they’re offering to send three times in one month, run even faster. That list has been burned out.

There is NO such thing as a legitimate opt-in email list of 1,000,000 names for $100. They’re all lemons.

How to Get Permission

If you want to reach people, there are better ways than a sucker punch to build your list.

Here are a few of them:

• Write a helpful (not a sales pitch) article in a relevant magazine or newsletter (with a link to learn more about your services).
• Send out a press release.
• Offer a report of some kind (for free) to build up your list

How to Send Out Your Emails

Use a professional email service (like AWeber). They will manage the opt-ins, opt-outs, and the bounces. You can also get tracking data (showing how many people received your email, the number of people who opened it, and how many clicked through to your web site.

Plus, the delivery rate will be higher, as they’re a recognized, legitimate mailer.
There are more tips in my free Email Made Easy ebook. Download it here. No opt-in needed. Feel free to share it.

Image thanks to :  pamah

A web designer on LinkedIn just asked if it was OK for a client to send a new email newsletter to a list of potential prospects.

During her initial meeting with the client, she correctly told them that reputable email marketing services require opt-ins.

After the meeting, she did more checking and found, to her surprise, that opt-in is not required by CAN-SPAM.

She wanted to know if there was an ethical way to send unsolicited email to a list. Or was that a really bad idea.

CAN-SPAM encourages more spam

She’s right. It’s technically legal to send emails without permission, under CAN-SPAM.

In fact, CAN-SPAM actually encourages more spam. Before the law was passed, marketers worked very hard to get permission to contact people via email.

There was a great deal of debate over whether single opt-in (just enter your email address) or double opt-in (type your address, and confirm it) was required.

Technically doesn’t mean ethically

So, it’s technically OK, as long as you include your physical address, provide an opt-out link, and use a real email address.

It may not legally be spam, but the people who get it will perceive it that way. Your message is more likely to get bounced, blacklisted, or stuck in spam filters.

One reason for using AWeber (or another company like it), is because they have a high delivery rate, are a recognized legitimate mailer, and will also manage opt-outs, bounces, etc.

And, before you send email to any list, make sure you know where it came from. Did you “buy” it (the quality is probably poor, and the names scraped from contact information on the Internet, or build it yourself? Were those names collected recently? If they’re from the design conference you went to in 2008, they’re no good. Those people have forgotten about you. If you email them, they will probably think it’s spam.

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P.S. My free ebook “Email Marketing Made Easy” has lots more tips about email done right. You can download it here. No registration needed.

A few days after I posted about email marketing lists, I got not one but two emails from people I never heard of.  They were offering me the opportunity to rent/buy targeted opt-in mailing lists.  They bragged about their high profile, Fortune 500 clients.

Is this a joke?

Did they read my post?  Get a Google Alert for email marketing and not look too closely?

Do I want their lists?  No, NO, and NO!

You shouldn’t either.

If you want an email marketing list, grow one; put out a free e-book, start a blog, and join forums and groups.  Don’t yell at people, connect with them.  They’re people, not targets. Stop shouting and start listening, then ask them for permission to listen to you.

You’ll end up with… a qualified, opt-in mailing list (for free)!

Have you gotten any emails like this? Share what happened in the comments.

Image: gasman40

Today’s topic is email marketing. Find out how to avoid common email marketing mistakes, get some marketing tips from your spam folder, and learn how to write emails that make more money.

Avoid These Five Email Marketing Mistakes

7 Legit Marketing Ideas from the Spam Folder

8 Ways to Build Trust as You Build Your Email List

15 Tips For Writing Emails That Make Money

Why Your Last Email Campaign Got Trashed

Image rannay

Someone on LinkedIn wants to know the name of an opt-in target email list provider. It’s a very common question. Email is a great way to reach people all over the world. It’s low cost, it’s fast, and it’s easy to do.

However, there are a few things you must keep in mind before you go ahead.

Should you buy a list?

Buying a list is a waste of money. Anyone offering 100,000 names for $25 is selling you a case full of spam (and headaches).

You’re paying for names of people who most likely never asked to be included on that list. It’s been “scraped” from Web sites, taken from forums, or pulled out of directories. The people on those lists did not ask to be contacted, and they don’t want your messages.

When they get your message, one of two things will happen.

First, much of it will go in the junk folder.

Second, they’ll press the “spam” button, and you’ll be blacklisted. Your messages (even the legitimate ones) will never get through spam filters again.

Not good.

What about list rental?

This is a little better. There are legitimate companies that rent out email lists of nonprofits, magazines, trade groups, etc.

You get to use the list once and only once.

The drawback is that they’re very expensive (generally about $300 per thousand names for business lists), with a 5,000 name minimum. That’s a lot of money.

While it’s legal to contact people on these lists, they’re not anxiously awaiting your message.

Building your own list

The best way to get that list? Make your own.

This will, of course, take longer, but it will be worth it. Put a sign-up form (just ask for name and email address) on your web pages, and on your blog. Use a special report on a hot topic or a how-to guide as an incentive.

Add a forwarding call to action to the emails you already send out. Write newsletter content that’s helpful and informative. Team up with other companies with existing lists and help each other.