Building the Best Opt in Email List

by Matt Bacak

Published on this site: July 1st, 2005 - See more articles from this month...

The 1st Thing You MUST Have Before Even Thinking About Building An Opt In Email List

It's not a website.

It’s a smart autoresponder and mailing list software.

Be aware, I just said smart autoresponder. Not a cheesy one, I mean regular one.

You know what a regular autoresponder is. It's the thing that a lot of people use when they are out of the office or on vacation. It works like this.

Let's say you are emailing a friend that is out of town. You send the email and then instantly you get a reply back saying something like this, "I'm out of the office right now, I'm on vacation and won't be back until Tuesday the 21st."

Well, that's a regular autoresponder.

What you want to have before you even think about building a list is a smart autoresponder. Here's how it works, when someone sends it an email it captures their first name, last name, email address, date stamp, and IP address.

That's just if they send an email, now what if you had a form on your website or a popup?

It will capture almost any information that you want and get this.

It will give you the ability to run an unlimited number of follow-up email campaigns to tens of thousands of prospects on auto-pilot!

A smart autoresponder will handle thousands of simultaneous follow-up campaigns - a task that would be impossible to manage manually. (working for you 24 x 7 whether you are online or not, accepting subscriptions and sending out your follow-up messages)

They are actually three kinds of autoresponders.

The first kind is software based. It's a piece of software that you install on the computer just like you would Microsoft Word, or Act!. Usually a one-time fee. e links, link exchanges ,search engine optimization,, trade links

The second kind is a third-party autoresponder. These all have a main website where you go to login, usually using your individual username and password. Once you are in and you are able to email your list. Your information is hosted on their server with everyone else. They usually charge monthly fee.

The third kind is a server-based. It's installed on your own web site or web server. It's not a service that runs on someone else's servers, so there are no monthly fees.

You are about to discover the right autoresponder so your email marketing marketing efforts won't get stopped in its tracks.

Let's look at them in greater detail.

Definition: The first kind is software based. It's a piece of software that you install on the computer just like you would Microsoft Word or ACT! Usually a one-time fee.

Problems: What would happen if you leave home without your computer? Well, you would not be able to talk to your list. Not widely used.

Definition: The second kind is a third-party autoresponder. This is when you have to go to a main website just like www.thirdpartyautoresponder.com (that's not one) and login using your username and password. You are subscribing to their service. Then you are able to send emails to your list. This one is hosted on their server with every other customer they have. They usually charge a monthly fee. Used by a lot of people.

Problems: A lot of people recommend this kind, you know why? Because they want the residual (ongoing monthly) money they get from the company or because they do not know better.

Here's a few other problems, remember you are hosting your list on their server so they can and will charge you an outrageous amount of money when your list grows. Also one big thing I have found that most people are not aware of....

... All of the emails are not going through to the subscriber's lists.

Why?

Well, let's say you, Joe Blow and I were using this service. Joe blow is building his list wrong and spamming people. Well, Joe Blow just really devastated our business. Because... when he got in trouble for spamming they shut down his IP address and the IP address that was attached to his email is the IP address of the server and that means it is your IP address too.

In other words, even if you build you list correctly, you won't be able to get your emails through because Joe Blow just screwed it up for you and I.

So the one that I recommend is the third kind.

Definition: A server-based Autoresponder. It's installed on your own web site or web server. It's not a service that runs on someone else's servers, so there are no monthly fees. All emails come from your website's IP address and the only person that could get in trouble is you.

If you get stopped, it's your fault, not anyone else's.

Warmest Regards,

Matt Bacak
The Powerful Promoter
#1 Best Selling Author & Trainer

Matt Bacak, The Powerful Promoter and Entrepreneur Magazine e-Biz radio show host, became a "#1 Best Selling Author" in just a few short hours. He has helped a number of clients target his specialty, opt-in email direct marketing systems. The Powerful Promoter is not only a sought-after internet marketer but has also marketed for some of the world's top experts whose reputations would shrivel if their followers ever found out someone else coached them on their online marketing strategies.