Losing Subscribers Can Be Good For Your
Newsletter!
Copyright 2003 Jason Anderson
"Did I read that right?" I hear you say. "Why,
when I have struggled so hard to build up my
subscriber count, would I want to lose
subscribers?!?"
The reason is simple. You don't really want
subscribers. You want *readers* - people who can
receive your newsletter without any problems, can
read and follow directions, and actually *want* to
receive your newsletter.
Not all subscribers will fit these criteria, but
there is a simple way to filter some of those
people out before they ever join your
newsletter.
Make subscribing to your newsletter double
opt-in.
A quick explanation of what double opt-in is, in
case you have never come across the term
before.
Instead of adding someone to your newsletter
straight away when they subscribe, the potential
new subscriber gets sent a confirmation message.
The subscriber then has to follow the instructions
in the confirmation message (click a link, or reply
to the message) before they are added to the list.
In other words, they have to opt in to your list
twice (double opt-in).
Now the disadvantage of this method is fairly
obvious. For whatever reason (I'll get to that in a
moment), some people will never confirm their
subscription. So while you may get 100 people sign
up initially to your newsletter, only 70 may
actually confirm their subscription.
"A 30% loss!!" I hear you cry. "That's terrible!
I'm not going to use double opt-in if it loses me
subscribers!"
Not so fast. Yes, you may have lost 30% of your
new subscribers. But lets look at *why* they didn't
confirm their subscription.
Firstly, the "please confirm" message might have
been filtered out (probably without their
knowledge). While this is bad (and a growing
problem), if something as simple as a "please
confirm" message was filtered out, what do you
think would happen to your newsletter?
Secondly, they might not have actually bothered
to look at the message. Perhaps they thought it was
spam, perhaps they just open things that catch
their attention in some way. But if they didn't
bother for a 'please confirm' message (that you
would have told them to expect), would they bother
opening your newsletter?
Third, they might have changed their mind -
subscribing when they first heard about your
newsletter, but later deciding they didn't want to
receive it after all. This is excellent! Why?
Because you only want people on your newsletter
list who want to receive your newsletter.
Fourth, while they might have opened the
message, they might not have actually *read* the
message.
For instance, the system I use at the moment
requires a new subscriber to confirm their
subscription by clicking a link in the message.
Even though the message clearly says what to do, I
still get people who just reply to the message via
email. If they didn't read the confirm message, it
doesn't give me high hopes they would actually read
the newsletter if they were subscribed!
Now it is possible someone may get the 'please
confirm' message, but not actually understand what
they are supposed to do. This *is* bad (since they
may turn out to be one of your best customers once
they have learnt how to use a computer a bit more).
The only way to solve this is to make your confirm
message as clear as possible.
I used to worry about the number of subscribers
I was losing to the double opt-in process. I would
even email those that hadn't confirmed after
several days. I only had two people join after I
emailed them.
Double opt-in is good for your list. Give it a
try.
---
Jason is the editor of Achieve Net Profits,
where he interviews successful Internet marketers
each week. Save yourself time and money by learning
marketing directly from the pros! --> http://www.AchieveNetProfits.com/
[You may publish this article in your
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