Stronger, Leaner and Meaner: Building an Opt-In List that's Right on the Money

Opt-in mailing lists are an internet marketer's best friends.  If planned and designed well, its execution should be flawless and beneficial to all concerned.  Opt-in lists are widely accepted forms of subscription and are a great tool for sending focused email campaigns to a ready market.

Building your opt-in list from scratch

Let's say you've never done this before.  How do you start?  Assuming you don’t know a soul in cyberspace, you'll need to get your hands on email addresses short of stealing or paying for them or worse, typing randomly on your keyboard in the hopes of coming up with an email address that really exists.

Your best magnet is your website.  This is where you will be conducting your virtual business from and from here, you shall attract.  Make sure your site is designed to accommodate visitors and make them feel at home.  Plan your site well and incorporate your business in every aspect of your website's look.

Start with a good, highly targeted ad.  Remember that your goal is quality.  Forget what other people tell you about shooting for the moon.  Internet users are older and wiser now and they can smell a random, wayward sales pitch.  And their response won't be pretty.

Include a box in your ad that invites your readers to subscribe to your mailing list by providing their names and email addresses.  If you want a detailed information sheet on each subscriber, you can build that too although make sure to limit the info to geographical addresses -- cities, states and zip codes.  No phone calls or office addresses, please.

Once your visitor clicks on the button, your mail will send him some form of confirmation (usually an email), informing him that he has chosen to receive information and promos from your site.  As a polite way of doing business, provide an unsubscribe link just in case he changes his mind and wants to opt-out.

Expanding your opt-in mailing list

Personalize everything.  If you know what your subscribers' different interests are, you can tailor your email campaigns better to suit their wants.  Use their first names when sending them email messages.  This simple act will do a lot to build your relationship.

Focus on quality.  What is the use of having thousands of names on your mailing list if only eight of them are your regular customers?  Go for a leaner opt-in list whose population is at least 90% interested in your business.  They are much more likely to respond positively to your campaign than the rest who are nonchalant or vague about it.

Give them a choice.  Or choices.  Know your subscribers by providing them with a list of subjects that they may be interested in and let them pick which ones they want to receive information and promotions on.  Each time something comes up about a subscriber's particular interest, you can readily send it to them without your message getting deleted.

Learn to let go.

One mistake of spammers is that they don’t go easy on goodbyes.  For some reasons, a portion of your subscribers will choose to leave your mailing list.  Whatever their reasons are, let them.  Don’t try to squeeze any more life into your relationship by ignoring their requests for a few more days or weeks and continue to send them emails they no longer want.

Once they've unsubscribed, make sure they no longer receive emails from you.  It will be hard at first, but they will have good things to say about your professionalism.

Give only what is best.

Don’t underestimate the intelligence of your subscribers.  Give them only what they need and they will appreciate your service.  Nothing is worse than being in an opt-in list that doesn’t recognize your individuality.  Your subscribers are your main customers.  To make your business last, take care of them and they will surely take care of you.