Forum Moderators: mack
On my site I'm planning on allowing people to subscribe to a monthly newsletter. I'm also thinking about purchasing some mailing lists. My concern is that, as I understand the terms of my hosting agreement, if someone for any reason complains to my hosting company that I “spammed” them, then they can shut down my service. I asked my ISP about this & they said, “as long as noone complains there should be no problem”.
I appreciate my ISP's policy regarding this matter and I fully intend to be as considerate & ethical regarding my mailing list as possible, but I've heard horror stories concerning sites being shut down. (http://developers.evrsoft.com/article/internet-marketing/affiliate-marketing/the-poop-patrol.shtml)
What is the “best” way to address this matter? I've heard recommenations that I get an ISP soley for my mailing list.
I'm also wondering about the nature of purchased mailing lists. If I use one, am I spamming.
Thanks in advance. Sorry if my questions seem incrediably newbie.
In my opinion, using a purchased mailing list is probably spamming. You don't know where the addresses came from, and the people you are sending mail to certainly didn't give you specific permission to mail to them. Be particlularly wary of the 1 million email addresses for $199 type lists.
There are ways you can get your message out to someone else's list, however. There are companies called list brokers that act as intermediaries between list owners and mailers. They will help you select the best list for your message, and then show your message to the list owner. If the owner approves, then your message is sent out, either by the list broker or the list owner on your behalf. You never actually see the names that get the email, unless they click through to your site as a result of your message.
Typically this is not considered spamming, although the CAN-SPAM act is a little bit gray in this area. It also tends to be fairly expensive, but it can help you develop an in-house list that you couldn't get as quickly otherwise.
If you are particularly worried about spamming, I would create a double opt in system for people that sign up on your site to join your mailing list.
In a double opt-in system, once they sign up for your list, you send them an email that they have to reply to before they're actually on the list. This prevents someone signing up for the list using someone else's email address.
I think it will also help you if ever you are called on the carpet by your ISP for spamming. If you can show them that everyone that signed up for your list is double opt in, they are likely to be more lenient.
Thanks for the response. That all makes sense. I tested out the double-opt & unsubscribe features with my mailing list & all is well, so that is the way I'll go.
I don't have alot of $$ for mailing list or services, so I figure I'll just have prominate "subscribe" and "tell a friend" buttons & put my money into something like Adwords.
