MAILING LISTS : This is by far the most target and best converting traffic you will have. These people WANT to hear from you and get your offers. In this case we are talking about OPT IN. Where you have a subscribe function on your site for visitors to enter their information and receive your newsletter, promotions, bonuses etc. PAID FOR email names is covered in the TRAFFIC section.
A quick definition of the most common.
SINGLE OPT IN: This is where the visitor enters their information on your site and is automatically subscribed to your list. It is the most common and most prone to abuse. Anyone can enter anyones email address and subscribe them to your list even if they hate gambling. You will get a % of complaints using this method. It is up to you if you want to deal with that or not. Your host may have less patience for complaints of spam then you do so take that into consideration.
DOUBLE OPT IN: The safest way to collect names because you will KNOW the person subscribed is the person who wants to be. The visitor you sign up on your site and an email is sent to them. They must reply to the email from the address they subscribed under in order to be added to your mailing list. All but no chance for some vindictive person to add a name to lists that they have no desire to be on. The extra step does seem to cause the sign up percentage to be lower, but with this method you will have a clean list of names that are really interested in what you have to say.
Whether or not you handle the list yourself and do the mailing on your own or outsource to a commercial mailing list company will be up to you. If the list is small, doing it yourself will probably be the best way to go to start. There are many great mailing programs available that you can install on your site and run your list from there. There are many programs available. You will be able to find them on the MISC RESOURCES page at many of the scripting sits but one of the best, and free, is MOJO MAIL. Lots of great features.
Single or Double Opt In setting and a low draw on the server resources (this will make your hosting company happy).
For outsourcing your list after it gets to be larger then you want or are able to handle, you will find many companies available. Prices vary widely as do the features and functions they provide so find one that suits your needs and don't be afraid to move from one company to another as your needs change as your mailing list is a very valuable commodity and you need to treat it as such. There are some that will do it free, but they will add their own ads(some will add several) to your mailing and all we can say about that is , Tacky, Tacky, Tacky.