Chapter 5: How to Send Commercial E-mail Responsibly

Here's a great saying that I sometimes like to refer to:

What that basically means to me is "don't repeat the mistakes that someone has already made." You'll only waste your time.

I'm a great believer in saving time and avoiding headaches whenever possible. If there is a way to minimize frustration or "trial & error," I'm all for it. It's probably why I love e-mail marketing so much. Once you learn the system, it's very easy to use.

Yes, you can learn a lot from your own mistakes. But, if you can learn from the mistakes of others, you really do save a lot of time and a lot of pain - especially in business.

Remember, in business, time really is money . For example, if you're selling a $50 product that takes you a whole day to create, you're in trouble. Because, no matter how great the product is or how much the customers love it, you are only earning $50 per day! That's before expenses and taxes!

This chapter is will help you save a lot of time, trial & error, headaches, and maybe even money.

I will show you what to do and what not to do. In a nutshell, you are learning from the mistakes I made and the testing I did, as well as from the mistakes many other people made. Believe me, that is priceless.

That is really the best benefit you will get out of this product. You really can't put a price to that. I just wish someone had a manual like this when I started marketing online.

If I had had a thorough instruction manual on e-mail marketing when I started online, it would have saved me a lot of time and a lot of money! I would definitely have earned more profits by now because I would have started building my list early on - years worth!

Onwards . . .

You already know that there is a huge difference between spam and responsible commercial e-mail. What really makes one so different from the other is the actual process by which it is executed, every step of the way.

If you don't follow the steps as outline in this manual, you will probably be accused of spamming. You'll have to spend a lot of time and energy in getting a lot of mail out only to make a few dollars in profit.

To review:

• You will have to send out thousands and thousands of mail hoping to get a few orders. It's like shooting in the dark hoping to hit the mark. This can be very time consuming and labor intensive.
• You will upset most of the people on the list.
• They will complain to your ISP.
• Some will go as far as to send you hate mail, mail bombs, even threats of physical harm.
• Your ISP will shut you down immediately (without prior warning) and usually without willing to hear your side of the story
• You may even have to seek legal advice to defend yourself which is a losing battle to begin with.
• You will lose time and money by having to start all over.
• And worst of all, you won't make much money at all.

On the other hand, when you do it right, you will probably never receive any complaints at all.

Of course, you have to understand that there are some people who are whiners. They are not happy no matter what you do. If it rains, they will complain. If it shines, they will still complain. These people are never happy. They live to complain and whine about "something."

Fortunately, these people are easy to spot. Since they complain so much about every little thing, it's hard not to notice them. They won't do you much damage if you follow my guidelines. I run into them very rarely. And, since I started using the system that I'm sharing with you in this manual, I have not received any complaints. None at all.

If you do happen to add one of these whiners to your list and they complain about receiving mail from you to your ISP, you can defend yourself easily since you have proof that this person "opted-in" to your list. Just explain to the ISP what you're doing and show them proof of the "opt-in" request you received from the complainer. Also, promise your ISP that you will remove that person's address from your list. Then, immediately remove that person from you list.

Since you have informed your ISP beforehand of what you are doing (opt-in mailing,) you're both better prepared for this type of a situation.

Listen, there are no guarantees in life. Similarly, there is no way I can guarantee you that you will never get any complaints at all.

Here's what I can guarantee you. If you use my techniques just like I show you, you will do very well and keep complaints to almost zero. In those rare cases when some whiner complains about your sending mail "after" willingly opting-in to your list, you have proof of the "opt-in" mail that you received as your defense, and you can settle the matter quickly and painlessly.

The best thing for you to do is to know ahead of time that you may get one or two whiners added to your list. Now that you know this, you can do your very best to use the techniques given in this manual to minimize any complaints.

You also have to realize that the success and profits that you can generate by using responsible e-mail marketing will heavily outweigh the couple of phony complaints you "may" have to deal with.

In a nutshell, if you follow the system given here just as I reveal to you, you will probably "never" get any complaints at all.

As I mentioned earlier, I have never received any complaints at all from using responsible e-mail marketing.

Also, keep in mind that if you miss any of the steps given here, you will be heading for trouble and I will not be responsible for the consequences.

Stick to my plan, step by step, just as I've provided you here and you will do just fine.

One last tip: When people join your "opt-in" list, send them an acknowledgement immediately. This acknowledgement can be in the form of a "thank you" note or a "welcome" note, etc. It lets the prospects know who you are, reminds them of the list they just joined, and prepares them to accept messages from you in the future. You can use an autoresponder to automatically send everyone this initial 'welcome' note.

Now, here's how it's done . . .

To eliminate complaints to almost zero when using responsible, commercial e-mail:

• Don't send mail to anyone that is not on your list. That's spamming. And that's a no-brainer.
  
• Only send mail to people who have willingly opted in to your list - again, a no-brainer.
  
• Personalize your email messages, whenever possible, even though you are mailing to a friendly "opt-in" list. When people see their own names at the beginning of an e-mail message, they know that it's probably not "spam." They also feel special and singled out, and consequently more open to receiving your message.
  
• Briefly remind the recipients of who you are. Some people tend to forget that they opted in to your list. Remind them of who you are or how they joined your list. This confirms for them that your mail is "not" spam. Moreover, when they realize that they have opted-in to your list, it is unlikely that they will complain about receiving your mail. If after receiving your mail they decide that they are not interested, they will simply ask to be removed.
• If someone from your list requests not to receive your messages anymore, remove that person's address from your list immediately.
  
• Match the product to the list. As I've explained before, sell people what they "want" to buy. For example, if you've got a mailing list containing e-mail addresses of baseball players, don't send them e-mail about fishing supplies. Send them offers about baseball stuff.
• Create your e-mail sales message appropriately to increase your chances of getting more orders. (You will learn how to do this in the next chapter.)
• Know your list! Your own list is always the best list. However, if you decide to use someone else's list, you have to make your own judgement as to how risky it would be to use that list. Pick your lists very carefully.

That's all there is to it.

Follow all of the steps given above and you will virtually eliminate complaints. Plus, you will build the kind of relationship with your customers that most companies only "dream" of. I am not joking. This is very real and very, very effective.

Now, let's learn how to create a "killer" sales message so people will "want" to buy your product.

The next chapter: Chapter 6: Create an E-mail Message That Gets Orders