Make A Good First Impression - Wow Your Opt-In Leads With A Great Welcome E-mail

It is illegal to send unsolicited e-mail and quite unethical. If you send this type of e-mail, there is a strong possibility that your recipients will put filters in place to block all further e-mails coming from you. Now, this will not help you in establishing your opt-in list and you will run the risk of your Internet Service Provider (ISP) shutting your e-mail account down and/or removing it completely from the website. There are some ways to make your opt-in e-mails more welcoming to your intended target base.

You want to start by getting permission first:

"¢ Opt-out permission - this is works well if you make certain that your customers have the ability to opt-out when they want to and receive no further mailings from you. With this method, automatically your customers are on your opt-in list until they exercise their right to leave when they choose.

"¢ Opt-in permission - this happens when the customers visiting a website choose to join your mailing list.

"¢ Confirmed Opt-in permission - this is part of a program you can establish that sends an automatic confirmation e-mail when the customer registers to receive your information and before you send them any mailings they have to confirm they want to be a part of your list.

Customers will be more apt at accepting your e-mails if you have treated them with respect by asking them first and the information you are imparting to them is relevant to their needs and you are not sending several e-mails during the day that they become overloaded and want to simply get rid of your annoying e-mails.

Another aspect that will make or break that potential prospect is how your e-mail is worded and grammatical errors. If you send out an e-mail that is poorly worded and difficult to read along with spelling errors your prospects will delete on sight never want to hear from you again. There really is no reason for this to happen with Word documents and spell checkers all over the place. Take a little extra time and read the mail you are going to send out for clarity and errors.

Some other areas to consider in designing your welcome e-mails:

"¢ Design - If you were receiving your e-mails for the first time, are they appealing at first glance? Do your e-mails compliment your marketing materials? When you look at your e-mails do they make a positive statement or do they look confused because your colors, images, and formatting are sporadic?

"¢ Subject Line - Is your subject line dry and boring or will the first impression your customers read reflects your personality and what you are selling? Do not be lax in creating your subject line this is the first thing your prospects see. Take time to check that your words are well chosen and your grammar and spelling is without errors.

"¢ Content - If the content of your e-mail drives are not interesting to your target audience and if the content is poor and does not support what you are trying to sell then it is likely your prospects will delete your e-mail on sight. Whether or not you like it, your audience will connect the poor content of your e-mail and assume your product is just as bad.

"¢ Utilities - The easier your e-mails are for your prospects to navigate through with items, such as signing up, changing their preference, and so will keep them around longer. If your e-mails are difficult to figure out they will not want to waste their time trying to figure out your product.

There are products that you can purchase that will enhance that first impression you are trying to make through your e-mails:

"¢ Constant Contact - provides you with the necessary tools to create visually stimulating e-mail campaigns that will entice your prospect to continue reading through your material as opposed to deleting it on site. This program allows you to create eye-catching e-mail newsletters, promotions, invitations, postcards, stationery, and much more.

"¢ EXMG - Is an e-mail marketing firm that provides efficient marketing and communication techniques that will enhance your communication with your customers.

Remember that a first impression is very important, whether that first impression comes in person, over the phone, or through the Internet and if you blow your first impression, you will not get a second.