Unsolicited email is considered to be spam by most people. It doesn't matter how great you think your product is or how helpful you think your information might be, if an individual didn't ask for your email, you're a spammer, plain and simple.
Recipients' potential course of action takes many forms: from annoyed deletion, to email requests for removal, to opting-out when available, to reporting you as a spammer. The last option is potentially the most devastating to you. If you're using an email marketing service, you just might find yourself reprimanded or suspended, because all reputable services have anti-spam policies. But if you're sending such email out of your own personal email program, like Outlook, the results could be much harsher. You could actually be blocked by your email host. That means that you can't send or receive email, and you'll likely be in for a battle with your ISP to get it restored.
So, what's a good marketer to do with that handful of business cards freshly collected at some event? You're certain that these people would benefit from your nuggets of wisdom, so how can you safely add them to your email list?
Best practice is to have a welcome email ready to go that invites them to opt-in to start receiving your eZine. I know that this sounds counter-intuitive because this is also unsolicited email, but it's all about perception. This email is an invitation with a promise that they will never hear from you again if they don't choose to opt-in. People tend to be much more relaxed with such a respectful invitation than the harsh intrusion of an automatic email subscription.
Make sure this invitation email has a compelling incentive. Give something away. Have a contest. Make it fun and attractive. Most of all, make sure that this initial email is so jam-packed with great, topic-specific content that they want more. Create desire. Then work hard at fulfilling that desire with every issue.
It's also good practice to use a reputable email management system, like Constant Contact. This ensures that your ISP won't flag you as a spammer. It also provides great internal tools that make the whole process easy and provides clear a opt-out when someone wants to go. There are many email management options, so be sure to do your research before contracting with the most popular one.
Bottom line, though, be respectful of your contact list. People will only accept email from you when they perceive value. Make sure you deliver even more than they expect every single time and they'll stick with you. But don't disrespect anybody by opting them into something that they didn't sign up for. If they didn't ask for it, it's spam, and you're a spammer.
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