The five guidelines included in this series should become watchwords for ezine emailers as they incur the risk and responsibility of sending newsletters or any other repetitive type of email.

Part 1 of 5: Treat Email as a True Risk and Cost Center
Part 2 of 5: Avoid Collateral Damage
Part 3 of 5: Plan to Use Every Legitimate Tool and Tactic Available (M2M)
Part 4 of 5: Build strong relationships (H2H)
Part 5 of 5: Continuously evaluate messages, lists, and recipient populations

Part 1 of 5

Treat Email as a True Risk and Cost Center
not as just an Internet infrastructure tagalong

Because it was “free”, easy, and universally accessable online, email became the breeding ground for a vast number of experiments in communication and commerce. Ezines, newsletters, CRM programs and many other online publications are the product of some of those experiments. More pathological forms of information transfer also evolved in the same space, such as Spam and viruses. Today the Internet is trying to develop an immune system to fight those pathogens. Unfortunately, non-pathogen marketers and online communicators of all types have become the victims of this primitive new immune system’s stumbling efforts.

Many online publishers moved to email back when the costs were essentially limited to a computer, some bandwidth, and a lot of work. Well, email has changed since then in many ways, almost beyond recognition. As this guideline points out, the cost of email risk avoidance and email delivery assurance have now become significant, even when they are not direct out-of-pocket expenses.

Senders need to catalog and understand the risks they face, and the costs to overcome these risks, as they adapt to the new hostile email environment.

New Potential Legal Risks From Email Programs:

Despite the prevailing opinion amoung newletter and ezine publishers that the recently enacted email legislation is directed only toward “Spammers”, there is good reason to take these regulations rather seriously.

Even if we assume that you only send permission-based email (that all of your recipients subscribed to your ezine), so by definition you are not a “Spammer”, there are many other aspects of the email process that have now become regulated. Examples include email transmission practices, list records, operational control over complaints and unsubscribe requests, claims of false or misleading Subject Lines, and several other issues. Mistakes in these areas, even with clearly permission-based mail, can have legal implications. And in fact, precisely what constitutes “permission” is still being worked out in some cases.

Online publishers should also be concerned about the motives and circumstances of some actions under the new laws. Targets may be chosen more for their ease of accessibility than for any serious infractions. It is much easier to find and go after a target you can see (such as an stable ezine) than it is to hunt down an elusive Spammer.

Finally, there is a common assumption that the email laws of other countries are similar to those in the US, however in many important respects this is not true. The differences in these laws compels (at the least) strict controls be maintained for any lists that are not fully geographically targeted.

See the Email PhD “Compliance” section to research the email regulatory environment further.

New Service Access Risks From Email Programs:

Impact on Your Personal Communications
Some online publishers assume that higher risk email programs, such as newsletters or promotional campaigns, are somehow naturally distinct or compartmentalized away from other types of personal email channels. Unless specifically designed as such, this is usually not true. It has come as an unpleasant surprise to many that blocking caused by, for example, an email marketing campaign can also cause the blocking of your email to friends and family. Blocking caused by a simple auto-response program at a minor Web site can disrupt your ability to communicate with anyone at a particular ISP.

One basic response to this type of risk is to segment and isolate different types of sending streams so that a shut down in one area does not push your entire e-communications system offline.

Recipient ISP Disruption
It is usually easy to determine when communications are cut with a major ISP, potentially denying access to a large number of customers or subscribers. But blocking at any one of hundreds or thousands of smaller corporate and local networks can be robbing you of revenue, customer satisfaction, and name recognition without your even knowing it. Testing for these blocks can be a difficult and involved process.

Direct blocking is not the only way in which email communication is disrupted at recipient ISPs. Having messages land in the Junk-bin rather than the In-box effectively eliminates that message for many recipients who automatically delete those messages without looking at them.

Every recipient ISP has the right to interfere with communications it judges to be inappropriate for its network. Unfortunately, a small number of Spam complaints, an appearance on a Blacklist, or just the perception of that system’s administrator may cause breakdowns that can be very difficult to detect and resolve.

Unless you are an email wizard yourself, one of the most effective ways to begin to track down your delivery profile is through a delivery testing company. See the Email PhD “Data and Tracking” section for more information on this type of resource. Unfortunately, this type of service also represents a new cost for online publishers.

Hosting ISP Disruption
Even more directly, publishers are sometimes surprised to find that their own ISPs or NSPs can, and will, kick them off the service based upon email sending history.

It is amazing to realize that despite the sales cost and effort of acquiring new customers, and the service and support cost of retaining satisfied customers, most ISPs have placed the decision as to whether you can keep your service into the hands of a small group of “abuse” administrators. By declaring a violation of the contractual Acceptable Use Policies or similar provisions, these administrators have suspended many email and Internet accounts. Sometimes this can occur without notice, and often without recourse. Even very low levels or ratios of complaints can force you to scramble for new sources of Internet service.

See the Email PhD “Sending Signature Management” section for more information on avoiding basic disruptions within your email service chain.

Customer Affinity Risks From Email Programs:

Changing Consumer Perceptions
It is not unusual for a recipient to sign up for an email list on one day, and to report that email as Spam the next. The reasons why this happens are numerous, but unless a companies’ email program is well managed and controlled there is a risk that a few recipients can do a lot of harm.

