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Sometimes I forget the basic questions I need to discuss until someone asks. Again, that’s why I hope many of you will take my poll (click here if you haven’t taken my survey yet) — so I can answer questions like this one I received today about affiliate marketing through list building:

Hello Nicole,

1. I have become confused with the spam issue and do not want to fall foul of the rules. I have some email addresses that i would like to market affiliate programs to but need to check how to go about it.

2. I hear people have to be double opted in, but how can i achieve that? Surely the first time i contact them to ask them to join my list could be termed spamming?

3. I know that once i get my site sorted out and people join the list there it is voluntary as such so ok, but i want to try & get all the other possibilities on board also.

4. Another similar list possibility i am thinking of is all those marketing/”spam” emails i get. Surely if i collected all of those and put them on my list they would be ideal candidates for wanting what I offer?

And, here’s my answer…

Hi,

Well, one of the reasons I use (and recommend using) Aweber is because they handle the double optin part for you. When a new user signs up for your newsletter list, they’ll receive a confirmation email from Aweber that they must click in order to get on your list. This takes care of this issue for you.

As for your next question, you really shouldn’t add people to the list yourself except in certain very rare situations. They have to request the information, which is why you offer them valuable info — so they want to sign up.

Here are the official SPAM rules from the FTC. As you can see, they mean business.

It sounds to me like you’re pretty fresh to this newsletter thing. Here’s a List-marketing freebie from a friend of mine.

As for contacting people and asking them to join your list, you may wish to start with some simple things like adding an email signature to your outgoing emails. That will ensure that the people who you are in contact with on a daily basis see what you have to offer. Make it enticing and it’ll attract people who will sign up. And, of course, using forums as a relationship builder is also an easy way to attract people to join your list. The important thing is to get that site up and start driving traffic to it. You can always tweak from there.

Warmly,
Nicole

PS. If you really want to get further into List Profits, my favorite course is List Profit System by Jimmy D. Brown. You’ll see me recommend it throughout the course above.