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Build a Quality Mailing List

So here's what I learned about building a quality mailing list, for whatever it's worth to you.

1. Build the Right Way. The most important thing you can do is to build your own mailing list. Do not buy, rent, or trade lists. Do not use robots to scrape email addresses. The people on those types lists don't know you and haven't given you permission to email them. To protect yourself from legal issues and to maintain a good reputation you want to be sure your subscribers have clearly opted-in to your email lists.
   
   For maximum protection use a double opt-in process. While the extra step required for double opt-in means you may lose a few potential subscribers, that may be a blessing in disguise. It can weed out those whose interest was limited and would likely be less engaged and less likely to open your emails. You'd be paying to have them delete your emails without reading them. Less engaged subscribers are also more likely to hit the "report spam" button rather than to unsubscribe.
2. Apply to Be White Listed. If you are using a reputable email marketing platform such as Aweber or Get Response, the good news is that your marketing email will be kept separate from your business email, and the provider manages the sender reputation.
   
   However, if you are building an in-house system, you need to ensure that you're recognized as a reputable sender as much as possible. Ask your subscribers to whitelist you, and include basic whitelist instructions at the end of your emails or link to instructions online. To go the extra mile, include instructions for the major ISPs and ESPs. To go the extra, extra mile, include instructions showing how to whitelist you in Spam Assassin for people who use their own domain email.
   
   In either case you can show subscribers how to whitelist you within their own email clients. Covering Thunderbird, Outlook, and Windows Mail will help a majority of them. This is typically done by having them add you to their address book/contact list.
   
   If you have more money than time there are companies you can hire to manage your white list submissions for you. In most cases I'd recommend using a third party email marketing platform so you won't have to fuss with whitelisting. If you do create your own in-house system, be sure to actively get on as many email white lists as possible.
3. Make the Unsubscribe Link Prominent. While it may seem counterintuitive to make your unsubscribe link prominent, it's always better to give users an easy way to unsubscribe.
   
   Why?
   
   Because if you don't, clicking the "report spam" button is very easy!
   
   The truth is, if people no longer want to receive your emails they are going to remove themselves from your email list one way or the other. Choose the method that is the least destructive to your sending reputation. It's the smart thing to do.
4. Manage Your Subject Lines Smartly. The subject line plays a significant role in whether your email is delivered or flagged as spam. It's the first 40 to 50 characters of an email subject line that users see because of space limitations. Longer is not better. In fact, the longer your email subject line is, the more likely it will be flagged as spam.
   
   Bonus: Here are five quick tips for writing subject lines that are less likely to trigger spam flags:
   • 1. Shorter is better as long as the message is compelling. Five to ten words is ideal.
   • 2. Avoid using ALL CAPS.
   • 3. Don't use spam trigger words. [ spam trigger words list ]
   • 4. Avoid special characters in your subject line and email.
   • 5. Avoid using a subject line that isn't relevant to the body content.
5. Avoid Trigger Words in the Body Content. After reading the previous item, this should be fairly obvious. Trigger words are trigger words, whether in the subject line or the body of the email. There are many free online tools that will scan your email content and give you a spam score. To find one, search for phrases like: "free email content spam checker" and similar. While these tools are imperfect, they can warn you if your email is clearly in the spam zone.
   
   The key is to understand the words and language that are often found in junk mail. Then, simply avoid writing like that. It may take a little more thinking and creativity, but that plays in your favor.
6. Control the Use of Your Domain. Because ESPs now track both the sender IP and domain name, it's important that you protect your domain name from getting a bad sender reputation. While controlling what you do is pretty straightforward, if you have an affiliate program, controlling what your affiliates do can be more challenging.
   
   Be sure to include terms in any affiliate deals or advertising deals regarding the use of your brand or domain in your affiliates' email marketing campaigns. Confront any rogue affiliates as soon as you learn of problems with them. Terminate their affiliate account if necessary.
7. Manage Image Use Smartly. Emails that are one large image or have too many images have a higher rate of being spam. So, emails like that have a higher probability of being flagged as spam. If you are having a difficult time getting your emails delivered, image use should be one of the first things you check.
8. Avoid Big Red. Huge headline size fonts and red fonts are known to have tripped spam flags. While not as critical as the other factors listed here, it's just a good idea to avoid spam triggers. Many of them are not enough to cause your email to be blocked on their own, but add enough together and you'll have trouble. There are lots of design options without using those known to have caused problems.

• 1. Use a reputable ESP so you'll have a team of experts managing sender reputation.
• 2. Build your own list of authorized subscribers.
• 3. Create quality email content that people want to read and doesn't read or look like spam.