Working With Coregistration Leads

Direct email marketing is part art, part science, and requires that you continually test and evolve your strategy to get the best results. I get quite a few inquiries from people wondering exactly how to initially contact their email leads, so this page is here to answer most of those questions and give you some ideas.

Your goal, regardless of the strategy that you use, is to get people interested enough in that initial email that they will want to stay on your single opt-in list, join another single opt-in list to get a free report or newsletter subscription, or join your double opt-in list for the same reason.

Many of my customers who report the best results use an autoresponder that does not restrict them from using single opt-ins, and they continue to email their leads a free newsletter until they unsubscribe. Other customers prefer to stick with double opt-in, and accept the fact that the list they can continue to mail to will be much smaller right from the start, since only a small percentage of coregistration leads will respond to the confirmation message. Still others use a combination of the two. One mailing system is used only with co-registration leads, while their "prime" list is maintained on a hosted solution that ensures maximum deliverability.

Which strategy you choose will in part determine which type of autoresponder solution is best for you. Keep in mind that if you ever decide to change hosted autoresponder providers, you will be required to use a confirmation message again, which will result in losing a sizeable portion of your list in the process. Consequently, where you will house your "prime" lists is a significant decision you should think about carefully.

Keep in mind also that you need to have realistic expectations when using any purchased co-reg leads. While these folks *asked* for information appropriate to "opportunity seekers", they have a wide variety of definitions of that term, and only a small percentage will respond to any given offer. If you can get 1% or 2% of your leads to "convert" to double opt-in subscribers, you'll be doing quite well. Sometimes you'll get more or fewer than that, and you have to "tweak" and test your offer, your subject line, and the content of your emails until you find the combination that works best for your target market. There is no substitute for testing and tracking your results, whether with PPC ads, email marketing, ezine ads, or any other form or advertising.

People who do this most effectively tend to use an offer of a free report or free ebook as a "bonus", and make people "register" (via either a single opt-in or double opt-in form) to collect the bonus. Some people also use various offers from CPA networks, such as coupons for free vacations, shopping cards, or whatever, but personally I think this is less effective, because you will get lots of folks signing up just for the "freebie" rather than for your newsletter. When you offer a free report or ebook related to the content of your newsletter you are getting a much more targeted type of subscriber.

One other point to ponder is the relative merits of using single opt-in versus double opt-in, even for your "prime" lists. The advantage to single opt-in is that you will retain roughly twice as many subscribers, at least in the beginning, and that usually results in more revenue for you. Double opt-in, on the other hand, gives you some degree of insulation from people successfully lodging a spam complaint against you, and the people on your list may be more motivated to receive your mailings, since they took the additional step of confirming their subscription. It also protects you from those nefarious characters who like to go around "spamming" web forms with fictitious information, and from unscrupulous competitors who may try to knowingly add other people to your list without your permission, hoping to trigger a spam complaint against you.

Finally, keep in mind the long term value of a subscriber. Many people make $1 or more per month, per subscriber, with direct email marketing campaigns. I'm not promising you that, or any result - just repeating a commonly mentioned statistic, and pointing out that your long-term results are the most important.

I know of a few very good marketers who say they make more like $3 to $5 per month, per subscriber. The point is, be patient, "warm up" your list, and treat those double opt-in subscribers like a gold mine. In the long run, your revenues from them can far exceed what you initially paid for your list.

Keep in mind that most autoresponder companies either will not let you upload any purchased leads, or restrict the volume that you can upload, and require you to send their canned, lifeless "confirmation email" and get a double opt-in before you can send any further email to your list. With the options below, you can get around the worst of these problems, while still maintaining good email marketing practices.

Option #1 - Best Biz Cart is my own "private label" autoresponder service, backed by 1shoppingCart, which provides the infrastructure, and the support services. You can upload 35% of your database capacity per day, and choose from one of eight pre-written confirmation emails, or design your own custom confirmation message (subject to administrative approval. This gives you much greater flexibility than most autoresponders, both in terms of being able to upload leads in quantity, and in terms of being able to send (with administrative approval) a custom confirmation message that entices the prospect to double opt-in to your newsletter or offer.

Option #2 - Get your own dedicated server, and use AutoResponsePlus. You can also know get a hosting account with ARP included . Either choice gives you the advantage of no daily upload limits, and no required confirmation message. You have to choose the host for your dedicated server carefully, however, as some do not allow bulk emailing of any kind, regardless of the source of your leads and prospects. Also be aware that when you go this route, you run the risk that sooner or later your domain and/or IP address will find their way onto a "blacklist" and your mail will suddenly become undeliverable. Being polite with people, responding to "unsubscribe" requests promptly, and not over-mailing your list will reduce the risk greatly, but it is still there, and still very real.

Option #3 - Use a bulk mailer such as GroupMail or World Merge or full featured automation software like Mail Loop, and send your initial emails through an account at AuthSMTP. A first email should encourage people to visit your lead capture page or the subscription form for your double opt-in publication, just as with Options 1 and 2 above. If you're using this option and want to send email via your own ISP, be sure to check their terms of service. Some will let you bypass the mail servers when sending, although most will not, and many restrict the number of emails you can send per day.

Regardless of which option you choose, you still have to do certain things to remain CAN-SPAM compliant. If you have any questions about what this entails, read and study the guidelines. Not only is this a matter of "good manners", it is a matter of law and you need to comply!