“Everyone knows” that Spam is a potentially dangerous pervasive evil online, and that any email they don’t immediately recognize or want to receive at that moment is Spam (as incorrect as that definition is). The news media, recipient ISPs, and companies selling anti-Spam products are also training recipients that they need to actively suspect every email they get.

Online publishers have to adapt rapidly to provide assurance and reminders to recipients that they actively requested to receive that email, and to embed relevant and high interest content in all of their sends.

Negative Brand Impacts
Beyond the risk of turning off individual recipients with ineffective email programs is the broader risk of reputation loss within the general online community. Highly compliant, carefully managed email programs are their own reward when it comes to avoiding uncomplimentary PR outbreaks or having your name posted on the anti-Spam activist boards.

See the Email PhD “Content Controls” section to further research customer perception management issues.

Increasing Costs Within the New Email Environment
By all accounts commercial email can no longer be treated as if it were free. Whether for increasing internal control time and costs, or external service costs, you need to allocate the resources necessary to operate a sustainable and effective email program.

Increasing need for technical and strategic expertise
More than ever before, email has become a domain requiring a broad mix of different types of expertise. Because this knowledge can be highly specialized, or require access to proprietary data, this expertise often needs to be acquired from outside the sending organization.

Costs of outside service providers
It is frequently the case that an external Email Service Provider can better handle certain types of email sending. And there are obvious advantages to off-loading infrastructure risks and to increasing the embedded expertise (such as in ISP relations) by using ESPs. The trouble is that they cost money. The range of pricing among ESPs is extreme, as are the levels and types of services offered. Check out potential service providers carefully, and comparison shop - it is well worth the trouble.

Additional costs for administration and controls
Compliance elements and rising recipient expectations require more time and better records, and the need to track and respond to all complaints from numerous sources has added new manpower requirements. Of course, the costs of defensive records and permission audit trails are also growing. While these costs pale beside potential costs of non-compliance or customer erosion, in many cases they represent new and unfamiliar budget items.

Costs from distributed bandwidth and sending system architecture
The need to segment and distribute outbound email streams can increase both bandwidth and technical administration costs. The need to capture and retain more extensive records, or to access sending, delivery, response, unsubscribe, and complaint information in a timely fashion may require additional investment in computing hardware. Updated sending and tracking software purchases may also be needed.

Performance Benefits That Offset Costs
Simply put, you may have to absorb many of these costs to maintain effective, deliverable, and sustainable email programs. It is very likely that without this investment the efficiency of your email program will continue to slide, at the same time that the risks of uncontrolled programs are increasing.

Conclusions:
Over all, email sending programs have moved significantly away from the simple question of what “can” be done to a much heavier emphasis on what “should” be done, based upon increasing legal and recipient perception risks. The cost of sustaining effective programs is growing. Fortunately, so is the differential advantage of maintaining a working email communications channel.

Copyright © by Email Ph.D. All Rights Reserved.

Tim Starzl is the chief editor of Email Ph.D., an informational Web site dedicated to improving email delivery for all permission-based senders. With several years experience in email sending system design, high volume sending, and high precision tracking systems Mr. Starzl provides practical working advice for a difficult and rapidly changing environment.

When done correctly, email marketing can be an extremely powerful and effective marketing technique. It’s a medium that allows a buyer and seller to freely communicate with one another and build a relationship based on value and trust. When done incorrectly, however, email marketing can be destructive, erode brand equity, and turn your happy clients into litigious flamers. It is for this reason that one must make sure they send only permission-based email communications to their subscribers.

Before we proceed any further, let’s define exactly what permission-based email marketing is. It is important to note that there are two types of email marketing. One can either send unsolicited email promotions or send out emails only to persons who have requested to receive them. Unsolicited email is, of course, called spam. Sending spam will ruin any legitimate organization’s reputation and brand value faster than mold grows on bread that is left outside in the middle of summer. Rule number one of becoming an intelligent email marketer is to not send unsolicited email.

Permission-based email marketing, on the other hand, is used effectively everyday by hundreds of thousands of organizations to build the value of their brands, increase sales, and strengthen the relationships they have with their clients and subscribers. The key difference, of course, is that these senders are only sending messages to persons who have requested to receive them.

Let’s take a second to understand the key difference between spam and permission-based emails.

The Axiom of Value

For the last 100 years, companies have relied on traditional advertising in the form of catchy jingles, TV commercials, billboards, print ads in newspapers and magazines, direct mail, hot air balloons, and waving mascots. The technique is to interrupt a radio listener, TV viewer, or magazine reader with an attention grabbing ad that compels the consumer to buy the company’s product or at least have the product closer to the forefront of his or her mind next time the individual is making a buying decision.

In most instances, advertising is acceptable to the consumer. Most people don’t mind seeing ads while watching television, listening to the radio, or reading magazines-or at least they understand that these ads are necessary in order to receive the content they are seeing, reading, or hearing. While technologies like TiVo, DVR, and satellite radio are challenging advertisers to come up with new methods of advertising, other technologies such as Internet television require users to watch a 30-second advertisement prior to the start of a show. The point is, as long as value is provided, consumers will be willing to be exposed to a few advertisements.

