Manage Your "Subscribe" and "Unsubscribe" Requests

One of the most important things you can do to minimize your headaches--and maximize your profits--is to stay on top of your "subscribe" and "unsubscribe" requests. This is especially important if you don't have an automated system for managing subscriptions to your opt-in list.

Always treat requests to unsubscribe from your list seriously. People who aren't promptly removed from your list after making an unsubscribe request can accuse you of spamming them, and you can quickly find yourself in trouble with your ISP.

Of course, it's just as important that people who ask to be added to your list are subscribed right away, since you never know which one of those subscription requests is going to end up being your best customer.

If your subscribe and unsubscribe requests aren't handled automatically, you should take care of them right before you send out a mailing. This ensures that your list is as current as possible, and it also means that you don't have to deal with this chore on a daily basis.

Remove Duplicate Addresses

Before you send any mailings, you'll want to make sure that you don't have any duplicate e-mail addresses in your list. There will always be some people (more than you might think) who'll opt in to your list and come back later and sign up again, forgetting that they've already joined.

Now, people are happy to get one copy of your e-mail, but start sending them multiple copies and just watch how fast they unsubscribe from your list--or worse yet, report you as a spammer!

This kind of spam complaint is relatively easy to clear up, but it's still a hassle, and instead of having a potential customer who was so excited about what you had to offer that they signed up twice, you now have nothing.