e-Business-Formula Internet Marketing Discussion Forum

[Kevin Robb]

Hi All,

Today I got stuck into a job I have been putting off for way to long

I decided that a little housekeeping was necessary, as my business has grown my email box has started bursting at the seems almost every day...yes lots of it is spam even though I have numerous filters going but it holds me back from getting to the real mail.

So I thought I would rationalise a few things, I took a look at all the newsletters I was receiving along with email alerts about various courses etc.

I found that I had outgrown some of the newsletters I was receiving, as I have been online for over four years now many don't offer what I'm looking for anymore, so time to unsubscribe.

Well here's what happened, Out of 30 newsletters I unsubscribed from the following details the difficulties in actually getting off these lists.

Four unsubscribe links redirected me directly to another sales page with not an unsubscribe link in sight...I have sent emails to the offending parties expressing my digust

Three links took so long to process I virtually had time to watch my favourite TV program whilst waiting...Three more made you jump through hoops, you have to answer more questions just to say no

Two asked me to log in and change my account details, strange because I have no login or password names for these accounts, they were never asked for nor provided initially...I have set two more emails to the webmasters concerned

And last but not least one unsubscribe link FROZE my computer and I had to reboot to get out of it...another email sent!!!

So in conclusion can I make a suggestion, If you have a newsletter please check your unsubscribe link, if it is not working or creates difficulty for your reader, fix it immediately.

After all they may choose to become a reader again in the future or refer someone else, but if they had a bad experience then your opportunity is gone forever.

Just my two cents.

Cheers

Kevin Robb

[Steve MacLellan]

Hi Kevin,

I had a subscriber who had a problem getting off my list. The problem was the long URL... they had trouble copy and pasting the whole thing into their browser window.

Which was an easy enough fix. I added an extra line to the unsubscribe information that is at the top of every newsletter I send out that says something to the effect that "if you have any trouble un-subscribing to this newsletter just hit "reply" and your message will get to me and I will personally see you are removed."

But like you... there are some well known marketers whose newsletters I could not un-subscribe from. They just kept coming.

My solution was to add a filter at the server level to block their email. Although this may seem a tad drastic, it is there responsibility to evaluate their chosen software and ensure that it works well enough for people who wish to be removed from their lists.

Best Regards,
Steve MacLellan

[Steve MacLellan]

Hi Kevin,

Oh Yeah! Here is a tip when subscribing.

Use Hotmail to evaluate a newsletter before coughing up your main business email address. That way you can receive it for a couple of months to see if you would be interested in receiving the newsletter on a more permanent basis.

Then un-subscribe and re-subscribe with your normal email address.

Best Regards,
Steve MacLellan