Newsletters, worth the hassle?

[gaydemon]

Is it worth the hassle to maintain a newsletter for your site?

I tried it a few years back on gaydemon but stopped because there was too many bounced emails, bad signups etc.


Is it worth offering your regulars a email newsletter?
Can it harm your site by sending out newsletters?
Do you use double opt in to confirm email address?
Can the double opt in be seen as spam?

[Badpuppy Lisa]

We find that our members utilize our weekly newsletter and the few times over the years that we've sent out a day late, we've sure heard about it from the members.

Since many of our canceled members over the years have never opted out, they still receive and we benefit from some re-joining the site as a result of an update they view in the newsletter, so yes, it is worth it for current members and past members who still receive. We have not found it harmful in any way!

When a member chooses to receive our weekly newsletter it is opted to receive or not during the order process. Then an email confirmation is sent to that email address for validation and final confirmation that the user wishes to receive.

We keep our list clean, harvesting out the bounce backs after each newsletter goes out, so we run a very clean list as a result.

Because double opt-in mailers are so common, I don't feel that most people look at it as spam.

Bottom line is that our newsletter keeps the user up to date with what is new, important messages from Badpuppy, etc. We find that an informed member or past customer does use and appreciate our weekly newsletter.

[Paul]

Like Lisa said.

Over the years I have signed up to some newsletters and from a few sites, still continue to receive even though I'm not a member any longer. I do find them nice to get as long as it isn't too frequent or doesn't set off my virus alert.

I especially like newsletters from sites that don't update regular or post their latest updates on the tour. This helps to let me know when there is enough new stuff to think about signing up for another month. :)

With only 1 exception, every newsletter that I've signed up was very easy to cancel with a single click to remove or a reply to and send.

[rawTOP]

Another, easier, solution is Feedburner emails. Basically it turns your RSS feed into a daily e-mail with your site updates. You'll need an RSS feed with all your updates (not just the blog), though you can also have separate e-mail offerings for just the blog or just reviews. You can use Yahoo! Pipes to create a composite feed.

Feedburner reads the feed, and manages all the e-mail sign up stuff. It'll meet the strictest quality guidelines since you have to do a CAPTCHA to submit the form, then you have to reply to the confirmation e-mail it sends you. Just make sure to put SEXUALLY EXPLICIT at the beginning of your e-mail subject line to comply with CAN-SPAM.

Knowing you a bit, I'm guessing you'll think the downside is that someone else controls your mailing list (though you have access to it). And you may not be able to control the branding / look and feel of the e-mail as much as you might want.

[Mickey]

Lisa what kind of software do you run to handle your newsletters ?

We currently run mailworks pro but i dont feel it is very good at penetrating and am wanting to give other scripts a try to see if they improve our results

[gaydemon]

Another, easier, solution is Feedburner emails. Basically it turns your RSS feed into a daily e-mail with your site updates. You'll need an RSS feed with all your updates (not just the blog), though you can also have separate e-mail offerings for just the blog or just reviews. You can use Yahoo! Pipes to create a composite feed.

Feedburner reads the feed, and manages all the e-mail sign up stuff. It'll meet the strictest quality guidelines since you have to do a CAPTCHA to submit the form, then you have to reply to the confirmation e-mail it sends you. Just make sure to put SEXUALLY EXPLICIT at the beginning of your e-mail subject line to comply with CAN-SPAM.

Knowing you a bit, I'm guessing you'll think the downside is that someone else controls your mailing list (though you have access to it). And you may not be able to control the branding / look and feel of the e-mail as much as you might want.

That sounds interesting, will have to look at that. I guess that also saves you getting your server blacklisted for spam as its through Feedburner. Just have to somehow create 1 single RSS feed for all section of the site.

[Gaystoryman]

I think with feedburner you can use multiple feeds too, so they can subscribe to say the story feed, versus the directory feed.

[q1sites]

I'd personally find daily RSS emails annoying if I recieved them, and would soon opt out.

A less frequent email to former paysite members (people who have been willing to pay to join) is a great way to market and an important revenue stream. This is all the more so with niche paysites. We are telling them about something we know they are interested in. I personally think it works best when you have something newsworthy to say. You need a good subject line rather than just "newsletter".

Bjorn, I guess if you are blanket emailing visitors to a freesite or review site, you won't get as good a response. Why not ask them what they are interested in when they sign up for the newsletter?

[areagirls]

Personally, as an affiliate, the annoying "newsletters" are the ones that people send every fricking time they have a new gallery. That's not a newsletter.

