aWeber has commented on the new development, and they’ve advised emailers to hold off on judgment, as it’s just too soon to tell how this new feature will play out. Will consumers resent Google’s attempts to decide what’s important to them? Will customers value their commercial correspondence enough to give it priority? Or will this be a complete doomsday scenario for all email marketers, with every other major email provider following suit?

The answer is that it probably depends on how you do your email marketing. To stay on the good side of things, I would recommend that you focus on two things. Number one, make sure that you’re using a high-quality double opt-in provider like aWeber. When you do things the honest way, you will generally find that you are rewarded.

Beyond that, you also need to make sure that your messages deliver when it comes to quality. Anyone can send out ads, but if you want a high click-through rate and high reader satisfaction, you absolutely must deliver something of value in most, if not all of your messages.

What do you think? If anything, I think it will make the email marketing landscape less competitive. Now is a better time than ever to get started.

There are a number of practices you should adhere to if you want to maximize your success, though.  Below, we’ll take a look at some of the best practices for affiliate email marketing.

• Don’t wait too long to mail your list. If people sign up for your list, you shouldn’t wait any more than a couple of weeks to reach out to them for the first time.  In fact, even a couple of weeks may be too long in some cases.  Reach out quickly and remind them of who you are and why they joined.
• Don’t let too much time elapse between mailings.  When people suddenly get an email from someone and they can’t remember ever opting in, they tend to make a lot of spam complaints.  That can hurt your standing with your email provider.  It doesn’t do much for your conversion rates, either.
• Stay aware of CAN-SPAM laws.  The penalties for violating CAN-SPAM are quite large, and certainly  not worth the tiny amount of additional income you might make by violating the rules.  Stay safe and check in with the most current laws from time to time.
• Test different types of headlines.  Don’t ever assume that you know what it takes to make a headline that people click on.  Test numerous different tones, styles, and techniques for getting the attention of your reader.  Use short headlines, long headlines, intriguing headlines, and straightforward ones.  Over time, you’ll get a better idea of what works with your audience.

Email marketing is a tough field, and there are professionals who have spent their entire careers learning about the best ways to market by email.  For those of us who don’t have time to do all of that work ourselves, we can take a shortcut by using a provider like aWeber, which offers both mailing services and plentiful advice.

• Get a trustworthy mailer. I like aWeber because they’re double opt-in (that means that users have to confirm their email address to get on the list) and they have extremely high deliverability rates.  They’re also very affordable.  Click here if you want to learn more about their plans.
• Mail frequently. If you don’t, people have  tendency to forget who you are.  When your mailing finally arrives, they’re likely to hit the “Spam” button because they don’t hear from you often enough to remember when they opted into your correspondence.
• Make it timely. While this may not apply to all fields and topics, people definitely appreciate current information.  If you can save them a trip to their favorite website for the same information, you’ve saved them time and helped to win their favor.
• Keep your tone consistent with your website (if you have one) and your audience’s sophistication level.  If you’re writing about web marketing but targeting people with brick and mortar businesses, your language will be much less technical than if you’re writing about the same topic for industry veterans.
• Don’t be afraid of templates. If you have no design skills, there’s absolutely no shame in using a template.  Heck, you can even joke about it if your audience is a casual one, but for goodness sake, have mercy on their eyes.  Don’t go the DIY route and create some fluorescent monstrosity that gives everyone eyestrain.
• Keep it simple. If you want to highlight a lot of content, offer links to your website where people can view it all.  Don’t clog up their inbox with a 10,000 word email.

Are there any good techniques I’m missing?  I’m sure there are tons, so feel free to chime in on the comments.

Sometimes, it’s as simple as having the right friends.  If you’re best friends with Frank Kern or Mike Filsaime, you’re not going to have any trouble building an email marketing list.  The same thing can be said of befriending popular web personalities or webmasters in other niches.

Relationship building is extremely effective, and it’s a great way to build your list.  However, we don’t all have those connections, and some of us just aren’t good at reaching the unreachable types.  For those of us who don’t have connections, freebies can be extremely fast and effective, assuming that you have an existing traffic source.  By offering your viewers some kind of free, interesting download, you’ll dramatically improve your signup rate.

That said, I still don’t have the secret to building a great email list.  In my experience, it has always taken a lot of hard work and time to grow a list.  That’s why I was so interested when I saw what Covert Opt-In had to say.  They are giving away top email marketing secrets in exchange for joining their list. From what I found on Google, that includes a host of tips on using social media to grow your list faster than was ever possible in the past.  To get the details, though, you’ll have to join their list.

If you abuse your email list by being too promotional, you’re going to find that two things happen – (1) Your unsubscribes increase dramatically and (2) people stop opening your emails.  If you push it far enough, you may even start getting spam complaints.

Making money and keeping your list involves walking a careful line.  You need to make sure the content you deliver is consistently valuable.  That means that there should be a good ratio of non-commercial content to ads, and that the information you send is accurate and credible.  If you use junk articles or PLR content, users may begin to doubt your expertise on the subject matter.

If you use a quality email service provider like aWeber, you’ll have access to data on open-rates and click-through rates.  By watching the number of people who open and click through your emails, you can keep an eye on whether you’re losing user trust or composing emails that don’t interest your audience.

If you’re just getting started, there are a few things you can do to improve your chances of success.

• Work with a reputable email marketing company. aWeber, for example, is one of the top names in the business.  Click here and you can test drive their services for $1.
• Offer your users something for confirming their email address.  You can double or even triple your confirmation rate if you offer your users a bonus download for doing so.
• Ask, ask ask! Regardless of your promotional method, it’s vital that you ask for the signup.  Sticking a tiny signup box in the sidebar isn’t enough.  Shout it from the rooftops.
• Value your users’ trust. Remember that people can opt out or report you as a spammer whenever they want.  Make sure you treat your list members with respect.  You’ll get more long-term value out of the list and you’ll avoid jeopardizing your relationship with your mailing company, too.

Email marketing can seem like a long, hard road, but it’s one of those things you’ll be very glad you did once you have a list you can email freely.  Sign up with a company like aWeber today and get started!