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As you ship packages you should include a postcard or form that makes it easy for your customers to join your list. They can send this form back to you, and you can enter their e-mail address manually. Another option is to explain the advantages of being on your list and direct them to a website where they can go sign up themselves.
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This is a great strategy because you know that the people who are receiving a shipment are proven customers. That means there are a lot more likely to be responsive.

Of course a better alternative would be to invest in a shopping cart that has an autoresponder built in. That way your customers can automatically be added to your email lists.

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There are some people who have e-mail accounts that cannot handle HTML. Still others do not wrap the text very well. You want to make sure you work with your autoresponder company’s tools to ensure that your e-mails are able to reach as many people as possible.
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This often means including an HTML version and a text version of every e-mail you send. You should also realize that some spam filters will give you spam marks against HTML. That is why some marketers stick with strictly text.

Nicole Dean of EasyPLR.com had this to say,

“I use text only in my email messages, as opposed to .html for one reason – because that’s what I would use to send a message to a trusted friend or to a family member. My list is my extended family and I want them to feel like they’re receiving a message from a friend when they see my name in their inbox.

Now, if I were selling shoes in a big ecommerce shoe website, and wanted to include graphics of the latest designs – that would be a completely different story. But, for an online marketer of content and information and recommendations – text works just fine for me.”

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One of the most frustrating things that marketers have to deal with is getting spam complaints. There are just some people out there that do not realize they will receive e-mails, even though they have signed up for an e-mail list. This might sound facetious, but it’s very true. People might think that they are simply going to get the one special offer or freebie e-mail and not continue to receive them. If they do receive additional emails and they are not sure why, they might hit the spam button. Some people also hit the spam button rather than hitting the delete button.

The best way to decrease the spam complaints you receive {{{List_Building_101|premium}}}is to make sure people know what they are signing up for. Clearly outline that you will send messages regularly to help them. Making this clear may prevent some potential problems.

Also, make sure every e-mail you send your list is in their best interest. If you keep sending them offers that are not in their best interest you will get spam complaints.

There are 24 more tips to avoiding the spam trap at www.GetEmailResults.com

If you heed this advice and you still get a few spam complaints here and there, don’t worry. There will always be people who just do not understand. Your autoresponder provider will provide you with some guidelines to watch out for to make sure your spam complaints are not too high.

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As a marketer, the chances are good that you’re receiving emails from several other lists. Do you notice that you open some marketers e-mails more than others? You can learn a lot from this.
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Save the e-mails that really grab your attention and make you respond, either by “labeling” them if you’re using Gmail.com or sorting those messages into a folder marked “Hot Copy”.

You can “swipe” certain copy ideas (not the subject lines themselves, but the ideas used) for use in your own e-mails to make them more attention-grabbing and response-inducing.

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This tip goes along with the one above dealing with spam. As an e-mail marketer you need to make sure that you have permission to send people e-mails. This means that they must opt-in to your list rather than you e-mailing them out of the blue.

You have two options for creating an autoresponder list:

1. Single Opt-in: Your reader signs up on your website and is automatically added to your list.

2. Double Opt-in: Your reader signs up on your website and is sent a confirmation email that contains a link that must be clicked before adding him/her to your mailing list.

Many marketers choose a double opt-in. Why?

The second step reminds people that they have, in fact, signed up to receive messages from you. This can cut down on many of the complaints that might otherwise occur. It also prevents spammers from submitting fake emails to your autoresponder and clogging up your account.

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As your list grows, you will want to split test your messages. You might find that the way you set things up in the beginning was not the optimal way. We all want to improve our results and split testing makes that achievable. By tweaking a few things here and there you can increase your open rate and the desired responses your list makes.

If you have a good autoresponder company, the chances are good that they will provide you with the information and tools you need to split test.

Companies like Aweber will automatically send half of your list one message and the other half a different message. They will then track the results so you can compare them and make changes.

A hosted solution, like from AWeber, has all of the functionality built-in on their own systems. They install, configure, upgrade, and maintain the software and databases that you use when you create an account.

An “install yourself” solution is just what it sounds like: YOU install, configure, upgrade, and maintain software and databases on your own system. It’s cheaper in the short-run because you can do all this, but in the long-run, it can become an onerous burden.

I wholeheartedly endorse AWeber, but there are a ton of other services out there that are similar (just break open a google search and find dozens).

For a really quick primer on how to set up an autoresponder that is serviced by somebody else (a hosted solution), pick up a copy of this report, called How to Set Up Your Autoresponder.

In future posts, I’ll show you how it’s done. You’ll just get the information a little at a time, not all at once. The choice is yours.