This same axiom holds true online. As long as your web site provides content that people value, visitors will continue returning to the site even if there are a few banner ads or Google AdWords boxes within the page layout. While some web sites, such as WSJ.com, have successfully switched to a subscription-based model, many more web sites rely on banner, box, skyscraper, and contextual advertisements to earn the bulk of their income.

The same axiom, that as long as value is provided, consumers will be willing to be exposed to a few advertisements, also holds true with email. As long as one provides value-whether by providing content on a topic a recipient is interested in or a discount off a product related to one purchased previously-people will allow you to continue to contact them. Each and every email you send of course contains your logo, information on your products and services, and links to your web sites. These items are the advertising and should be surrounded on all sides by the items which make the communication actually add value to the lives of your readers.

Spam however, by its very nature, breaks the axiom. Unsolicited bulk email very rarely has any value. Spam is usually irrelevant, always impersonal, and rarely helpful. Everyone with an email inbox knows how aggravating it is to sort through forty new emails to only find two that are from persons you know. While spam may make money for persons in Eastern Europe promoting fake drugs, I feel strongly that sending spam will always have a net negative impact on any legitimate organization.

For this reason, we strongly recommend only sending permission-based email, also known as opt-in email. Permission-based email marketing can be an extremely effective way to increase visitor-to-sale conversion rates, build strong relationships with your customers, and turn your one-time buyers into lifetime product evangelizers who recommend your organization to everyone they know. Permission-based email marketing allows companies to develop and sustain relationships with their prospects and consumers by creating value. Permission marketing is about “turning strangers into friends and friends into customers” as Seth Godin likes to say.

The nature of permission marketing-building a relationship with a prospect or expanding the relationship with an existing customer over time-allows you to concentrate on the prospects and customers who are really interested in what you have to sell and are more than willing to become repeat customers.

The Five-Step Process of Permission Email Marketing

There is a simple five-step process in putting a successful permission-based email marketing campaign in place. This process is reviewed below.

1. Start using a permission-based email software such as IntelliContact Pro that allows you to easily create newsletters, automatically manage subscribes, unsubscribes, bounces, and view reporting statistics like opens and clickthroughs.

2. Decide on the type and frequency of email communication you will be sending. We recommend sending at least a monthly newsletter. You can certainly send multiple newsletters if you sell different types of products. You can also send promotional messages offering a discount or coupon for a product or service.

3. Add a sign-up form to your web site so you can start collecting subscribers and import any existing lists of subscribers that have already requested your communications. It is generally also safe to import the names of anyone who has done business with you in the past year, provided you will be sending content relevant to what they purchased.

4. Create a good email template by using a template provided within the email software, having your in-house team create one, or using the custom design services of the email software company. IntelliContact Pro provides over 140 design templates within the software that can be used free of charge and can also develop a custom template for a nominal charge.

5. Develop quality relevant content for your newsletter or message and send it out to your list. Continue sending your newsletters, announcements, or promotions with consistent frequency. As your list grows, you will notice increased traffic (and if applicable, increased sales) on the day of and the days following an email send.

By providing quality relevant content you will succeed in keeping your brand mindshare at the front of the mind of your customers and cement strong relationships with your subscribers.

Ryan Allis is an internationally recognized expert on email marketing. Ryan is the CEO of Broadwick Corp, providers of the email marketing software IntelliContact Pro. For additional information on email marketing software, visit http://www.email-marketing-software-resource.com

From Names & Subject Lines

For most people, a majority of emails received are junk email. As a result, each of us has developed a little ritual we follow when checking our email. Initially, most people looked first at the subject lines to determine whether to read a message. Today, however, studies have shown that recipients glance at the “From” field to see if they recognize the sender’s name or email address. Then, only if they recognize the From Name do they look at the “Subject” field to see if it’s of interest to them. This is why we recommend using a From Name that is either your organization’s name or a well-known person within your organization-and to keep that name consistent with every mailing.

Regarding subject lines, we have found a good strategy to be having one part of the subject line be consistent, and the other be variable. This way recipients can recognize your newsletter when it comes in as well as get a small taste as to what type of information might be featured for that issue.

Some examples of bad subject lines are:

The Permission-Based Email Marketing Monthly for September, 1 2005 from IntelliContact Pro

This subject line is simply too long. We recommend keeping subject lines between 20 and 50 characters whenever possible. This 80 character subject line is likely to get cut off in most email clients and could cause the message to have a higher chance of being blocked by a content-based spam filter.

[FNAME]‘S ENTREPRENEURS CHRONICLE FOR SEPTEMBER

This subject line is in all caps, which will increase the change the message will get blocked by content-based spam filters.

Garden Tips

This subject line doesn’t provide any information as to what the message is about. We would recommend adding at least what month the message is for.

Oxy-Powder Special - Save $10 Today Only Buy Now!!!!

This subject line includes both a dollar sign and multiple exclamation points. Both of these things would cause the message to have a higher chance of being blocked by a content-based spam filter.

Here’s is a revised version of each of these subject lines:

1. Permission-Based Email Marketing Monthly for September

2. [fname]’s Entrepreneuers’ Chronicle for March

3. Garden Tips Monthly - Are Year Round Orchids Possible?

4. Oxy-Powder Special: 15% Off

By following these tips on From Names and Subject Lines you can maximize the chance of your message being opened by your end recipients.

