Dear Ms. Subscriber - Please Dont Unsubscribe

Don't be insulted. Don't take it as a personal rejection. But you can count on it happening without fail.

Each and every time you send a mailing to your opt-in list, a few of your subscribers will opt-out, meaning they will unsubscribe from your list. This doesn't necessarily reflect on the quality of your newsletter or your offers.

It may simply mean that the recipient's inbox is so swamped with commercial messages that she can't find Grandma Sally's latest news from Tennessee.

Besides, if your opt-in system is healthy, working well, and gathering new subscribers as it should, this minor setback will not have much of an effect on your business as a whole.

On the other hand, your business will be best served if you take steps to minimize opt-outs as much as possible. While email marketing ethics demand that you keep the opt-out process simple, easy, and fool-proof, there are a number of things you can do to retain the subscribers that you have. Your goal is to prevent them from even thinking about clicking the unsubscribe link.

Here are a few suggestions.

1. - Strive to keep the content of your mailings fresh, interesting, and professionally formatted. Provide good information and other obvious benefits in each issue of your ezine or newsletter. Even solo ad mailings can be written to contain at least some educational value and useable information.

2. - Identify yourself in each mailing with a full signature line and URL to your website. Keep in mind that you probably are not the only marketer who is sending email to your recipient. Be sure that she can quickly and easily recognize your mailing, rather than mistake it for just another anonymous piece of junk email.

3. - Personalize each mailing with the recipient's first name whenever possible. Most list mailing softwares will enable this by the insertion of a simple piece of code into the body of the message. While most receipients know that the personalization is mechanical, it still has a desired effect.

4. - Frequently manage and edit the subscriber names on your list for proper capitalization and other formatting problems. A personalized greeting of 'Hello jerry027' will not build much in the way of reader rapport.

5. - Resist the urge to over-mail, no matter how desperate your need is to generate sales. Practically anyone will be quick to unsubscribe when she finds her inbox being slammed daily with your email messages.

6. - Make every effort to answer any and all personal inquiries from subscribers within 24 hours. Believe it or not, this isn't a common practice with many online marketers. Some tend to reply only when they smell money. A prompt answer to a subscriber's inquiry will not only demonstrate respect and consideration, it will set you and your business far above many others in the minds of your subscribers.

7. - Give, give, and then give some more. Of course, we're not suggesting that you give away your products or your services on a wholesale basis. Yet you must be willing to give of your time, your effort, and your committment to quality.

While it should be made clear and evident to all that you are operating a business for profit, your obligation to your subscribers is to cultivate a win/win situation for all involved. When you are successful in that effort, very few subscribers will even think for a moment about clicking your opt-out link.

Dan B. Cauthron has been involved in direct marketing more than 30 years. He offers FREE No Nonsense Marketing Advice and Tested Tools and Resources at: http://DanBCauthron.com

© Copyright 2005 - Dan B. Cauthron All Rights Reserved Worldwide


How NOT To Appear Like A Spammer

Unless you use the Internet only for surfing and never... Read More

5 Rules of Forwarding E-mails

Forwarding of e-mails is one of the topics I get... Read More

Online Marketing Through Newsletters

So you want to start publishing an online newsletter? Why?... Read More

How To Write E-mail Messages For Phenomenal Results

Would you be interested in getting 10 times better results... Read More

Is Your E-Address Unprofessional?

How much time did you spend on deciding on the... Read More

Yes, Please Do Come In, But Better Watch Your Step!

This little parody, and the comments that follow, were... Read More

Autoresponders - One Simple Trick That Will Improve Your Results

Autoresponders, or responders, are simply programs that allow you to... Read More

The #1 Thing You Must Have Before Even Thinking About Building An Opt In Email List

It's not a website.It's a smart autoresponder and mailing list... Read More

Newsletters that Work

Offer a newsletter in a time frame that will be... Read More

Autoresponder Services that Boost Your Business

In the world of ecommerce, millions of sites are fiercely... Read More

Who Else Wants to Sky Rocket Their CD Sales, Fan base and Indie Music Career?

If YOU Answered YES, Then Start An Online Newsletter?It's Easy,... Read More

A Little Secret That Produces BIG Results

What if I told you that with each passing day,... Read More

How To Build Your Greatest Opt-In List

I get e-mails all the time from people on my... Read More

Creating A Newsletter And Making Your Website Magnetic

Creating a newsletter is an ideal way to drive repeat... Read More

Sequential Autoresponders Build Customer Relatonships

A powerful reason for making the switch from using the... Read More

Lost: 200 emails gone missing. Last seen on the 25.10.2003

Sound familiar? Ever wondered what happens to those unopened emails... Read More

What?s the Value of an E-mail Address?

Although it may not be practical to put a dollar-sign... Read More

Autoresponders An Important Part Of Internet Marketing?

Setting up and using email autoresponders on your site is... Read More

The Name Squeeze ? Should You? Shouldn?t You?

This is a little "beauty" of an idea if you... Read More

Email Etiquette: How To Send Emails People Will Read

You may remember a time before there was email?a time... Read More

7 Key Items To Include In Your Email Signature File

One of the most important and often overlooked methods of... Read More

Ten Tips to Building Your Opt-in List.

To build and maintain your opt-in list requires constant attention.As... Read More

Creating Effective Opt-in E-Mail Campaigns

It's been said before, but important to re-emphasize, e-mail is... Read More

Why Does Nobody Visit My Web Site?

After endless hours of writing, designing and programming your brand... Read More

8 Tips to Increase Response in Email

Opt in email marketing is no different than normal direct... Read More