Opt in email lists vs. double opt in email lists

Opt-in email lists come in a variety of forms. A "single" opt-in list is created by inviting people to join via a Web site form—once they submit the Web site form, they're signed up for the email list. Single opt in email lists can be 80-90% accurate but leaves 10-20% with inaccurate email addresses because people can falsely enter others’ email addresses.

When adding an additional step—requiring that all new email addresses confirm their permission via email—then your email list is double opt-in. Double opt in email lists are 100% accurate because all email addresses in your email list are waiting and willing to receive advertisements about your services and products.

Opt in email list etiquette and best practices for e-mail marketing:

Don't pester people on an email list. Sending email, it seems, is so easy that some people overdo it. If you call a prospect every day, that's pestering, and the same goes for marketing to an email list. Respect people's time and privacy. Don't excessively use the technology just because it's there.

Don't be devious or misleading to people on an email list. Remember, Federal law prohibits the sending of marketing e-mail messages that are deceiving or misleading. The subject line should not make the recipient think he or she is getting something he or she is not. Obviously, determining what's misleading is a judgment call, so use your best judgment when marketing to an email list. If you dislike getting direct mail that looks suspiciously like a bill or an IRS notice, avoid using similar deceptive tactics in your email marketing campaign to an email list.

Don't overburden recipients. Emails that go on and can be arduous to read on the computer and taxing on the attention span. Huge files that take a long time to download are also an annoyance to many recipients on an email list—especially those with older, slower PCs. When sending rich-media and graphic email message to an email list, keep file size to a maximum of 40 to 50K, but preferably 40K or less when sending out to an email list.

Use discretion when sending to multiple email addresses. Someone who doesn't reveal his or her email address to every Dick, Jane and Sally may not appreciate you visibly listing it when you send a single message to many recipients at once. This is the number one reason why people use or hire a professional email marketing company to market to their email list. Most email systems have separate procedures for "carbon copies" where the list of recipients appears along with the message, and "blind carbon copies," where the email list is nowhere to be seen. Take care to send "blind" kind of messages to a email list if you must do it yourself—especially where those on the email list really deserve to remain anonymous to each other, as with people answering classified ads.