How to Handle Troublesome Subscribers With Kid Gloves

It was four years ago, and I was nearly in tears when a good friend called me. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"You know that e-mail newsletter I started a few months ago?" I said.

"Yes."

"Well, it's been going really well - I have about 500
readers now. But a subscriber just sent me an e-mail, and all he wrote was 'Take me off your %$&#*@ list, you %$&#*@ spammer!' All my subscribers are opt-in. I never sign ANYONE up myself. This guy subscribed on his own, but now he thinks I'm a ..." I cringed at the upcoming word, "... SPAMMER! I'm going to quit publishing."

"Hey!" my friend reasoned with me. "Don't say that. It's just business, Ali. You're always going to get one or two bad eggs in the bunch. That's just how it goes. You're really putting yourself, your ideas, and your e-mail address 'out there,' and there's a risk to that."

She then reminded me how much business I'd gained from
publishing my e-zine, and all the compliments on it I'd received from clients, prospects, and associates. Of course she was right. That e-mail hurt, but it wasn't directed toward me. That guy probably had a bad day - maybe he got in a car accident or got fired - and then he opened his e-mail inbox to find dozens of junk e-mails.

Turns out my story isn't uncommon. Many credible e-zine publishers have shared that they do receive nasty e-mails from disgruntled subscribers who forgot they subscribed and are convinced the e-zine is unwanted mail (otherwise known as "spam").

The bottom line? Don't take any chances. Here are six things you can do to avoid problems AND handle any trouble gracefully.

1) Publish on a regular basis. If you send out your e-zine on a haphazard schedule, you risk subscribers becoming unfamiliar with your newsletter and mistaking it for spam. They may have forgotten they subscribed!

2) Always put a *masthead* at the very top of your e-zine that tells your readers WHO you are, WHY they're getting your e-mail, WHAT your e-mail contains, and how they can CONTACT you.

3) In EVERY issue, remind the reader that she SUBSCRIBED to your missive! Something like this will do: "You've received this e-zine because you subscribed to it! If you wish to unsubscribe, please scroll to the end for more information."

4) Provide CLEAR unsubscribe instructions for your readers. Most e-zines put these at the bottom, but some are putting them at the top now to make it easier to find. If your list service allows, always provide a way to unsubscribe via *e-mail*. (It's easier for many of your readers to send a quick e-mail instead of link to the Web.)

5) No matter how easy and clear your unsubscribe instructions are, realize you WILL get some folks writing YOU directly to take them off your list. Accommodate them immediately.

Now, I know a few publishers who disagree with me on this one. They instruct these people to "go back and follow the unsubscribe instructions." But I say just take care of it NOW on your own to avoid future problems - you won't have to do this often anyway.

Send them a polite reply (no matter how rude they were). Something like this will do nicely:

"Dear READER NAME ,

Per your request, I have manually removed your name from our subscriber list. Thank you for giving us a try. You should not be receiving any more issues of EZINE NAME. If you do have any more trouble, please write me personally at E-MAIL ADDRESS and I'll be happy to help.

If you'd like to tell me why you're unsubscribing, I'd
appreciate it. I'm always looking to improve my content and your feedback would be valuable.

Have a nice day.

NAME"

6) If someone writes you to politely disagree with your article or editorial, be happy about it. Why? This means people are READING your e-zine, and are so interested in the topic at hand that they want to talk about it with you! If what they have to offer is valuable, you may want to begin a dialogue. I've developed many valuable online relationships with colleagues through discussing the points of my newsletters.

However, if they're obviously writing just to hurt you or make you feel bad, here's where you need to be the better person. Don't fuel the fire diffuse it. Simply give a respectful acknowledgement. Here's a completely neutral reply that you can use for these occasions:

"Dear READER NAME,

Thanks for writing! I really enjoy hearing from my
subscribers, especially from other professionals like you. That's a very interesting point you bring up, and it's well taken. Thank you for sharing it.

Best,
YOUR NAME"

Through these petty annoyances, remember the big picture of why you started your e-zine. It was likely to gain credibility and "expert" status. Your professional reputation is at stake. By publishing an e-zine, you're also in the business of customer service. No one will want to hire you or buy from you if you're less than courteous and pleasant. Word spreads like wildfire on the Web! It ALWAYS pays to be kind, be considerate, and to "take the high road." : )

(c) 2002 Alexandria K. Brown
Alexandria K. Brown, "The E-zine Queen," is author of "Boost
Business With Your Own E-zine." Sign up for her FREE
newsletter that shows e-zine publishers how to write
irresistible content, promote their services and products,
and gain thousands of subscribers quickly. Subscribe now via
mailto:EzineQueen-On@lists.webvalence.com or at
http://www.ezine-queen.com

How To Harness the Power of other web sites.Suzanne Harrison

You have a great web site and hopefully you have a few good testimonials on your site.

You know the type of thing...

Something along the lines of...

"Hey Suzanne I read your book from cover to cover, I couldn't put it down. Your traffic generating ideas are brilliant and sure to boost my sales. I will let you know how I get on."
Gail B.

Why have testimonials?

The fantastic thing about having good testimonials on your web site, is that people surfing to your site will trust you more. They can see what others think of your product or service and are more ikely to buy from you.

Now....

What happens when someone decides they like your site but are not sure about ordering from you. Why they will click on the link at the end of the testimonial, of course. If this link leads to a valid web address, they are more likely to trust you.

Now turn this around!

What if this was your testimonial? You would be generating more visitors for your web site.

You could generate thousands of targeted leads with the right kind of testimonial.

What do you do?

I suggest you sign up with lots of newsletters, marketing courses, webmaster services and check out as many e-books as you can.

The ones you think are worth writing a testimonial for are the ones you go for.

Now find out the name and e-mail address of the owner.

This is easy with newsletters as there is usually a link within the mail they send you.

Now write your glowing testimonial!

"Amazing, interesting, fascinating... what more can I say. I receive lots of web marketing material but nothing outshines your brilliant (Name of newsletter). I always read it from end to end, sometimes more than once. I really don't think your talent and wit could be surpassed."
(Your Name Here)
(Your web site address Here)

Do you think anyone could resist putting this on their web site?

And....

by putting up your testimonial they are placing a free link straight to your web site.

Things to remember!

Firstly, make sure that you only target those web sites that will compliment your own products and services. It would be unlikely that a webmaster would post a testimonial from, let's say, a Pet Care site when he deals in eBooks.

Secondly, be genuine! Only write to those that you really feel offer a great service. If you don't mean it, it is so obvious. Made up testimonials just don't cut the grain. You could also find that you are supporting a duff product, which wouldn't do anything for your reputation.

Thirdly, think about what the web master is offering his visitors and write a testimonial that addresses any objections his visitors could have. For instance, if he is selling something you could write a glowing tesimonial on how his product helped you in some way.

Fourthly, make sure you ask, in as polite a way as possible that if he uses your testimonial, to include your URL.
The potential for this idea is enormous. You could see your visitor stats rocket. Ok so it might take a while to build your testimonial base but once your links are out there, the sky is the limit.

Get to work today!

Do a search for newsletters and free e-books within your subject area. Visit the web site (just to check you like the content), write your glowing testimonial, get yourself noticed.

You could even start with the products or services you may have already purchased on the Internet.

Here's to the success of your online business.

Suzanne Harrison
webmaster and author
A Mind For Marketing
http://amindfor.com
KeeToo Your Online Success!
http://keetoo.homestead.com/traffic_is_money.html