The more people you have on your emailing lists, the more opportunities you have to build relationships and turn them into loyal, long-term clients or customers. But where to start? And how best to grow your list once you’ve built it? What pitfalls should you avoid in this process? Here’s some advice from the experts about how to get, and keep, new contacts.
 

How and Where To Collect Email Addresses¹

• On your website. Simms Jenkins recommends making signup accessible from every page, not just a landing page.
• Customer orders. Be sure to ask customers’ permission to be added to your mailing list before doing so, though. More on permissions below.
• Offline. Use direct mail, print ads, billboards, and other offline venues to send people to your signup page.
• The "fishbowl". If you’ve got a bricks-and-mortar store, collect addresses at the point of sale. Also, provide a spot for signups at conferences and trade shows.
• Surveys. Again, ask survey takers for permission before placing them on the mailing list.
• E-newsletters. Place forward-to-a-friend links in every newsletter, so readers can recommend you.
• Promotions, discounts, and giveaways
• Viral campaigns
• List exchange/rental. This technique can be tricky, though. We don't recomment it. Find out more about it below.
• Banner ads
• Affiliate and associate programs. Have a solid anti-spam policy in place before you do this.

Permission Types

If you wish to maintain your company’s good reputation in the marketplace, you cannot allow your email marketing approach to look like spam. As such, you should follow CAN-SPAM Act guidelines and never assume that you have permission to add someone to your mailing list. A customer who makes an online purchase, or one who responds to your e-survey, must still opt to receive your marketing messages for permission to be valid. There are two main ways people can opt in, and which form you choose is up to you:

• Single Opt-Ins

Here, a user must check (or uncheck) a “sign me up for the mailing list” box on a confirmation page, or enter their email address and click submit on a signup page. Single opt-in is a simple approach, but it does have some potential drawbacks:

Subscription errors
These occur when a user mistypes his or her email address. The ez.newsletter software automatically corrects many common subscription errors.

Invalid submissions
These happen when users enter an email address that does not exist.

False submissions
These occur when a user submits a fake email address or an address that does not belong to them.

List poisoning
Spammers may purposely poison your list.

• Double Opt-Ins

When someone signs up for your list, a confirmation message immediately goes to the new address. The user must then click a link in the confirmation message in order for the signup process to be completed.

This method is more complex, and you may lose up to 50% of new users with double opt-ins, but the trade-off is a much better quality list.

List Exchange/Rental

Rented and exchanged lists are dangerous; they could get you labeled as a spammer if you aren’t careful, and they may be of poor quality. But if you’re going to go this route, make sure that you:

1. Ask the list owner what form of opt-in was used and request proof of double opt-in. Don’t use a rented or exchanged list if the owner cannot prove that that people on the list chose to receive messages from other sources, and did so through double opt-in.
2. Ensure that the list owner has a good reputation.
3. Give preference to list owners affiliated with list quality control groups.
4. Make sure the list is not too old… if the list has not been used recently, many addresses may have fallen out of use, and active members may not remember agreeing to receive additional communications.
5. Use a statement of origin in messages going to the rented list.
6. Have traceability of contact, such as the date and location of opt-in and when the user’s profile was updated.
7. Make sure that the opt-out mechanism in your message is inserted and works properly, and honor unsubscribe requests right away.² Of course, the unsubscribe mechanism in ez-newsletter takes care of that last part for you.

These steps will reduce the chance that a rented or exchanged list will cause you trouble, and make it easier for you to prove that you aren’t a spammer if trouble does arise. Still, it’s safer and better to rely on building your own house list.

The best and safest way to make and grow your list is always to start from scratch. Collect addresses of interested parties where you can, make all of your other marketing efforts work with your mailing list, and never underestimate the power of good old fashioned word-of-mouth.

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