PART IV "Email In The Crosshairs: Felony Fines and Jail Time!"
by Larry Umlor Optin-Listbuilders

Everyone who has been on the internet for any lenght of time,
knows "Content is King." Who hasn't read it in an article, seen
it in an ecourse or gotten advice from one guru or another...

"You need to have your own ezine!"

All of them offer you free content to get you started. Most want
you to use a co-registration type subscription process. Almost
without fail you are added to an exit page popup. Some have even
begun offering [for a monthly fee] to write your ezine for you.

1. the free content has their name and links of course,
and is probably in hundreds of other ezines, so you are
seen as just another wana-be
2. by using co-registration, you promote your ezine,
and theirs, get a few subscribers and quit while the
guru effortlessly adds to their subscriber list
3. when using exit...

Everyone who has been on the internet for any lenght of time,
knows "Content is King." Who hasn't read it in an article, seen
it in an ecourse or gotten advice from one guru or another...

"You need to have your own ezine!"

All of them offer you free content to get you started. Most want
you to use a co-registration type subscription process. Almost
without fail you are added to an exit page popup. Some have even
begun offering [for a monthly fee] to write your ezine for you.

1. the free content has their name and links of course,
and is probably in hundreds of other ezines, so you are
seen as just another wana-be
2. by using co-registration, you promote your ezine,
and theirs, get a few subscribers and quit while the
guru effortlessly adds to their subscriber list
3. when using exit popups, your ezine title and
description compete with established, recognizable
ezines or a group of other wana-bes.

Free Content

Using someone else's articles can be helpful if done properly. But
when it's the same article seen in hundreds of other ezines...
on the same day in millions of mailboxes... you are seen by your
subscribers as just another wana-be. Where's that unsubscribe link?
...or worse, click, you're a spammer. Of course you know where to
find all their subscription data right? No? It really doesn't
matter... remember, you're guilty until proven innocent anyway.

Now, the way to ensure you have all this data available to protect
yourself from fines or jail time, is to use a paid list management
service. Not too practical when you're just starting out and only
have a handful of names and addresses, though, is it. Add to that
the fact that having this data is no guarantee your ISP or webhost
won't dump you anyway. Sometimes the peace of mind that comes with
knowing you're making installments on some body else’s vacation,
along with the false sense of security, just makes that monthly
expense seem worthwhile, don't you think?

Co-Registration

Co-registration is touted as a quick way to build your opt-in
list. Now most co-registration services are offered Free! Who
can argue with free? Of course to signup, you add your email
address to someone else's list... then, too, you're offered the
opportunity to subscribe to the list of 6 to 12 more before you
finish. At the very least, you have one more ezine to either
read or filter to your junk email box.

Then there's the problem of keeping that handful of new subscribers
on your list. They, after all, expect content. You do provide your
own content right? If it's the same rehashed articles your subscriber
sees in 20 other ezines, all from the same handful of gurus, which
ezines will survive?

It boils down to this... if I can read guru A's article in 20 ezines
why not unsubscribe from the 19 wana-bes newsletters and just keep
guru A's? One click and 19 opt-ins become nothing more than 19 long
time subscribers added to guru A's ezine and another failure for you.
Ahhh... the magic of viral marketing. Get someone else to promote
for you.

If you don't write your own articles, you're efforts at building a
list of loyal subscribers is some where around nil, + or -.
Oh, and if you aren't targeting those articles to the right audience,
your results won't improve much. With over 600,000 ezines online,
using some one else's articles just won't get you very far.

Exit Popups

Given the chance to subscribe to 6 to 12 ezines at a time, surfers
should be ecstatic to see yet another co-registration popup. They
should jump at the chance to check all those boxes and give out
their address again. Jumping through a few hoops for the opportunity
to get all that extra email every week is a small price to pay, right?

I mean come on, who wouldn't jump at the chance?

How about those exit popups on your own website. Every guru says people
hate, them but they work. Maybe for them they work. Take a look at
the freebies they offer in those popups. Can you compete? Didn't
think so. Even if you own the rights to some monster product that you
can give away, so what, if you don't have regular valuable content.

Plus, not knowing how to add a little piece of code that stops your
popup from appearing every time your visitors try to view another
page will really endear them to you. There's nothing more satisfying
than a popup jumping on to the screen every time they move to the
next page.

So, what's the answer?

First, let's breakdown the question. How can I totally avoid:

1. spam complaints and possible fines and or jail time
2. becoming a billboard for some guru
3. monthly expense for autoresponders
4. monthly expense for a list management service
5. buying expensive mass email and movement software
6. joining and submitting to an ezine directory
7. paying to have someone publish for me
8. annoying my site visitors with popups
9. lengthy searches for targeted responsive readers
10. having to publish articles on a schedule that doesn't
work for me

On a more positive note, let's rephrase the question...

How can I:

a. guarantee I'll never ever get a spam complaint... ever
b. use other peoples content to my advantage and theirs
c. eliminate the need for expensive autoresponders
d. reach readers instantly, who want my articles
e. eliminate the need for any list management service
f. never need mailing software or a paid service again
g. use article directories only when and if I choose
h. publish articles when the inspiration hits me 24/7
i. eliminate the need for subscription popups forever
j. automatically ask for and get feedback for every article

Lot's of questions. Guess there should be lots of answer, right?
The gurus are selling dozens of answers after all. It's complex,
they tell you. 24 secrets techniques here, 19 insider secrets
there... this software, that services,. it's not easy being a
guru making all that cash answering such a complex question.

Well, let's look at it like an equation. Let's see, we have the
variables 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 and 10 from above.
Allowing that we missed a few, let's add the variable for the
unknown as (11)

Now we have to take into account the variables a - b - c - d -
e - f - h - i and j. Of course we missed something so let's add
the variable (k) to cover them.

There isn't room in this article, or on my wall, to show all
the computations but, you're in luck. The answer is "Q".

How we arrived at the answer is simple: just read the writing
on the wall... email, as we know it, is dead.

RSS, xml, newsfeeds, by whatever name it's called, is in. For
new or established publishers it is the targeted, spam complaint
free, instant publishing system they've been looking for. As of
this writing google lists over 19.2 million pages on the topic.

The technology has been around for a while. Admittedly it was
ugly, cumbersome and required a Phd to use... that is until now.

Whatever you thought about it in the past, it has come a long
way. The software and functionality integrated into the "Q"
is worth at least $400-$600 dollars. How do I know that? I own
those old software programs. With "Q" all those unrelated,
disconnected, non-integrated scripts are now no more than a
digital paper-weight.

Seamless, integrated, good looking and loaded with functionality,
the "Q" is a publishers dream come true... and the gurus worst
nightmare. You owe it to yourself, whether you publish ezines or
just read them, to check it out.

In PartV of "Email In The Crosshairs: Felony Fines and Jail Time!"
we'll take a look at how anyone can totally eliminate email...

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LIKE TO REPRINT THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEB SITE?
You can, or pass it on to a friend. Just be sure to include:
Larry Umlor is a co-author of Optin-Listbuilder Ezine and co-founder
of Optin-Listbuilders.com © 2003-2004 Optin-ListBuilders
To ask a question or to leave a comment about this article use the box
below, the contact box top/right or this link and leave your message:
http://www.optin-listbuilders.com/cgi-bin/olb/t.cgi?q
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Do you have an article you'd like published but don't have a list to
send to or an ezine to put it in? Contact me and I'll show how to get
your message in front of real readers without all the headaches of
using directories. Just tell me a little about your article here:
http://www.optin-listbuilders.com/cgi-bin/olb/t.cgi?q