It’s true. Bigger is not always better. And such is the case with email subscription lists. Now don’t misunderstand me, of course we all want fat, profitable email lists. However, the truth is, your list could be filled with deadbeats. Knowing of this possibility, it’s important to know the ins and outs of trimming your list.

Why should you trim your email list?

Think of it like pruning a fruit tree. It’s necessary to cut off some of the branches to promote future growth. In the end, your tree will be much healthier, and consequently much fuller. And as a direct result, your tree will yield more fruit.

The same goes for your email list. By cutting off the inactive subscribers, you set yourself up for future success. More fruit—or more sales.

When should you trim your list?

You should periodically analyze the quality of your email subscription list. And during this time you should trim the fat. But how do you know it’s time to cut someone? Well, you may want to cut a subscriber if:

• They sent a complaint about your emails—This one’s a no-brainer. If someone reports you as spam, cut them! However, the goal is to trim them before they complain. If you get too many complaints, your third party list manager may drop you.
• They aren’t responding to your reactivation attempts—Before you start cutting subscribers, you want to give them an opportunity to become active again. You might do this by offering a special discount, or perhaps a new product. If they fail to respond to your attempts, it’s probably time to say goodbye.

Once you trim your list, try to take measures to fight inactivity in the future. Make sure you engage the new subscribers frequently within the first month of signing up. Also make sure that what they see is what they get. Meaning, however you describe your email list in the beginning is how it will actually be. Don’t make any empty promises.

How should you go about trimming your email subscription list?

Make sure to take things slowly. Don’t just start chopping away. This is a careful, delicate process.

1. Identify your subscribers who are chronic non-responders.
2. Give them plenty of opportunities to get re-engaged.
3. Get more aggressive with yours offers. In other words, make them an offer that’s too good to refuse.
4. Send them a personal email designed to get them to take an action. Even if it is unsubscribing.

Remember, while you want to give your inactive subscribers plenty of chances to get re-engaged, you don’t want to overdo it. Eventually you need to let them go.

Do you trim your email list? How do you keep up with it?

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Spam can be seriously annoying. I recently moved my business email accounts to a new host where my former spam settings obviously were reset. And wow, was I ever astonished by how much spam came through! It’s amazing to think about how much our spam filters actually catch and keep away from us, because it’s easier to focus on the ones that still slip through the cracks.

Let’s talk about those spammers who still manage to reach our inboxes today with a few tips on how you can deal with spam and avoid more of it in the first place.

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Deal With Spammers in 3 Easy Steps

1. Blacklist the sender. You can do this through your ISP, email host, or email client. Blacklist the whole domain if it’s for a spam site.
2. Report persistent spammers to their ISP. For example, if the spam comes from a Gmail address, report it to Google. Unfortunately addresses can be faked, so this won’t always work, but it’s worth a shot. If you’re in the U.S. you can also forward spam to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) — forward it to spam@uce.gov.
3. Most importantly, never respond. Responding to spam just lets the spammer know that the account is actually monitored. It tells them they’re reaching a real person, and that could encourage more spam rather than less.

Prevent More Spam in the First Place

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One of the best ways to deal with spam is to prevent it in the first place. Of course one option is to never share your primary email address (some people use a separate “junk” email account for site registrations and email newsletters for example). But for businesses that’s often not an option — prospects need to know how to reach you. In that case, consider adding an email contact form to your website instead of an email address, and use Captcha to weed out automated spam.

You should also check your spam filters. If too much is getting through, take it up a notch. You could even go so far as to ask your ISP to allow only whitelisted addresses to get through (only friends and family you add to a list for example, so you have to pre-approve email senders similar to accepting a social media “friendship” before a person can message you there).

Another idea is to host your own email address (such as through your own website or blog) so you aren’t using a common generic extension like “gmail.com.” If spammers search for and harvest email by searching for these common extensions, they won’t find yours there.

