19 replies to this topic

[paulablake]

I have a new site, which has just gone live this week, and I am looking at all my options for marketing it. I have read a lot about email lists, and basically I would liek to know if anyone uses this option, if they can recommend any, and if they actually work??

Sorry if this is posted in the wrong place but I am still learning!!!

Paula

[Scottie]

Hi Paula!

That's called e-mail spamming and it's gone from being a bad idea to being dangerous since it's now illegal to spam according to the Can Spam act.

The only way to effectively do e-mail marketing is create your own list by allowing people to sign up through your site. Purchased lists are way too risky since those people on the list didn't specifically sign up to receive your commercial solicitation- a few complaints and your e-mail server can be shut down or blocked by the many blacklist sites out there.

Welcome to the forum!

[Randy]

Welcome Paula !

Ditto what Scottie said.

Did you hear about the guys who got arrested the other day for selling some 92 million AOL email addresses to spammers? It's important to remember that those are the type of folks you're dealing with if you purchase email lists.

[lyn]

Maybe think about looking at some lists, see who created them, then contact the original source about some co-promotion. Offer content to their e-letter or website, buy a banner on their site or offer to contribute something to their reward/incentive program. All ways to get direct contact with the people on the list and start building your own opt-in list.

L.

[Jill]

Welcome Paula!

Jill

[BobetteKyle]

Welcome to the forum, Paula.

Sorry if this is posted in the wrong place but I am still learning!!!

You came to the right place...a lot of good people hang out here.

If you would like to have a look at the Can Spam Act, it is here:
http://www.spamlaws....al/108s877.html
(Warning: grab some coffee, first!)

It really is risky these days to do stand alone email advertising to a list someone else has built...even when the list owner claims everyone's agreed to receive email from third parties. There are so many other ways to market a site, to me it just isn't worth the risk.

Here are a few more ideas for marketing your site that will likely get you better results:

Start your own email newsletter. I highly recommend confirmations. In other words, set it up so a new subscriber has to confirm - by responding to a confirmation email - that they really did request to be added to your list. This is because there are so many viruses out there that use random to/from addresses a lot of unsuspecting people can get added if no confirmation is required.

Ways to get subscribers:

If you already have an offline business, put an invite to join on invoices, packing slips, business cards, letterhead, etc.

Trade ads with another newsletter owner.

Put an invite in your signature (on forums or email)...always check forum/group rules about signatures first. Usually, a couple of lines are allowed where you can have a URL and a bit of promotional text.

Put a sign-up box or other call to action on your site.

Write articles and put a newsletter invite at the bottom in an "About the Author" or "Resource" section, then allow others to reprint your article for free as long as they keep your newsletter invitation at the bottom.

Buy ad space in email publications. This may have already been mentioned, but many newsletter publishers sell ad space or sponsorships in their newsletters. Buying ad space helps get the word out through a legitimate, established publication.

Here are some other, non-email ideas for getting the word out about your Website...

Pay Per Click advertising. The program of choice these days seems to be google AdWords. Overture has a popular program as well.

Articles. Same as above for promoting your newsletter, except talk about your site in the resource box instead of the newsletter.

SEO. Make your site attractive to both live visitors and search engines. There are many, many threads about that on these forums. Jill Whalen and many of the Moderators are SEO experts (I'm just a more general marketing geek :doh: ).

Groups. Hang out in and contribute to forums/groups who's participants are likely to be interested in your Website. Over time, people will get to recognize you and start poking around your site. I almost always notice a spurt in sales after I've been particularly active in forums.

There are many more techniques for marketing a Website...these should keep you busy for a while though.

Best of luck!

[paulablake]

Hi!

Thankyou all for your warm welcome!

What about sites that offer you the choice of being able to send an email to their opt-in subscribers? surely this is not spam?

I should say I am based in the UK and not sure that we have any laws at all over here.

