So why is it these days that I'm finding myself opting out of more lists than I'm opting into? There are literally thousands if not hundreds of thousands of genuine and reputable Internet Marketers out there and the numbers are increasing daily.

Out of the 20 or so emails I receive every day, only two or three ever get my attention, so why is that? Well, the reason is actually very simple. It's because I know the content from those very few particular Marketers such as Tim Lowe and Chris Farrell for example, is worth signing up for and always top notch. The rest just gets filed for a rainy day.

So what’s the problem? Well the problem isn't so much the Marketers. Many of these guys have been in the job a lot longer than I have, but for me the problem is the list burning strategies so many seem to employ.

So what exactly is list burning you may ask?

Well, if you've recently opted into a mailing list for a money making or marketing product and in turn you've been bombarded daily (or in some cases twice daily!) with those 2 or 3 line plain text emails (you know the ones I mean) with the link underneath so you can either buy the offer or opt-in to someone else list, then whichever marketer it is that’s sending you those emails is quite simply ‘list burning’.

List burning is a long used technique by Internet Marketers to generate as much income as often as possible, not that there’s anything wrong with earning an income, that is after all the very nature of Internet Marketing, but list burning is far too commonplace these days. As such, too few Marketers actually take the time to build a relationship with their subscribers, or to even write about or review the product or offer they’re emailing out in any detail, and what about using HTML instead of plain text? It seems those same Marketers are more hell bent on ‘quantity' over ‘quality' and rather than ‘risk' email open rates with the use of HTML technology in what ironically is a technology driven industry, it instead just begs the question “where’s the content?”

But perhaps the greatest irony of all is that list burning with plain text can actually shorten the life of your subscriber list from an average of 160 weeks to only 80 weeks. However a really great example of how to have the opposite effect with your list is Tim Lowe who I mentioned at the start. Tim has been hugely successful over the last nine years and is it any wonder when you look at the quality rather than the quantity of Tim's once or twice weekly HTML content (no plain text from Mr. Lowe!), that Tim still has active subscribers on his list and buying nine years later!

So once again and on a final note it really does beg the question that if the money is in the list is list burning really the way forward? Or is it actually more profitable to invest the time in writing good quality content for your subscribers from the outset, more so when you consider just how much time they may be willing to invest in you?

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Paul Graham

Paul Graham Blog.com