HTML or Plain Text, or Both?

In the early days of the Internet, say 1998 and before, when most surfers were using Internet Service Providers such as Prodigy, AOL, and CompuServe, all email messages that were sent were plain text emails.

Then, with AOL 5.0 came the ability to send Rich Text messages that allowed you to bold or italicize text, insert pictures, and add links. Still, however, most email clients (the software tools that allow you to view your email, such as Outlook, Eudora, Thunderbird, Hotmail, etc.) did not have the ability to display full HTML messages.

Today, almost all email clients have the ability to display HTML messages. While some organizations still send their emails as plain text, there are a number of advantages of sending your message as an HTML message, especially with the easy to use WYSIWYG (What You See is What You Get) HTML editors that are available. The difficulty is, even today around 5% of email recipients either are unable to view HTML messages or have turned this feature off within their clients. To solve this problem, almost all marketers today send in a format called Multi-Part MIME. Multi-part MIME is a method by which one can send both an HTML message and a text message within the same document. When using Multi-Part MIME, you simply create your regular newsletter, announcement, or promotion as an HTML message and then create a separate text version. Then, when your message is sent, all the persons who can see HTML, will see your regular HTML message, and the 5% or so that cannot will receive the text version of the newsletter. Today’s email clients can automatically detect a Multi-Part MIME message and display the proper message.

It is for this reason that one should always create a text version of every newsletter that is sent out. Without a text version, the message will either show up blank or show up as garbled HTML code for the percentage of recipients who cannot view HTML messages. On a final note, you can go about creating your text message one of two ways. The first option is to recreate the message in the text-only section by copying and pasting the text from the HTML message. If you choose this method, be sure to type out the URLs of each link). The second option is to upload your HTML message to your web site and then send a message like the one below:

Dear [fname];
Your September edition of the Gardening Tips Monthly Newsletter is now available. You can read it online at http://www.gardentips.com/newsletters/septnews.html.

Regards,
Betty Sampson, Editor
Gardening Tips Monthly
http://www.gardentips.com

When to Email

In marketing timing is everything, but with email marketing it can make the difference between emails being read and being trashed. Naturally every person has his or her own preferential time to deal with email, but there are a few general rules of thumb for when it is best to send email messages.

If you’re mailing to business recipients it’s best to sent email Tuesday thru Thursday, between 9:30 am and 3 pm. Studies found that Monday’s are generally reserved for meetings, organizing, and catching up on all the tasks left over from the week prior and emails sent Friday afternoons are often ignored or show up at the bottom of the list when downloaded on Monday morning.

If you are emailing consumers directly, emailing between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. is generally more successful than other times of the day. Friday thru Sunday emails are the most effective, generally because consumers are more likely to be online over the weekend and have more leisure time to ponder your offer.

These mentioned times may change based on which time zone you are in and which time zone most of your customers are in. For example, if you are based in San Francisco but most of your clients are on the East Coast of the United States, you may wish to adjust the sending windows by three hours. In some cases, we have seen some international clients segment their list by geographic location to be able to more easily send messages during the most optimal time window.

Email Sending Frequency

As with all marketing, balancing the frequency of your messages is extremely important. If you don’t send enough messages, it is difficult remain in the forefront of your customer’s mind and be considered when they are ready to buy. If you send too many, you may annoy your recipient and cause them to unsubscribe.

We have generally found that either a bi-weekly or monthly sending schedule produces the best results. This may vary, however, based on your type of newsletter and subscriber that you have. One strategy could be to create a signup form that allows your subscribers to specify what mailing frequency they prefer. Then you could tailor how much material you send to each specific subscriber preference. Make sure, however, that each message you send has something of value to the end recipient. We’ve found that it is better to send a high quality monthly newsletter than a medium-quality weekly newsletter.

Personalization

Email marketing tools like IntelliContact Pro generally have a powerful method of improving open rates and response rates. This method is personalization. Message personalization can be done by inserting what is known as mail-merge fields into your message. For example, if you wanted to insert the first name of a subscriber into a message subject or body in IntelliContact Pro you would just type in [fname]. Take a look at the two below messages and see the difference inserting mail-merge personalization fields can have.

Message 1 - No Mail-Merge Personalization Fields

Dear Subscriber,

Thank you for purchasing one of our products in the past. Today we have launched a new online catalog that may help you in your future purchases. You can find this catalog at http://www.autobodycorp.com/catalog/.

We appreciate your business. Please know I am always here if you have any questions about your past purchases.

My warmest regards,
Frank Desean, President
Autobody Products Corp.
http://www.autobodycorp.com

Message 2 - Using Mail-Merge Personalization Fields

Dear [fname],

Thank you for purchasing [productname] on [purchasedate]. Today we have launched a new online catalog that may help you in your future purchases of [productcategory] products. You can find this catalog at http://www.autobodycorp.com/catalog/.

We appreciate having the business of [businessname]. Please know I am always here if you have any questions about your purchase of [productname] or any [productcategory] purchases that you may make in the future.

My warmest regards,
Frank Desean, President
Autobody Products Corp.
http://www.autobodycorp.com

As you can imagine, message #2, using mail-merge personalization fields, is a much more personal communications and would likely lead to a greater message response rate.