I have yet to find a perfect solution for weeding out spam. Even with a whitelist-only option there’s always the chance an approved sender will be hacked and you’ll be auto-spammed (I know quite a lot of people who have had AOL email address hacked in recent years for example). Just be aware of your options. And whatever you do, don’t encourage the spammers by responding or you might never be rid of them.

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I don’t know about you, but I’ve been inundated with spam lately. I’ve seen an increase of spam on Twitter. I’ve been hit with a wave of LinkedIn-related spam (via email), and due to switching Web hosts and having my spam filter settings reset in the process, my inbox has been completely flooded with all kinds of spam.

I think spam today is actually a bit more interesting than old school spam. Sure, I still get the emails about male enhancement products and from make believe Russian brides (I think spammers forget that women use email too — those attempts don’t work on most of us). So today I want to share a few things I’ve noticed about the spam that does get through filters, and how spammers are trying harder to get your attention — although hopefully not succeeding.

1. The “re:” spam.

This kind of spam annoys me greatly. The subject line is set up to look like a reply to a previous email you sent. It tends to get through spam filters more than other general spam types from what I’ve seen. It’s still easy to identify once you actually look at it. But these are tougher to mass-delete because you don’t want to accidentally delete genuine replies alongside them. Therefore, you go through them a bit more slowly, and the spammers get what they want — more of your attention.

2. The “photos of your wife” spam.

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I received a spam message with that heading recently (and ironically a colleague tweeted about receiving the same thing that day). I’m an unmarried woman. So I didn’t see “photos of your wife” and have a shock-based reaction that drove me to open it and its attachments. But I could see that kind of shock headline hitting a non-spam-savvy married man like a ton of bricks, having him open the attachments expecting to see something awful. And he probably would — just a virus rather than pictures of a cheating spouse. It’s kind of scary, but you really have to be able to keep your cool while reading email these days apparently.

3. The “@reply” Twitter spam.

If someone spams you on Twitter via a direct message, you can report them and delete it. But Twitter spammers are getting smarter. Maybe it’s just my account, but I’ve seen an increase in @reply spam recently. They leech onto a keyword and auto-reply to spam you with a link, or they just go through lists tweeting the same marketing message to everyone. The problem? You can’t delete @replies like you delete spam DMs, even after reporting the person for spam and having them automatically blocked. Wouldn’t it be fantastic if @replies went “poof!” when someone was blocked? After all, the point of blocking someone is that you don’t want to see what they have to say and you don’t want them involved with your account in any way, right?

4. The “resume” spam.

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I’ve received a major onslaught of resume-related spam over the last week. The subject line usually just says “resume.” There is an attachment — supposedly of a resume. Some act like they’re applying for a job vacancy you advertised and some ask for feedback on their resume. I really can see how people could get sucked into opening these ones. The only reason I didn’t is because about ten of them came through at once, so I knew something was fishy. But I do often get students in my industry or readers of my blogs asking for similar advice and feedback via email. And if you run a business and you really did post a job ad recently, I can see how you might assume it’s safe to open. HR folks — just another reason to insist on specific email subject lines from applicants, and have them post resumes in-email rather than as attachments.

What about you? Have you seen a surge in any particular type of spam? Have spammers been getting better at making their spam look more legit? Are they catching your attention at all? Share your thoughts in our comments.

Email marketing has grown to become one of the most powerful direct marketing methods available today. In 2009, email marketing earned about $45 for every dollar spent on it. With such a high ROI (return on investment), it’s clear that when leveraged properly, email marketing can get huge results for little investment.

Of course, to get those results, you have to build your email marketing campaign correctly. And achieving this starts with avoiding these common email marketing mistakes.