We do have an option where people can opt-in or not to our mailing list, however it is getting people there in the first place. I have contacted many other sites asking re recipriocal links, banner exchanges and advertising (we are willing to pay!) however I dont seem to be getting much joy, probably because of the nature of my site (Gambling!) it seems to be a bit of a grey area!!

I have also done the SEO option and joined groups, but would be interested in the advertising space on newsletters, or the Pay per click options.

I will look at other options, but we have national magazine adverts coming up in FHM and New Woman magazines, in August and have contacted several papers/tv companies cos my story is quite special! but its the waiting...... its so annoying!

Thankyou for your help so far!

Paula

Edited by paulablake, 27 June 2004 - 10:44 AM.

[BrianR]

I should say I am based in the UK and not sure that we have any laws at all over here.

Welcome to the forum, Paula - hope you enjoy being with us.

Yes, there are UK laws re email marketing - they were enacted last year, I think. Do a search on the DTI site or perhaps the DMA site to find the relevant legislation, or to be safe, take advice from an email marketing company.

BrianR

[paulablake]

Thanks BrianI will give that a go.

[BobetteKyle]

I should say I am based in the UK and not sure that we have any laws at all over here.

EuroCAUCE has some information here:
http://www.euro.cauc...tries/c_uk.html

Also, I think the US law applies to emails received in US regardless of where it originated.

[Note: After reading Brian's note, I think the above link may not have the most recent legislation. Best to do a search.]

What about sites that offer you the choice of being able to send an email to their opt-in subscribers? surely this is not spam?

There are some newsletters whose members have agreed to receive Solo Ads through the publisher...these are emails sent X times a week/month that include a paid advertisement. If the subscriber base is stable and knows they've agreed to receive these, plus the email is sent by the publisher (not you) it's generally no problem. I have doubts about effectiveness, though.

I dont seem to be getting much joy, probably because of the nature of my site (Gambling!) it seems to be a bit of a grey area!!

I'd say you are right. Almost all steer clear of gambling sites, I think because of the questionable regional legalities involved when people from anywhere in the world can access that site and/or they personally do not approve of gambling...you likely won't have any luck at all in that arena.

its the waiting...... its so annoying!

That's generally how it goes...a lot of hard work and waiting and hoping and tweaking for results. I like to have several things going at once so I don't have time to dwell on the waiting part.

[paulablake]

thanks, thats really helpful, I do have a few things on the go, and a full time job to take my mind off the waiting!!

Paula

[BobetteKyle]

Hi Paula -

I just took a look at your site. When you said "gambling" I assumed you meant casino games - blackjack, poker, etc. What you have is more like sweepstakes/contests. I think those are in bit of a different category. If you describe your site in terms of sweepstakes or contests instead of gambling you may have more luck in getting ads, etc.

There are some directories out there that take submissions. Have a look here:
http://www.websitema...s_Resources.htm under "Sweepstakes, Contests, and Promotions Directories".

You may also find some places to list your site under "Freebies" on that same page. As FYI, both of these categories tend to use a lot of pop-ups, etc., so if you don't have a pop-up blocker, be ready to close several windows.

[paulablake]

Excellent, thankyou everyone for your help, I hadnt thought my site wasnt gambling, but it is a Prize draw by law so i guess it isnt!

thankyou again!

[John_Glube]

Hi!


I should say I am based in the UK and not sure that we have any laws at all over here.

A quick bit of history. In 1992, the EU passed a directive dealing with online marketing. The EU gave each member nation two years to bring its law in line.

The UK proclaimed the relevant regulations on September 18, 2003. The regulations went into force on December 11, 2003. The regulations are titled:

"The Privacy and Electronic Communications (EU Directive) Regulations 2003"

The specific regulations dealing with email marketing are regulations 22 and 23.

(Be aware some of the terms are defined. The definitions are found in regulation 2. Also, regulation 30 creates a private right of action.)

The UK Information Commissioner administers the enforcement of these regulations and has published two very informative booklets to guide people on compliance issues.

