Every email marketing list has inactive subscribers, those who have not opened or read a single one of your emails in several weeks, months or even an entire year. These are subscribers who are receiving your email, but deleting them or aren´t seeing your emails because they are being filtered out by the spam filter, image filter or another type of filter. How do you bring these people back?

First of all, you need to separate all inactive accounts from the active ones. This may take a little bit of time, but if you have good records, it should be fairly easy. Transfer all inactive members onto a separate account so you can send them specialized messages. Now to get them back . . . this will require some email marketing magic!

Special offers. This can be just the thing to lure your subscribers back into the fold. Offer a coupon or discount or even free shipping on your product to try and activate the unresponsive subscribers on your email marketing list.

Profile incentives. Offer something free to anyone who updates their profile. This will help you send more targeted emails to the subscribers who change their interests.

Change email frequency. Perhaps you are sending too often to these inactive subscribers . . . try lowering the frequency of your emails to this segment and see if it helps.

Send special emails. Let your inactive subscribers know that you miss them and would love to see them again. The fact that you´ve noticed their absence may be enough to bring them back.

It´s estimated that up to 35% of any regular email marketing list is made up of inactive subscribers. This number doesn´t include bounces, this is just counting those who aren´t opening their emails. You can still bring many of them back and it is worth a try, your email list is no use if you can´t even reach those on it!

Email design can be a tricky subject with all the different email programs available. You may design a very nice email, but end up with readers that just can´t see it. There are a few major mistakes that you might be making, turning your amazing email design into something that no one can read properly.

Email Design Mistake One

Using images for important information. If your headlines or slogan or any other vital information is being presented in your email design as an image, you can bet that at least 50% of your readers don´t see them. Many email clients turn images off automatically, so you want to make sure that only non-vital info is included in images and always use alt tags.

Email Design Mistake Two

Placing your best content at the bottom of your email. This is a big mistake. Sure, you want people to read all the way down, but many won´t. So make sure your riveting and most important information is at the top of your email.

Email Design Mistake Three

Not testing your email design. Check it in as many different email clients as possible. Find out what your email design looks like in Hotmail, Gmail, Outlook and anything else you can think of. Not all of them will show your content as you had planned and knowing where your design can be tweaked will help you make it a good one for everyone who subscribes.

These are three big email design mistakes. If you recognized your email design in any of them, they are pretty easy to fix and can mean a huge difference in the quality of your emails.

“Email 2.5 million recipients daily, spam-free email marketing!”

You´ve probably seen ads like this one and dozens of similar, too-good-to-be-true lines. Our first instinct is to just discount them . . . but what if they work? Could you really reach 2.5 million people with your email marketing message?

Unfortunately, these email marketing gimmicks are just what they seem, too good to be true. They may not be spam exactly, but the recipients of your email are probably getting paid something like one penny per email that they open and click on the links. While you may see an amazing number of open and clickthroughs, they are pretty worthless . . . people just doing it for the cash! They have dozens of emails to click through every day and yours probably holds very little interest.

So, yes, your email may go out to millions of people. But the number of sales you make will be next to nothing, if anything. Instead of wasting email marketing resources on these gimmicks, you´re far better off investing your cash in a smaller rented list that will actually bring you some real results.

With so much spam flooding inboxes these days, it can be tough to make your email newsletter stand out from the chaff. You want people to avoid clicking the “Select All” box and deleting everything in their email inbox . . . but what can you do to stand out?

Here are 3 ways to make your email newsletter get readers´ attention:

• Use your own name in the From line. This makes the email stand out as something personal and is more likely to be opened than an email newsletter that appears from a business.
• Start with a problem. Rather than begin with all the great things your product can do, let them know that you feel their pain. State the problem and then the solution. People who have their preview window open will see that you know what they are facing and are more likely to open your email newsletter.
• Write enthusiastically. If you write like you are creating a college essay, you´ll lose many of your readers. Write in your own voice and be passionate about what you have to say and you will find that more people sort your email newsletter out from the crowd.

These techniques will help put your email newsletter on the map and keep it from being deleted along with all the junk that ends up in everyone´s email boxes these days.

You already have your own email list, but every email marketer knows that there is always room for growth! A super easy opt-in technique to grow your list is to simply advertise in other people´s email newsletters. There are two methods of going about this.

Paid Opt-In Technique

This calls for using proper ads. You´ll need to design a simple logo or write a text ad and publish it in an email newsletter. You will have a paid ad like any other advertiser. To make this work, you will need tight copywriting and a convincing reason for readers to sign up with your email newsletter.

Free Opt-In Technique

Not everyone has scads of money to spend on advertising, particularly in larger email newsletters. If this is the case with you, you may want to try this option. Just write a very interesting, informative article, designed for email newsletters and offer it free to a marketer. The trick here is to offer it to just one person. This will be an exclusive article that only they will have access to. This makes the deal very appealing. The catch? You´ll have a short one or two line bio at the bottom of the article with a link to your website!