List Segmentation

There is no doubt that specifically targeted emails with valuable and relevant content work the best. By dividing your database either by interest or demographic, you will be able to appeal to the needs and wants of your consumer and improve your sales results. An effective segmentation strategy, however, begins with the sign up form. Make sure you are collecting the information during the initial signup that you will want to segment by later. IntelliContact Pro includes a list segmentation feature that makes it easy to segment your lists by any field in your subscriber database.

Ryan Allis is a nationally recognized expert on email marketing. Ryan is the CEO of Broadwick Corp, providers of the email marketing software IntelliContact Pro. For additional information on email marketing software, visit http://www.email-marketing-software-resource.com.

We all know that a lot of marketing is done to a list but, say you have a sizable list. Now what?

Once you have a list of any size built-up, you must start broadcasting to it. This is important for a couple of reasons;

1. You have to realize that a good percentage of your list will have people that are new to marketing on it. You might think of these subscribers as being in a kind of stasis–they’re really just checking things out. So one purpose of broadcasting is to stir up some interest or excitement among these new-comers.

One good way to do this is with contests. For example a friend of mine had a referral contest and the prize was $200.00 cash. The great thing about this contest was that, even if you didn’t win, you still got a lot of really great free things for signing-up, and it was free also.

2. You will make many more sales and sign-ups with your broadcasts.

Don’t broadcast more than about once a week, but do broadcast. One week, give away freebies, or have a contest or business tips, the next week advertise. Be charming and entertaining. Use some flare, to have a more distinct personality and stand out from the crowd of faceless form letters!

Remember, if you don’t broadcast to your list and keep it active, your list may soon shrink to nada.

Copyright 2005 Brian Beshore

Brian Beshore is an Internet Marketer and professional copywriter for Article Insider.He is the creator of the Become Your Own Boss Program;http://www.surfinsafari.net

Are Your Emails CAN-SPAM Compliant?

The CAN-SPAM law has caused quite a bit of confusion about what is and is not acceptable when sending out business or commercial related emails.

Here is the link to the official Federal Trade Commission’s webpage “The CAN-SPAM Act: Requirements for Commercial Emailers” that explains the CAN-SPAM law and how to comply.

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/buspubs/canspam.htm

Pay particular attention to the second paragraph:

“The law, which became effective January 1, 2004, covers email whose primary purpose is advertising or promoting a commercial product or service, including content on a Web site.

A “transactional or relationship message” - email that facilitates an agreed-upon transaction or updates a customer in an existing business relationship - may not contain false or misleading routing information, but otherwise is exempt from most provisions of the CAN-SPAM Act.”

UCE is Unsolicited Commercial Email - Bulk emailing to people that have not requested your information and you do not have a business relationship with. Things like purchasing bulk email lists or sending advertisements to those who have not specifically requested them.

A “Transactional or Relationship Message” is completely different. This type of email covers any type of message a person specifically asks for. It also covers emails sent to people that have purchased something from you, because now there is an established business relationship. Such messages include: opt-in eNewsletters or eZines, thank you emails, receipts, etc. Be careful to not cross the line into UCE emails.

What IS SPAM

An email message not in compliance with the CAN-SPAM law.

An email message that you don’t remember giving permission to receive may be perceived as SPAM.

What is NOT SPAMAn email from a friend of yours is not SPAM.

An email that you asked for is not SPAM.

An email from someone that has an open-ended invitation for them to send you email like a newsletter or tips of the week is not SPAM.(Unless you have previously asked them to stop sending you email.)

An email thanking you for your recent product purchase is not SPAM.

Avoid Being Accused of Spamming

Even one SPAM complaint against you could potentially shut down your online business. ISP’s have a tendency to act first and ask questions later, if at all. Being accused of spamming can cost you big money and it’s best to avoid it at all costs.

Make Sure Your Email Message is Compliant with the CAN-SPAM Law.

Build your own opt-in or double opt-in email list. It takes longer, but is by far the safest way to protect yourself from SPAM complaints.

Keep records of all subscribers and those that unsubscribe to your mailing list. Include the date, email address they signed up with and their IP address, if known. If you use an automated system, it’s very easy to do this. I would not recommend trying to keep up with it manually.

If you do wish to build your email list using a lead or subscriber service, make sure their method of gathering subscribers for you is ethical. They usually include an ad for different opt-in offers and the person can pick and choose which lists they would like to join. They then directly subscribe to your email list. Make sure to read their policy on what to do if you are accused of SPAM. This is different than opt-in list providers (below).

Avoid Opt-In List Providers. These services sell “targeted” email lists that are gathered by others for you. The quality of these type of services varies a great deal. If you want to use this type of service, make sure the service you hire is building a list for YOU and it consists of double opt-ins. If they are just using a cut and paste version of lists that already exist, you could be in trouble.

Don’t ever purchase or send to “bulk” or “targeted” email lists, including those cheap ones sold on CD’s, no matter what the people selling it are telling you. They will be most likely the beginning of your undoing!

Stay away from email list whose source is FFA (Free For All). In fact, stay away from anything that has to do with FFA sites at all.

Always provide high quality content in your messages.