In dealing with consumers, the UK is an opt-in regime with an opt-out option based on a pre-existing business relationship. The rules are different for marketing to businesses.

There are some sticky requirements concerning the use of 3rd party opt-in mailing lists for advertising purposes.

Prior to the passage of the Anti-Spam regulations, it was generally understood in the UK an email marketer could rent an opt-in list created by a 3rd party and send direct marketing email to this list.

This changed with the passage of the Anti-Spam regulations. The key issue is how did a person come to be on the list.

The marketer needs to know:

* How was the list created.

Many marketing companies create mailing lists through the use of co-registration techniques.

An online surfer visits a web site and is invited to sign up to win a prize of some sort.

In the past, when signing up for this kind of list, although marketers claimed the person was agreeing to receive advertising, sometimes marketers used questionable tactics in making this clear to people.

The boxes indicating consent might be pre-checked. The disclaimer statement was buried in a link to another page. The privacy language might have some language which makes it appear your contact information would not be sold, rented, etc. when in fact the direct opposite was true.

* Under the guidance provided by the UK Information Commissioner and subsequent working documents issued by the EU, it is quite clear these sorts of tactics are "verbotten."

* In essence, for a UK marketer to rent a list from a 3rd party, the people on the list must clearly understand (i) by subscribing, the person is inviting receipt of direct marketing email messages concerning one or more topics from third parties and (ii) the consent must be verified.

How does the list owner achieve these objectives:

* The use of an unchecked box with a disclaimer statement with the individual he or she is inviting receipt of direct marketing email messages about [insert type of messages] from [third parties].

* By having a person verify their consent. This is best done by the person being told she will be sent an email containing a link and she needs to confirm her consent before her name can be entered in the draw, assuming for example the person is signing up to win a prize and in so doing is inviting receipt of marketing email from third parties.

In his guidance document, the UK Information Commissioner has suggested by using the language 'invite receipt' this makes it clear the messages are solicited, so making the consent granted acceptable within the confines of the UK Anti-Spam regs.

* Given the wording of the regulations, it is felt the list owner should collect the name of the recipient, along with their email address.

* The regs also set out specific requirements as to what must be included in the message. To avoid problems, no false headers, no deceptive subject lines, a functioning opt-out link and a valid mailing address to which recipients can write and request removal from the list (this is required by the regs).

Also, should the list owner do the mailing, you may want to know whether:

* the owner has published a sender policy framework (SPF) record for the domain used in the mailing;

* the domain is listed with an accreditation service.

SPF is a protocol allowing the domain owner to authenticate to receiving mail servers that the domain listed in the mail from address is authorized to send email from the IP address of the mail server used by the domain to transmit messages.

SPF is in early stages of adaptation by the market, although recently received a boost with the FTC's call for implementation of one standard for authentication in its report on the feasibility of a National Do Not Email Registry for the United States and the subsequent release of a policy statement by the Anti-Spam Technology Alliance. British Telecom is a member of this group.

An accreditation service vouches that the domain owner follows good email practices. The use of accreditation services is presently not wide spread and is subject to some controversy.

However, with the implementation of sender authentication, ISPs will check first whether the sender is authenticated and then want to know whether the sender has a good reputation.

To aid in this process, if the sender is new to the market, perhaps had difficulties in the past which have since been rectified, or generally wants to enhance delivery rates, list owners will want to give serious consideration to being enrolled with an accreditation service.

You can read a copy of the UK Anti-Spam Regs here:

learnsteps4profit.com/antispamuk.html

- and -

You can pick up a copy of the Guidance Booklets here:

learnsteps4profit.com/antispamukg.html

- or -

Simply go to the UK Information Commissioner's web site:

informationcommissioner.gov.uk/eventual.aspx?id=35



Trusting these comments are of some value.

Kind regards

John Glube
Toronto, Canada

[Edited after original post]

[BrianR]

John

Thanks for a comprehensive overview - very impressive.

BrianR