The major disadvantage is that if you don't take proper care, you may be labeled a spammer.



The way to avoid this is to do things which will help your list members remember you. You also want to provide quality content to those who subscribe to your list.

Use these tips to help you establish a relationship with list members and get your emails read:

1. Avoid using lists you buy, or sites that claim to allow you to market to 100,000,000 people. Although some of these sites are reputable and do offer genuine opt in lists, many are not.

If a site claims to allow you to submit your email to 100,000,000, usually that site has used some type of robot to gather those emails addresses. You also have no way of knowing whether your offer relates to the potential customer unless you ask.

2. Use an autoresponder system. The mark of an amateur, or a spammer for that matter, is someone who sends you an email and tells you simply to send an email with "remove" in the subject. Although there are email systems where you need to send an email to unsubscribe, these systems will be easily recognizable.

If they're using Gmail, Yahoo, or some other free email, you can bet that email inbox isn't attended. You're wasting your time by sending an email to be removed. My experience has been that you get even more email. Just mark it as spam and prevent the sender from reaching your inbox in the first place.

Autoresponders allow you to include an unsubscribe link. When readers know they can unsubscribe immediately, they're less likely to file a spam complaint.

3. Make your contact information visible within your email.

You want your readers to have a way to contact you. You also want to make your readers more comfortable by letting them know they can get in contact with you. Provide a link to your support desk or an email address you answer.

4. Offer a privacy policy clearly on your site.

Subscribers want to know their privacy is protected and you won't sell their email addresses. There are plenty of standard privacy policies available on the internet you may download and add to your site.

Remember, a privacy policy establishes credibility for you, and it's easy to include one on your site.

5. Keep your emails short and sweet.

The shorter your email the better. This keeps your email from getting trapped in the bulk mail or spam folder.

The unfortunate thing with email, especially if the subscriber is new, is that he or she will frequently empty the bulk mail folder without checking to see if anything important is there. One easy way to avoid this is to simply write shorter messages.

These tips will make it easier for you to get your emails through to your readers and help you build a relationship with them.