Choosing the email newsletter to advertise in is fairly easy. You want email lists that are similar to yours or that cater to people who would be interested in what your newsletter has to offer. The opt-in technique won´t work if you are pitching cat food to dog lovers!

Check out ezine directories, subscribe to a handful of lists that interest you and then put your opt-in technique to work in the best ones. Depending on the effectiveness of your ad or article, you could bring in literally hundreds of new subscribers with this opt-in technique.

List rental allows you to reach a large number of people who have never even heard of you, but may be interested in your email newsletter or product. The trick is getting these one time readers to subscribe to your email newsletter!

When using list rental email addresses, you will need to be very convincing in order to convert those readers who may never hear from you again. While it would be great if they would buy from you, we know that it often takes more than one email to get people to hand over some money . . . so the next best idea is to get them to sign up for your email newsletter, turning a list rental into something far more useful.

So, how do you turn list rental one time readers into subscribers? You will have to spend some extra time crafting that email. Make sure that you repeat your subscription info at least twice during the newsletter in a clear manner, so it is obvious how to sign up. Offering a free ebook or report or even a month´s membership to a related website can be a very handy way to get folks to sign up.

Make sure that your email to the list rental addresses is one that catches their attention. You want this email newsletter to let them know that your emails are fun and interesting, so write it with that in mind. Be sure to give some great information so they realize how valuable it could be to sign up for your opt-in list. And, don´t forget the link to your sign up page!

To help keep your subscribers interested in your email newsletters, you need email content that is easy to scan and read. Most people only have a few minutes to really go through their email and if your email content doesn´t catch their attention in seconds, your content will be banished to the Trash bin.

Tips for Easy to Read Email Content

• Headings: Use headings to break the text up and make them bold so they can easily be scanned by a reader in a hurry.
• Paragraphs: Keep your paragraphs short and separate them with a space for easy reading. Lots of white space helps rest the eyes so it isn´t too difficult to look at the text.
• Bold and Italic Text: These can help make important points stand out, ensuring that those who only scan your emails will still pick up the top points.
• Links: Repeat all your links again at the end of the email content so the reader can click on them after he´s finished reading rather than clicking away from the email in the middle.
• Titles: Giving each section or article in your email content a different, bold title will help your readers find the part they are looking for easily.
• Table of Contents: A short table of contents can help your readers see at a glance what they want to read. Then they can just jump to the article they are interested in.

Keeping things nice and simple is the best way to make your email content easily readable. Use titles and subheadings to make your best information stand out. You´ll be rewarded with a higher click through rate and happy subscribers.

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When you first start an email newsletter, you are basically starting at the bottom. No one knows much about you or if you are worth their time. Your email newsletter will either make or break your credibility, so you will want to try these techniques to help build credibility. You can also use them if you have been in the email marketing business for a while, you can never have too good a reputation!

Email Newsletter Techniques

• Never make promises you can´t keep. Big offers and promises are great to catch people´s attention, but if you can´t make good on them, you´ll only ruin your credibility and people will lose interest just as fast.
• Deliver valuable information. An email newsletter that is nothing but ads and affiliate links won´t help you gain a good reputation, but offering some free, useful information certainly will.
• Be consistent. If you are consistent, with the frequency and quality of your email newsletters, your readers will come to trust you and you will greatly benefit.
• Direct readers to your website or blog. This will help build your credibility. Not only are you writing an informative email newsletter, but you have other projects that show your expertise.

Building credibility is easier to do with email newsletters because you are able to contact your readers on a regular basis. Combining an email newsletter with a website or blog can be an excellent method to build credibility.

Something I´ve been noticing lately in the bigger email newsletters that I receive is that they are geared toward people with no time. How? Well, the internet marketer writes an introductory paragraph that will show up in the email preview window, just a teaser to get readers to open the email.

Once you are in, you´ll see that there is a little section that says something like “Are you in a hurry?” or “Don´t have time to read this email?” and then “Click here to see what I´m talking about” and a link. Below this, the email content continues with a review or other information regarding the product, and another link at the bottom of the email content.

This is an interesting new technique that many email marketers are beginning to use. Realizing that their audience may not want or have time to read through a long email that describes a product or free report, they are including the link at the top and bottom of the email content. If you want to, you can still read all the way down and get filled in a bit more, but it´s not necessary.

Should you use this handy email content technique in your emails? It depends on you and on your audience. You may feel that you have something important to say and prefer not to give readers the option of skipping it. However, a two line note with a link really doesn´t distract from the email, so it is easy to test and find out if your readers actually use it. If your click rate goes up, you´ll want to continue offering the shortcut!

When you are just starting out in email marketing and still in the planning stages of your email newsletter, it can be a bit confusing. What exactly should be in your email newsletter? Well, you´ve come to the right place to find out.

Email newsletters are not like solo ads. Rather than a hard sell, these emails tend to be soft sell and provide useful information and email content. Here are a few ideas to keep your email newsletter full and interesting for your subscribers.