• Emailing far too often—It’s like the story of the boy who cried wolf. If you send an email every other day about “Huge One-Time Only Deals”, your subscribers will soon stop paying attention to your messages. Why would they feel compelled to act when they know you’ll be having another big sale in just a few days? Additionally, sending too many emails can start to get annoying to your subscribers, leading to a high unsubscribe rate.
• Not emailing enough—Of course, just as bad as emailing too often is not emailing often enough. I’ve received emails from companies that I’d completely forgotten I’d signed up for because they hadn’t contacted me in months. You never want your customers to forget about you. At minimum, you should be sending them a newsletter once a month, but it’s better to touch base a little more often if possible.
• Buying an email list—Buying your email list is a bad idea for 2 main reasons:
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    1. It makes you look like a spammer. In order to put someone on your email list, you need to have their permission. This requires them opting in to join your email list. Buying a list can cause you to be seen as a spammer, and that can lead to serious trouble.
    2. It’s not targeted. No mailing list will ever be as targeted as one you build yourself. When you build your own email list, you know that everyone who subscribes to it is truly interested in receiving your offers and newsletters.

• Not focusing on the subject line—The subject line is the most important part of your message. If it isn’t a strong, benefit-driven subject line, your subscribers won’t be motivated enough to open the email. But that’s not the only reason your subject line is important. Remember, your email needs to clear spam filters. If your subject line sends up any spammy red flags, it won’t get delivered to subscribers.
• Not integrating email with social media—Here’s a stat to consider: 20% of Facebook, MySpace and/or Twitter users have posted or shared something from permission email to their social account(s) via a “share” option. – Merkle , “View from the Social Inbox” (2010). Social media is a fast-growing marketing tool you can use to spread your message far and wide. When combined with email marketing, social media can create a viral effect, increasing your brand awareness and getting you more conversions.
• Making it difficult to sign up for your list—Someone should be able to sign up for your email list in just a few seconds. Don’t make them jump through hoops or offer up a bunch of unnecessary information just to become an email subscriber. Make subscribing to your email list as simple as you possibly can.

 Consider enlisting the assistance of a marketing and advertising professional.

Does your business use email marketing? Why or why not?

The last time I wrote about email marketing on here, I discussed several tips for writing better email subject lines. We’ve also given you some tips on building opt-in email lists to improve your online marketing.  These are all fairly basic topics, but they’re important to executing your email marketing campaign correctly.

Today, however, I want to talk about an important aspect of email marketing that tends to get overlooked. Yet, if you ignore this thing, your subscribers likely won’t read your emails or take the action you desire.

Here are a few stats to consider:

• 64% of online merchants keep key points of content high up in the body of the message. – Internet Retailer (2007)
• 64% of people who are offered preview panes start using them as their default. – MarketingSherpa (2007)
• 69% of at-work email users usually view emails in their preview panes. – MarketingSherpa
• 80% of at-work users in the US rely on Outlook, which offers preview panes. – MarketingSherpa

Based on these statistics, the importance of creating preview-ready email is pretty clear. Now, this brings up the question: What can you do to make your email preview-pane ready? Here are a few tips to get you started.

Put the most important information up topThe first statistic I mentioned earlier was that 64% of online merchants are placing the most important content at the top of their email. They do this because they know a lot of their subscribers will decide whether or not to open the email based on what they see in the preview pane. So, if the top of your email doesn’t contain a strong offer, a great headline, or an interesting tease, a lot of your subscribers will never feel compelled to open your email.

Take a look at the content of your email message. Highlight the main points (offer/benefits) of the message, and bump them up to the very top. If these points are strong and interesting enough, your emails will be likelier to get open.

Here’s another thing you should do: Send yourself the email before you send it out. Look at the email in the preview pane and ask yourself honestly if you’d open it if you were the average subscriber. Figure out what you could add or remove to make the message preview stronger.

Eliminate headers or big images at the top of the email

A lot of companies waste precious space above the fold (and in the preview pane) with large headers, images, and company logos. This is problematic for a few reasons:

1. It takes up too much space in the preview pane, and it doesn’t give previewers a compelling reason to open your message.
2. Many email programs still block images or subscribers will have their options set to block images, so instead of an image, they’re greeted with a big red “X.”
3. Large images can slow down email preview load time, causing readers to move on quickly.

