How to stop your email marketing being marked as spam

Should you promote your business via email?  Many may now fear that their email marketing could result in their emails being considered spam.  Read on to find out how to avoid the pitfalls and why email marketing is still considered in this article by Drew Michael to be more effective than RSS, Blogs and PPC.  Let me know what you think with a comment below.

Opt-In Email and eZine Advertising Still More Effective Than RSS, Blogs, and PPC!

By: Drew Michael

When you factor in all the costs related to promoting via an Opt-In Email or Ezine campaign you are still getting the best return on your advertising dollar investment than using RSS, Blogs or PPC. The measurable results are significantly faster than RSS and Blogs and less expensive than using Pay Per Click marketing. Without a doubt, Email and Newsletter advertising campaigns are still two of the best tools available to promote your product or service.

Email Marketing Campaigns

There are a great many people that are still reluctant to use what is one of the best marketing tools available today. Many marketers associate email marketing with spam and have concerns about being shut down by their ISP or hosting company. The fact is, done right and by following specific guidelines you have little to fear. Follow the guidelines outlined below and you will probably kick yourself for not using this tool a lot sooner.

1) CAN-SPAM COMPLIANT: Just about everyone receives hundreds of spam-related emails per week and that is the main reason a lot of legitimate businesses balk at using email marketing. But if you are a legitimate business you only need to do a few things to make your email marketing efforts legal.

(a) Subject Line: It should not be misleading in any way. It should relate to the body of the message and it is a very good practice that the first paragraph relate to the subject line.

(b) Specific Opt-Out Instructions: You must include a way for the reader to opt-out by supplying a link that works.

(c) Physical Address: If you work out of an office this is the address that should appear after your signature. If you work out of the home your home address should appear after the signature.

(d) From Address: Messages should be from the same "from address"

2) USE OPT-IN EMAIL ADDRESSES ONLY: This is very important. Use only Opt-In email addresses for your marketing efforts. There are many legitimate email suppliers so you have a lot of options. And even using 100% Opt-In Email Addresses does not guarantee that you won't have a few people complaining. But if you purchase addresses that include the full name, IP and date stamp you have proof of the opt-in just in case it is needed.

Additional Tips For a Successful Email Marketing Campaign

1) USE EMAIL MARKETING SOFTWARE: We like Broadc@st HTML Bulk Email Software

(www.myaffiliateprogram.com/u/mailwork/b.asp?id=1979) and GroupMail 5 (www.infacta.com/asp/common/groupmail.asp). Some of the suppliers listed below provide free email marketing software.

2) USE SPAM FILTER SOFTWARE: Don't let this software intimidate you. The software is easy to setup and use. It is a good idea to use spam filter software to filter out words or phrases that tend to get flagged by ISP spam filters. Some of the suppliers listed below provide free spam filtering software.

3) USE AUTORESPONDERS: Using an autoresponder will save you a lot of time and work. You can preload messages and assign specific criteria to when they should be sent. Some of the suppliers listed below provide free autoresponder software.

4) TUESDAY, WEDNESDAY & THURSDAY ONLY: For best results send your email campaign from Tuesday to Thursday. These are the days that will obtain the most attention to your message. Monday is usually bad because people are planning their work-week and getting tasks out of the way quickly. Fridays are bad because most people are already planning their weekends.

5) COME TO THE POINT IMMEDIATELY: Don't write a book. Try to be as brief as possible and outline your key points in the first paragraph. If you word it right the reader will read on.

Here is a short list of companies that supply 100% Opt-In Email Addresses.

Email Leads For Less

www.email-leads-for-less.com/Hot_100_Opt-In_Email_Leads.htm 

EmailResults.com

www.emailresults.com/default.asp 

Exact Sales Leads

www.exactsalesleads.com/ 

Expedite Media Group's Email Marketing Services

www.expedite-email-marketing.com/index.htm 

GetResponse Power Leads

www.getresponse.com/leads_offer.html 

Lifeline Leads

www.lifelineleads.com/default.php 

OptInDataSite.Com 

www.optindatasite.com/ 

PermissionDIRECT

www.permissiondirect.com/index.asp 

Prospects Influential

www.prospectsinfluential.com/ 

Red Clay Media

www.redclaymedia.com/ 

Salesleads.tv

www.salesleads.tv/index.html 

SimplerLeads.com

www.simplerleads.com/ 

TheListGuy.com

www.thelistguy.com/index.html 

Tip Top Leads

www.tiptopleads.com 

VentureDirect List Services Group

www.venturedirect.com/html/lsg-about.htm 

Please take note that the information contained in this article was up to date at the time of writing and is subject to change at any time. Additionally, it is not the authors intent to recommend or guarantee products or services of the companies listed. We believe that they are all legitimate and provide good products and services but readers are always encouraged to do 'due diligence' prior to making a purchase.

Author Bio
Drew Michael is a webmaster and marketer. He is the owner of The Business Junction at www.thebusinessjunction.com, a major software and entrepreneur directory. For a free subscription to The Business Junction Newsletter and free software downloads subscribe at: www.thebusinessjunction.com/Newsletter_Subscribers_SignUp_Page.htm

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