Avoid using the most common “Spam Filter Trigger” words. Words like “free”, “guarantee”, and “special” are likely to trigger your customers spam filters.

If you have an Affiliate Program, make sure you include an “anti-spam” provision in your agreement.

NEVER mention the word “SPAM” in your messages. Instead, use a message like “This message is for subscribers only. If you did not request to be subscribed to our list, please click the unsubscribe link below or contact us at your@emailaddress.com to be removed promptly.”

NEVER “Harvest” or “Capture” email addresses from any source. Especially any type of online group or community.

NEVER post your marketing sales copy to newsgroups or mailing lists that are owned by others without permission!

If You Get Accused of Spamming

You must act quickly and with a level head.

Don’t take it personally!

Remove the accuser from your email list immediately.

Contact the provider that the complaint was registered with and present your records of when the person subscribed, their IP address and let them know your email list is an opt-in or double opt-in list.

Follow the instructions given to you by the provider promptly.

If you follow the guidelines above, you can drastically reduce your chances of being accused of sending SPAM. Above all, before you send out any email message, make sure it contains high quality content that provides value to your readers. Ask yourself if you would want to receive the email message you are sending. If it’s all fluff and sales messages, rethink your message before sending. If you do ever get accused of spamming, make sure you take prompt action to minimize the damage.

Taylor Knight is the owner of Ebook-Alliance.com. A unique concept in membership websites dedicated to making members a steady income through the power and flexibility of eBooks.

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Autoresponders are remarkable, versatile programs that do so much more than just automatically answer your email. Regardless if you have an online business or a brick and mortar business using an Autoresponder can help you transform the casual customer into a profitable customer.

Here are a just a few ideas that will help you to creatively and productively use your autoresponder to increase your profits . Use your autoresponder to:

1. Publish a newsletter. Your newsletter can keep your visitors informed about your services or products, while building your reputation as a credible expert in your particular business.

2. Distribute your articles. Writing and distributing targeted articles is a powerful tool to build your business credibility, bring traffic to your site, and increase your sales potential. If your articles contain valuable information, many editors will print what is known as a resource box for you. A resource box contains your bio and a brief description of your service or product. It can also contain your autoresponder address.

3. Increase your ad exposure and automate your sales process. repeat exposure of your message has been proven to effectively increase sales. In your ad, include the option to “learn more” and put your autoresponder address. This will not only build you a list of people interested in your business but also expose them to numerous marketing materials. This multiplies the chances of converting visitors into customers. For example, if you’re selling a particular product, put testimonials about how spectacular it is on your autoresponder, and add a detailed, enticing description of your product.

4. Distribute an email course. Each day, have your autoresponder send out another lesson. Just be sure that each lesson has quality content - not a sales pitch. Your content will do the selling for you, and will do it much more effectively. You can include tips centered on a different topic for each lesson, illustrating how your product will benefit the reader. Include the tangible benefits the visitor will reap by purchasing your product. Make sure to include a paragraph or two at the end of each lesson enticing your prospect to consider making a purchase.

5. Automate a reminder about your service or product after a visitor has completed your course or sent in an inquiry about your product or service. We all have busy lives and often your customers forget about your product or service. You can use an autoresponder to remind them to purchase your product/service before it sells out. This will increase the possibility of sales from visitors who are dragging their feet about actually making a purchase. You can also use these reminders to promote new products or services.

6. Distribute free reports. This gives your visitor an idea of the type of information you can provide and the quality of your product or service. Make sure these reports are not sales letters or you will more than likely lose a potential customer than gain a sale.

7. Offer a trial version of your product. Give your prospects a sample of your ebook, course, software, membership, etc. People who are exposed to a little taste often end up wanting the whole pie. You can also capture their email addresses when you offer them a free trial from your website. Set up your autoresponder to give instructions on how to obtain their free trial, and then make sure to follow-up to try and close the sale.

One final note; when using an autoresponder make sure you receive the consent of the person you are sending the message to. If you do not have consent then you could be considered a spammer and be in violation of CAN-SPAM regulations. The last thing you want to do is upset your potential customer by spamming them.

Now that you have a better understanding of how autoresponders can be used be creative. See if you can come up with some brilliant ideas of your own!

Chris Stirling is the owner of http://www.stirls.com and his internet marketing website is designed to help other people achieve their goal of having their own work at home business. To sign up for his newsletter “Marketing Strategies that Empower Success” visit http://www.stirls.com/newsletter

What Are Autoresponders?

Autoresponders automate the process of following up e-mail marketing leads. Email autoresponders are special email addresses that returns a message or set of messages inresponse to any email that is sent to the autoresponder’s address. When your business is slow or just beginning you may be hesitate to use this tool. But be assured as your business grows, you’ll find a use.

Who Supplies Autoresponders?

Where do you get autoresponders? Well, they are as close as your web host. Yes, most web hosts have autoresponders - it is only limited by the number of email addresses yourhost provides you. For example, my webhost allows me 100 email addresses. Thus, I have the opportunity, if I so wish, to create 100 autoresponders.

However, there is one small drawback to webhost autoresponders -you are limited only to one message per autoresponder, without the possibility of a follow-up email to your prospects.

But there are other avenues in which you can consider. Such as:

1. You can incorporate a free autoresponder. Freeautobots.com offers a free service — that is free of advertisements, and supplies you with the server to store your leads on.

