Our Online "Fetchin' Up"

If there is one ubiquitous lesson in the online world it is this: Everyone hates SPAM. Those who have been online long enough may even remember the day when people would actually seek out online email directories and list themselves, much like our phone numbers are listed in the phone book. Not today! We do everything in our power to stay our of directories and off of lists - well, except for social networks. But social networks are the domain of yet another new generation of Internet users. They grew up with SPAM. To them it is just a fact of life. The rest of us see it as a paralyzing social bane. That is, until we ourselves become online marketers.

Situational Ethics

The most right wing conservative Christians are tempted to SPAM once a portion of their income becomes dependent on reaching people on the Internet. Suddenly, the sellers of email harvesting tools and mass email programs are elevated from demons to saints, and the tools they sell find their way into our tool box.

Business By The Book

While the general import of this blog's title, "Business By The Book", refers to God's book, it goes without saying that staying in line with Scripture should generally keep us well within most laws, and the SPAM law is no exception here. It is the responsibility of everyone who enters into business online to become familiar with and obey SPAM laws. So the question becomes, "how do I build a big email list and still comply with the law?"

Starting Out

Everyone starts somewhere, and when it comes to building an email list, many begin with their own address book or inbox. It does seem natural, but this is the first place you want to begin practicing good online email ethics. First, be sure to separate your professional online life from your personal one. Don't use your personal email account for business. Have an email account that is business only. The best recommendation here is to purchase a domain of your own so your can have an email address that bears your business name. You will build your brand with every email message when you follow this simple practice. 30fold Domains is a great place to do this because for the already low price of a domain you also get a free email account and up to 100 email forwarding accounts!

Friends and Family

"So, can't I just add the people in my address book and my inbox to my subscription list?" No, not really. But if you have followed the advice above and distinguish your accounts, you certainly can send them a personal email to let them know how the family is, and what you are up to these days. In doing so, let them know if your new venture and invite them to join your email list. Also let them know what your new business address is so they can white-list it. You can even ask them to invite their friends and get the benefit of viral or social marketing. But do so in context of a personal email, not a thinly disguised marketing message. Let them know you'd like their help. And remember that this is a job for nimble fingers. You want to send these emails one at a time, not using a mass email program or with all their addresses stuffed into the "To" field.

A Signature By Any Other Name

In the "real world" a signature is a legally binding mark of identification. It is typically your name, even though it may not be legible. In the email world it can also include additional identifying information, such as phone number, your own email address, and perhaps a web address. Most email programs allow for automatically adding your signature to the bottom of each new email message you create. This may also be a good place to invite subscribers to your list.

Master (then Plaster) the Invitation

Once you go beyond your personal list, you must become more inventive. You must master the art of inviting. You need to consider all the reasons someone should join your list. Think about them. List them. Embellish them. The look for the best way to communicate that information. Once you have honed your invitation, "plaster it! What I mean is, be sure to put it in lots of (appropriate) places. Obviously, it should be a page on your website, with plenty of easy to follow links on other pages.

Naturally, you should also have a link to join your list on each email you send from your business account, so that when it gets forwarded, the new recipient can also easily join. You may also look for opportunities to have other people with lists to recommend your list, also featuring a handy "join" link. This touches the edge of another topic - "joint venture" partners. We'll talk about that in another post. But it is simply the idea that you recruit others into your efforts, and look for opportunities to help others in the same way when you find someone with good and useful information that you feel comfortable recommending.

Enticing Offers and Incentives

It is often helpful to give an added enticement to join your list. This can be almost anything, but it will work best if it is a) electronically deliverable and b) automated. The last thing you want to do is be successful getting lots of subscribers, then spending all your time fulfilling request for your free report, or whatever the incentive was. E-books and reports tend to be very popular, and both can be delivered in an automated fashion.

Something essential to understand when it comes to incentives and email lists is this. You can legally offer an incentive to a potential subscriber to join your list. You can ask others to invite people they know to join your list. But it is not legal to offer an incentive to others in order to get them to invite their friends. They have to be willing to do it because you asked and a) they like you, b) they trust you, c) they feel that you add value, d) they are married to your sister, or e) any combination of the first four reasons.

Comforting Assurances

Let potential subscribers know you will not abuse their trust. That can usually be embedded in language inside your privacy policy, but lift it out and say it in plain English, or the language of your target audience. Do not share your list with others. You may offer to add a invitation to someone else's list in your email, but never share or sell your list. A good, healthy list of people who want to hear from you is like money in the bank. If you give your account number away, your gold can easily disappear. Make sure you do a good job communicating what value membership in your list has. If it's nothing more than "buy my latest product," interest will quickly wane.

Once you have mastered the art of list-building, then simply do it regularly. Automate as much as possible, but be sure it gets done as a normal course of the business day. You should put nearly as much into building a good list as you do into marketing your product or service. In fact, you should actually think of it as your prime product or service. Think about this. You spend a dollar on an ad to draw someone who may look at your product or service once, then forget who you are. If you spent that same dollar on getting them to join your list, you can be there to remind them regularly of the benefits, and when their time to buy is right, last weeks newsletter will be fresh on their mind. So, yes, it is even worth spending advertising dollars on getting new list members.

Trusting Relationships

Throughout the process, remember that the most important thing you build is not a product. The most important thing you deliver is not a service. You must build strong, trusting relationships, and deliver value. if you do so you will profit today, and well into the future. The fruit of your labor will produce bounty year after year when you focus on building trust and building relationships, and delivering value. And as you do so, may you be blessed 30fold.