Collecting Opt-In Email Addresses-Double Opt-in

Once you begin building your list, you will begin making sales
if they are responsive and that will begin to earn you money on
a weekly basis. Now, you may be wondering how you are supposed to
get these responsive people


Email is still the most popular and most used communication
medium on the Internet. It’s also an efficient way to distribute your
message to large numbers of people who have requested that
information. As a form of marketing, it generates high response rates
and gives you measurable results with instant feedback.

Just keep in mind, it is never acceptable to send commercial email
to people who haven’t requested to receive email from you. Bust that
rule, and there’s a good chance you’ll be out of business. That gives
you the challenge of building up a list of willing subscribers.

When you’re first starting out, there’s often a temptation to
simply purchase an opt-in email list. Lots of people sell them and you
can easily pick up a million or so addresses for just a few bucks. But
while that may appear to be a fast, easy way to build up customers,
the names on the list may not be up to date and they are not even
opt-in contacts at all. To say it bluntly, emailing people from a list like
that is called spamming.

Similarly, there are also programs that automatically crawl the
web, recording every email address they find. These will let you
quickly build up a huge list of email addresses. But, nobody will thank
you when you stuff their inboxes with marketing material. Forget
about them; they’re not worth the effort. It’s much safer, and much
more effective, to take the time to build your own real opt-in list.

Marketing by email can attract new customers, keep existing
ones, up-sell, cross-sell, and cut costs. E-merchant Wine.com, for
example, found email campaigns drove twice as many "best prospects"
to their site compared to banner ads or other Internet marketing
activities.

If executed improperly though, email campaigns can backfire with
disastrous business consequences. How to minimize the risk and
maximize the return? Part of the answer is a common sense approach
called "permission" or "opt-in" marketing, in which customers or
prospects volunteer to receive email.

The odds of users joining a list can be improved by providing
three opt-in opportunities, all with low entry barriers. First, there
should be minimal sign-up work. Many sites require only an email
address; all other personal information is optional. Second, there
should be several sign-up opportunities on a site, including on the
inquiry, order, and feedback forms. These forms may use a checkbox
asking prospects if they would like to receive occasional special
offers/newsletters by email. If so, it must be placed conspicuously on
the form. Third, a privacy policy that addresses what will be done with
user information should be posted in an obvious place.

Continuing on the lines of “opt-in” marketing, one of the most
successful methods is the double opt-in technique. In double opt-in a
user elects to receive email newsletters or standalone commercial
messages. A confirmation email is sent to that user, who is now
required to take one more action to be included on the list. The person
must click the link within the confirmation email to affirm their intent
to join your mailing list.

Although, the double opt-in techniques runs the risk of losing
subscribers during the confirmation process, it gives the subscribers
more control and thus, has proven to be more successful. That said,
here are some measures emailers who practice double opt-in can take
to reduce confirmation drop-offs.

When a user enters his address, mention an email will be sent to
him and include its estimated arrival time. Indicate the user is required
to respond to that message to receive subsequent mailings. With
transactional customers, consider placing this information on the page
with order confirmation.

Ideally, a confirmation message is sent immediately. It should be
sent while the subscription is fresh in subscribers' minds and they're
still engaged in an online session. If you indicate it will be within a day
or two, make sure you follow through on that promise. If your systems
are slower, then requirements related to message content are even
more relevant.

If you need a confirmation, that's the only thing you should ask
for. Explain to users they will not be added to the list until they take
the necessary action. Most desirable is a one-click confirmation link
embedded in the message. Giving users a reply option with subject
line intact is another good approach. Requiring them to write
something in the subject line or body of the message or asking them
to forward the email on to another address is not nearly as effective.
Ensure that your contact information is included in the confirmation
message and, if possible, include a link to your privacy policy.


Eugenijus Sakalauskas publisher
"List Building Newsletter"
Subscribe to my exclusive 12 lessons e-Course
" Every Business Needs Opt-In Email Marketing "
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