• Links to more information on a website

• Tips for your industry

• Product reviews

• Tutorials

• Summaries of news stories related to your industry

You can also include useful or interesting articles based on your business. Include links to your product or sales page at the end of your email newsletter, but don´t turn the whole email newsletter into a big ad, your subscribers will not appreciate this and will quickly abandon you.

The majority of email marketing is done via email newsletters, but what if you don´t have anything to say to your target audience? Rather than force yourself to write email marketing content every week, you can do something completely different and only contact your list when you have something for them.

Many people are more willing to sign up to receive the occasional special offer email rather than daily tips. Their inboxes are already overflowing, so make it easy for them. Only contact them when you have something special for your subscribers, something they can actually use and find helpful.

Some ideas:

• Coupons, for online shopping or offline
• Gift cards
• Free downloads
• Free seminars or online conferences
• Useful reports
• Sales and special discounts

Email marketing doesn´t have to be about contacting your list constantly. You will want to send out at least one email per month, though, or they will end up forgetting who you are. Make your policy very clear before they sign up and let them know that you will only be sending out special offers that they can use. This can really boost sign ups.

How often have you received the exact same email from several email marketers? Finding the same email content in three or four newsletters is a major turn-off.

Even Darren Rowse at Problogger has this problem.

Now I don’t have anything against signing up for quality products with affiliate programs to reward the person who puts me onto them - however the last few weeks have illustrated to me just many people are lazy in their internet marketing.

I can just imagine how it happened - the company with the affiliate program probably has a page with some suggested emails that people could send out prospects - those signing up for the affiliate program simply copy and paste the email into my contact form expecting to get rich.

It doesn´t take much time to rewrite the typical sales letter included with affiliate programs and product releases. Doing so will really improve your relationship with your readers, whereas repeat email content could kill your chance of ever communicating well with them. People see that you are simply sending them the same email content as everyone else and they probably won´t stay subscribed to all the duplicate lists . . . you could be the one to be deleted.

Take a few minutes to rewrite, or hire a writer to do so for you. You won´t regret it. People will be more responsive to your email content and will appreciate you bothering to write something original about a product.

Many people want to know more about a business before they start handing over email addresses, so having a great About page is an excellent opt-in technique. You can mention it with a link under or above your sign up form. But for an About page to turn visitors into subscribers, you really have to make it a great one. A few ideas on that:

Make it interesting. Don´t just recite the boring details (”MyBiz began in 1999, as a startup . . .”), add some interest. Use anecdotes, but don´t ramble as that would defeat the purpose of this opt-in technique.

Include a testimonial. This adds interest and helps people trust you. A good way to use testimonials is to have them in a box or side note.

Make sure people can contact you. Add at least one form of contact info to the About page, email and possibly telephone. If you want, your mailing address can also be included. This really helps visitors trust you more and they will be more likely to give you their email address.

Let them know what you do. State your mission and business idea clearly on your About page so there is no question as to what it is that you do.

Study other About pages. Look at some successful websites and check out their About pages for ideas.

Have the sign up form on your About page. This makes it nice and easy for visitors to sign up once they´ve read about your company and is a valuable opt-in technique.

An About page is useful on your website anyway, but by including a link near your sign up form and another form on the actual page, you turn this into a very handy opt-in technique.

Email newsletters are a great way to spread the word about your latest products, but only if you have an opt-in list. Without subscribers, your email newsletter is kind of pointless. Building a list takes time and if you don´t want to turn to list rental, then you need to look for opt-in techniques to grow your list faster.

Article marketing is an interesting and useful way to get more email newsletter subscribers. All you need to do is write a handful of info-filled articles on your topic and submit them to article directories. Webmasters and ezine owners will be scouting these directories for useful information to use and when your article is picked up and republished elsewhere, your link will be shown to hundreds of potential subscribers.

The trick to gaining more email newsletter subscribers via article marketing is to have a prominent opt-in form on the landing page that you´re sending the readers to. Write a good bio to put at the end of your articles and let people know why they need to click on your link. Say something like “Sign up for more free tips every week” or “Want a free ebook with more information?”

Email newsletters are a great medium, if you have the audience. Write some terrific articles that everyone will want to read and you´re bound to get more subscribers to your email newsletter.

Do you tend to ramble on in the subject lines of your email newsletter? You could be causing your open rates to drop if that´s the case. Keeping your subject lines nice and tight is always a good idea, for several reasons.

Short subject lines are easier to read. Computer monitors make it hard on the eyes to read, so keeping any text to short, easy to read segments is best and the same goes for subject lines.

Long subject lines may get cut. Many email programs limit the number of characters you can have in the subject line, so your longer text may be cut off at awkward places.

Keep it no nonsense. With so many emails pouring into their inbox every day, most people just don´t have the time to guess at what your subject line means. Keeping it short and easy to understand will get you more clicks.

Shorter subject lines allow your readers to get the information they need fast. All they really want to know is if your email newsletter is worth opening or not. Let them know fast and you´ll get higher open rates, it is really that simple.