Don't Get Grief From Ezine Readers : 10 Reasons To Always Use A
"Double Opt-in" Policy For Your Emai
My friend Joe was very angry. He has just launched his ezine.
Last week, he called me in a panic.
"My ISP is threatening to shut me down" he cried.
"Why, what happened?" I asked.
Slowly, working through his agitation and angst, I gathered that
one of his ezine 'subscribers' had accused Joe of 'spamming' -
sending email (or in this case, an ezine) to someone who had NOT
requested it. It took a week of repeated phone calls and emails
to his ISP before he could get back to his ezine publishing
tasks.
It could happen to anyone. Even you!
And this made me wonder - Why would any ezine publisher 'spam'
readers? Or even open him/herself to such accusations?
The simple answer - Many just don't know how easy it is to
avoid.
In my book "Ezine Launch - Creating 'Killer' Ezines", I strongly
emphasize the importance of the subscribing process. And that's
what this article will do too - give you TEN reasons to keep
your ezine subscribers happy, enthusiastic about your writing,
and ultimately make them your most valued customers.
Do it right and you can play them like a musical instrument, get
them to sway to your tune, listen to what you're saying, believe
you, respect you.
And presto, you have yourself a new customer.
Once this trusting relationship is established, you can name
your own price and your readers will order from you. Your sales
will explode, profits will skyrocket.
But only if you do it right !
Today unforgiving subscribers are less tolerant of poor ezine
design and administration. They vote for bad ezines by hitting
the "Unsubscribe" button. The margin of error in ezine
publishing is small.
That is why a tutorial like Ezine Launch -
http://www.EzineMarketingCenter.com/ezinelaunch/ is an
invaluable tool, a hand-holding guide to your initial ventures
into publishing email newsletters, leading you step-by-step
through the difficult first steps to e-publishing success.
And well begun is half-done. That's where Double Opt-In comes
in.
What does this mean?
With double opt-in, you don't send out your ezine to everyone
who asks for it - until they have confirmed their request by
either visiting a website or responding to an email message.
This not only verifies that the ezine request is genuine, it
also provides you - the ezine publisher - with proof of this
request.
To see what I mean, visit our ezine sign-up page at Ezine Launch
Monthly at http://www.EzineMarketingCenter.com/ezlmonthly/
Detractors claim that with double opt-in you lose readers.
True, some people who ask for your ezine may not re-confirm.
But think about it - how many of them are likely to become loyal
customers or long-term readers? What you're losing are the
tire-kickers, the freebie seekers who transiently flit from one
thing to another.
And that is a good thing. Because those that remain are the
serious prospects, people who are really interested in you, your
product, your service. They are potential customers.
So here are ten reasons to go down a double opt-in route.
With double opt-in, you can
1. Attract the most interested, responsive target audience as
subscribers
2. Gain respectability and professionalism for your ezine by
behaving responsibly
3. Quickly establish a trusting relationship with readers
4. Ensure most subscribers will actually read your ezine, since
they asked for it - twice
5. Enhance the value of your ezine to advertisers who can now
reach receptive opt-in audiences
6. Improve the effectiveness of your ezine as a marketing
vehicle for your own product and services
7. Have documented proof that subscribers asked to be included
on your mailing list
8. Avoid mischievous people signing up someone else's email
addresses for your ezine
9. Save yourself time and money otherwise spent handling
complaints from angry 'subscribers'
10. Spare yourself the anxiety and anguish of being shut down by
your ISP, or worse, legal action
For all these reasons and more, a double opt-in subscribing
process is today's 'gold standard' for ethical and responsible
ezine publishing.
Short cuts work in the short term. In the long run, however,
quality and professionalism in your ezine publishing efforts
will reap the greatest rewards.
Here are a few more resources that explain the most effective
ways to grow your list quickly -- and ethically!
Jason Potash's Ezine Announcer at
http://www.ezinemarketingcenter.com/announcer/
Paul Myers' Amazing List Machine at
http://www.ezinemarketingcenter.com/listmachine/
Dr.Mani's Ezine Marketing Tips at
http://www.ezinemarketingcenter.com/ezinetips/
Good luck and happy e-publishing
(c) 1996-2002 by Dr.Mani Sivasubramanian.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Dr.Mani has been marketing with ezines for over 5 years. Join
his FREE 7 day Ezine Marketing Email Course and discover the #1
secret of ezine marketing:
http://www.EzineMarketingCenter.com/ecourse/
Also get his free Ezine Launch Monthly newsletter from
http://www.EzineMarketingCenter.com/ezlm/ Or just send any email
to freezine@ezinemarketingcenter.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~