2. You can purchase the software. This software can be placed on your computer, or again, you can purchase an online service, and all your information will be stored on the server where you purchased the service.

As you can see there are advantages and disadvantages of each. And only you will know which will best fit your needs, circumstances, expertise and budget.

How Do I An Autoresponder?

When I heard the word autoresponder, I didn’t have a clue of how to use them, or if it was relevant to my business. Pretty green, wasn’t I. Well, an autoresponder can be a great automation tool to any business.

Let me give you some examples of the versatility of this tool.

1.Used by people who are away. They use it to notify the sender that they are away on vacation, their desk, etc.

2.Used as a business tool –

a.Gives responders business information - pricing
lists,resumes
b.Collect names and email addresses
c.Use for training
d.Give away free reports
e.FAQ (if appropriate)
f.Auto-send your article submissions

As you can see there are many uses, all of which, keeps you in contact with your visitors and/or prospective leads, and the promotion of your products, services and business. And,as to free or paid - that assessment will be directly determined by the growth of your business - and of course, your budget.

To conclude, the use of autoresponders is only limited by your imagination and your ethics. Yes, ethics. Do not go crazy with this tool - it is to be used to help your business - so be aware of spam - and it’s dos’ and don’ts - and this tool will work for you.

To your success.

Vickie J Scanlon has a BBA degree in Administrative Management and Marketing. Visit her site at: http://www.myaffiliateplace.biz for free tools, articles, ebooks, how to info, affiliate opportunities, services and products - to meet your budget and needs.

We’ve spent time analysing client campaigns, and have created a handy checklist for getting better quality email contact records by using optimised data capture vehicles

1. Explain why you want their contact details

Tell sign-up why you want other data fields. Telling them they will receive information by email will encourage them to ensure their email address is accurate

2. Stay compliant with latest email marketing legislation

Keep up to date with the latest legislation and standards to ensure your data capture vehicles continue to be compliant

3. Check quality of email addresses etc on the form

The more fields collected, the more validation required to avoid bad input. The more validation leads to less completed forms and more abandonment. Collect only what you need. Asking for information that you have no use for, will increase form abandonment. Test your data set to see where the optimum is.

4. Future proof

Ensure you state how you will use data into the future. Future-proofing email addresses will allow you to rent/ sell lists whilst staying compliant with email legislation

5. Resource your email contact data cleaning operation

You need someone who actions requests to unsubscribe / ‘Mr Angry’s to ensure fast processing and keep your contacts happy.

More information on Adestra’s email marketing services

Adestra provide welcome tactical advice and input on our clients email marketing program. For more information about how we can work together with you to improve your email marketing, please contact us to discuss your email marketing. Adestra’s site is at http://www.adestra.co.uk/email_marketing and our best practice centre for email marketers is at http://www.adestra.co.uk/best_practice_email_marketing

About the author

Paul Crabtree is presently Marketing Director of Adestra (http://www.adestra.co.uk), a UK based digital marketing agency that specialise in inbound and outbound email, fax and SMS broadcast solutions. Adestra’s client portfolio includes many UK based publishers including Janes Information Group, Informa, Lexis Nexis, OUP, Blackwells and others.

Previous to this role, Paul was responsible for heading-up online marketing for Informa Telecoms’ publishing division working on a portfolio of reports, newsletters, ad-led vehicles and the industry portal telecoms.com.

Paul will draw on his 5 years of focused experience in working in online marketing for publishers

This flexibility can be a blessing but also a burden. If you’re choosing to broadcast as if from someone, over the past 4 years the Adestra team have learnt some valuable lessons.

If you broadcast from someone:

Monitor the inbound email channel

Many individuals believe it is from that person and expect to be able to reply to that person and get a response. In many cases, requests for more information or even orders are sent back into the inbound filters rather than through the channels suggested by your communication. Likewise, recipients often reply with personal messages for that person.

Keep named email contact in the loopIf you are choosing to send from someone, the chances are their name means something to your audience. To this extent, please ask their permission before sending. In many cases they will want to cast their eye over the email content to ensure no defamatory comments are made and that accuracy is ensured.

Do not over-use the same send from address

One client has been broadcasting from the same contact email address for a number of months. Many of their email recipients have added their name to a list of rules upon their inbox, in many cases to move their emails directly to the ‘Deleted Items’ folder.

Likewise, their email address has been stopped by SPAM server settings at certain company’s receiving email server. The net effect of this is that this contact email address can no longer use their own personal account to email industry contacts as they are picked up within these rules.

Ensure they are going to be at your company now and into the future

Building up the reputation of a key expert within your organisation is a worthwhile activity. These opinion leader’s comments and thoughts carry weight. However, if you have been broadcasting from a person for a number of months, and this person leaves your company you will be forced to stop sending from them. By replacing this name you lose the recognition you’d developed

Through Adestra’s Message Focus, you have complete control over who you send your emails as. Across our client base, marketers use:

* Company Names
* Product Names
* Key Contact Names
* Brand Names
* Web Site Addresses
* Customer Service Operations
* Promotion Names e.g. Summer Sale

Adestra would recommend varying the ’send from’ address for tactical promotions. For regular newsletters, using a consistent product name/branding name is sensible to aid recognition.