If you want to use images in your emails, that’s fine, but push them down so they don’t clog up the preview pane. Also, make sure the file size of the images is small so they’ll load quickly.

Place a call to action link above the fold

In general, I like to place a call to action in every screen view. This way, no matter where someone is in the copy, they have a way to take action immediately. The same concept applies when tailoring your email to the preview pane. Placing a call to action at the top gives previewers a way to visit your landing page without actually taking the time to open the email.

Are your emails preview-pane ready?

The Directory Journal is happy to announce the release of our first free e-book! This e-book serves as a basic introduction to writing four common types of Web marketing and PR copy — basic Web marketing copy for your website, sales letters, online press releases, and email marketing copy.

The e-book isn’t so much for marketing and PR professionals (who already know this information), but is instead for business owners, webmasters, and independent professionals who would like to be able to write some types of Web copy on their own. We understand that not everyone has the budget to hire professional copywriters, and that others simply prefer the DIY approach when possible. This e-book is for those readers.

This e-book won’t turn you into a master copywriter overnight, but it will give you a basic foundation in understanding different types of Web copy, how these kinds of Web copywriting can benefit your business, and some of the things you’ll need to know about your target market or audience before being able to write copy that delivers.

You can get your free copy of The Business Owner’s Guide to Better Web Marketing Copy today! Just sign up for our email list near the top of this blog, and your free copy will be delivered right to your inbox. Even better, you’ll receive special offers, DirJournal.com news, and any future e-books we release automatically!

Still not sure about signing up? You can download the first chapter for free right now to help you decide.

If you’re running an email marketing campaign, your first challenge is always getting people to actually read your emails. Without a decent open rate, your campaign won’t have a chance of getting off the ground. That’s why it’s essential that you understand how to write compelling subject lines that simply beg to be clicked.

• Rule #1: Test. Test. Test.—A recent survey conducted by MarketingSherpa.com found that 40% of email marketers had high impacts on the return on investment (ROI) by testing their subject lines. Testing is the only way to determine what does and does not work for your campaign. You should be testing everything from the benefits you include in the subject line to the optimal lengths for your subject lines. Take what you learn, and continually refine your subject lines to be the best they can be.

• Rule #2: Focus on a benefit—If you want people to actually open your email, you need to let them know what’s in it for them. Focus your subject line on a benefit that resonates with the reader. It can be something as simple as “Save 50% on Sweaters This Friday Only.” What you don’t want to do is have a boring subject line like “XYZ June Newsletter.” Be specific and clear in delivering a benefit in your subject line.

• Rule #3: Make sure the email body delivers on the subject line—Want to instantly lose credibility? You can do it by promising one thing in your subject line and doing another in the body of your email. One study by Bright Wave Marketing found that 30% of spam emails had a misleading Subject line. The subject line and email message have to be related. In short, keep the promise of your subject line. It’s that simple.

• Rule #4: Don’t be spammy—Some email marketers shoot themselves in the foot by writing subject lines that immediately get flagged as spam. What can you do to avoid writing a spammy subject line? First, don’t write your headlines in ALL CAPS LIKE THIS. Second, don’t use excessive punctuation like this!!!!!! Lastly, avoid using gimmicky words like: free, make millions, amazing, miracle, etc.

• Rule #5: Keep it short—Why should you keep your subject lines to 50 characters or less? Because if they’re any longer, they could get cut off by your readers’ email carriers. According to an Epsilon study, “38 to 47 characters is the average number of characters that show up in the subject line of 57% of all U.S. email recipients’ email programs.” Also, studies show that most people only read the first few words of email subject lines, so a long headline probably won’t get read fully. Remember, place the most important information (the benefit) at the beginning of the subject line.

When you write effective subject lines, you’ll find that email marketing can be your most effective weapon for boosting sales. In fact, email marketing generated nearly $50 return for every $1 spent on it last year. It’s a powerful tool, and now, you’re one step closer to knowing how to get the most from it.

Which subject line rules would you add to this list? Share your thoughts in the replies.