Essentially, test, test and test again. Although this phrase is an age old adage but with Adestra’s Message Focus’ reporting tools you can understand what works and what doesn’t. We recommend that you monitor the open rates and learn which sent from address works for your business.

About the author:

Paul Crabtree is presently Marketing Director of Adestra (http://www.adestra.com), a UK based digital marketing agency that specialise in inbound and outbound email, fax and SMS broadcast solutions. Adestra’s client portfolio includes many UK based publishers including Janes Information Group, Informa, Lexis Nexis, OUP, Blackwells and others.

Previous to this role, Paul was responsible for heading-up online marketing for Informa Telecoms’ publishing division working on a portfolio of reports, newsletters, ad-led vehicles and the industry portal telecoms.com.

Paul will draw on his 5 years of focused experience in working in online marketing for publishers.

But although why is an easy question to answer, how is one that causes more headaches.

By rushing into email and not using recognised email marketing service providers, many appear to be successfully conducting successful strategies. Dig deeper and it is a different story:

Building a database for the future

Marketers have adopted recent EU legislation that ensure individuals “opt-in” to your messages and respect data privacy. The flaw is in how much data people are collecting. By not integrating data capture techniques for mailing address, telephone and fax number, a company becomes hostage to always using email marketing.

Industry unsubscribe rates are reported as between 0.2% and 5% (MarketingSherpa). Over time, without investment in an acquisition programme, your database will dwindle. Integrating data capture (often after first contact) of additional contact details provides an alternative communication channel when the email route is ended.

The appropriate message

The fundamental question is whether to begin an email newsletter programme or to adopt promotional adhoc messages. Most favour the newsletter route, committing to:

* Reaching critical mass: Get enough volume and the list will self-breed through recommendations. Not get enough and your list will degenerate meaning expensive list acquisition programmes.
* Content: you are locked into providing regular, high quality content that people value. Although good content is expensive, it has a clear association with your brand.
* Timing: you commit to providing a regular communications. Having a newsletter of only two issues suggests you have nothing to say.

These factors come down to resource. Managing an email newsletter programme is not the low cost, low risk activity that many marketers believe it to be.

So does this mean that ad hoc promotional messages are key? Industry research conducted by Marketing Sherpa shows that email newsletters have a 10 times lower unsubscribe rate (0.20.7% for newsletters and 25% on adhoc/alerts) meaning email databases will last longer with email newsletters. This is particularly relevant in industries with high email address acquisition.

For a time sensitive product such as an event or a topical report, getting an immediate response is key. Consider EasyJet. Their entire business model is uniquely disposed to tactical promotional pushes and not a longer term CRM process. Indeed, SpeedFerries recently recorded a 400% leap in sales off the back of a promotional email marketing programme.

Dan Murphy, eBusiness Director for Informa Telecoms & Media, an international publisher has launched a daily newsletter to keep in contact with prospects that its small sales team can’t reach. “there is no other way we can communicate so quickly and effectively across the world. Indeed, although the editorial investment was considerable, awareness is up and prospects now contact us with their research problems”.

Considering objectives and available resource is key before committing to an email newsletter programme.

Sent in the right way

Broadcasting email communications appears simple, but unfortunately it is not.

Spam filters, black lists, white lists, ISP blocking (international and individual counties) sender certificates and improvements within email clients like Outlook constantly hit the headlines. Indeed, email marketing agency, Digital Impact reported the average European deliverability rate is only 91.5%. Without relationships with each ISP and an appropriate tracking mechanism, knowing whether your communications are getting through is impossible.

You can undo investments in your brand very quickly with email marketing. A person’s perception of your brand is reinforced by every message you send them. Delivering non-optimised messages with mixed up ‘broken’ html means your brand integrity is being compromised.

Marketing to people in their own language is common practice amongst international marketers. Using the correct language character-set when sending emails avoids your messages being delivered as question-marks.

Using email marketing fulfilment agencies to broadcast optimised messages to your database allows you to be confident that your recipient receives what you intend them to see.

Refinement and tracking

Integrating the email reporting into your management information systems is key. From better profiling in CRM systems for account management to closed loop ROI tools, understanding the real impact of your email marketing programme should be in the context of your entire marketing objectives.

Many international marketers are at different stages of using email marketing. Almost all are using it, but how they’re using it is in need of further thought. The international marketers’ journey into email marketing has only just begun.

More information about our email marketing broadcast services

Adestra provide welcome tactical advice and input on our clients email marketing program. For more information about how we can work together with you to improve your email marketing, please contact us and ask us about our email marketing services. Our web address is www.adestra.co.uk/email_marketing

Paul Crabtree is presently Marketing Director of Adestra (http://www.adestra.com), a UK based digital marketing agency that specialise in inbound and outbound email, fax and SMS broadcast solutions. Adestra’s client portfolio includes many UK based publishers including Janes Information Group, Informa, Lexis Nexis, OUP, Blackwells and others.

Previous to this role, Paul was responsible for heading-up online marketing for Informa Telecoms’ publishing division working on a portfolio of reports, newsletters, ad-led vehicles and the industry portal telecoms.com.

Paul will draw on his 5 years of focused experience in working in online marketing for publishers.