New site? Great! New backend/platform ? Great! That's newsletter worthy.

New gallery? Please don't send a newsletter for that.


For WhoPaidMe, I have a 'newsletter' which is really just a daily e-mail listing new sites and promos. A few hundred people have joined, and I've only ever had 1 request to be removed (and he said he was sorry for having to do so, but he was leaving the industry). I don't use double opt in. Of course, these people have all willingly requested to be added to the list.

So I guess it's all about how useful your audience finds the information.

[jorgebianco]

[quote=q1sites;53867]I'd personally find daily RSS emails annoying if I recieved them, and would soon opt out.

A less frequent email to former paysite members (people who have been willing to pay to join) is a great way to market and an important revenue stream. This is all the more so with niche paysites. QUOTE]

I've thought thousands of times about e mailing my old customers, and I tend to believe that I could get good extra money through it.

What always stops me is the legal issue. Do I have the legal right to send an e mail about adult content to a customer just because he gave his e mail to the payment processor? I'm not really sure about that.

A friend of mine used to suscribe large sites like Sean Cody or Corbin Fisher, he dropped them long ago and he never ever received a mail from them. Why?

[rawTOP]

I'd personally find daily RSS emails annoying if I recieved them, and would soon opt out.

I've got well over 1,000 people signed up for mine. There are definitely people who like them.

[basschick]

Jorgebianco - we're not talking about just emailing former members - we're talking about sending newsletters to people who opted in to be on the email list. they signed up with the intention of receiving those emails, so it shouldn't be a problem.

bjorn, i wouldn't even consider running a newsletter that wasn't double opt in. too many guys think it's funny to sign up their buddies for porn stuff, and it's never a good idea to be sending porn emails to guys who might be christian or uncomfortable with porn in other ways. btw, i very much agree with Q1sites - a daily email is just too intrusive and annoying. weekly seems a lot more reasonable.

[AlexManifestMan]

Double opt-in is an absolute must. Anything else is irresponsible. Surfers and members who sign up for our newsletter get one each week with an additional email for the addition of new cam performers. The opened rate far exceeds the open rate of affiliate newsletters (which are sent less often).

And as often as I have tried I can not get off Lucas' email list and so I get that guy pissing in his own mouth about three times a week. Lovely.

[q1sites]

I've thought thousands of times about e mailing my old customers, and I tend to believe that I could get good extra money through it.

What always stops me is the legal issue. Do I have the legal right to send an e mail about adult content to a customer just because he gave his e mail to the payment processor? I'm not really sure about that.


Its a grey area, and the law will depend on the country. Many of the newsletter services will say that its OK if its to people you have had a genuine business relationship with, and many do not insist on double opt in. You have to follow the terms of the service provider you have, the email comes from their servers and they are taking legal responsibility. If you use your own servers, don't send them from your own domain mysite.com, have a varriant like mysitenews.com

I think if you are not hassling them weekly, have something newsworthy, and have a clear opt out button, you are unlikely to have problems. When we emailed former members of one site about a new bonus section made from non-exclussive DVD content, we had a 12% join rate from the email, and no complaints. This was a 1-off mailshot, and not a weekly or even monthly email. That is hell of a lot of extra business that I don't believe we'd have got otherwise. I don't believe we broke UK law.

[tigermom]

Do a double opt-in / opt-out and you should be safe enough. I use that on one of my sites with http://dadamailproject.com/.

I see a spike of 20% increase in traffic and revenue right after I send out the newsletter. It lasts for 1-2 days.

I send out a monthly newsletter - and I put all the site news in it. I also add 1-2 ads into that, but I make is as friendly, personal and non-spammy as I can.

I think it's a must for a site like GayDemon.

[Badpuppy Lisa]

Hey Mickey;
I'm sorry! I totally missed your question of what software do we use for our weekly Badpuppy Newsletter. It's home grown, our team wrote in-house using ASP.

[abostonboy]

OEM Pro is a REALLY good email platform.

[gaydemon]

Jorgebianco - we're not talking about just emailing former members - we're talking about sending newsletters to people who opted in to be on the email list. they signed up with the intention of receiving those emails, so it shouldn't be a problem.

bjorn, i wouldn't even consider running a newsletter that wasn't double opt in. too many guys think it's funny to sign up their buddies for porn stuff, and it's never a good idea to be sending porn emails to guys who might be christian or uncomfortable with porn in other ways. btw, i very much agree with Q1sites - a daily email is just too intrusive and annoying. weekly seems a lot more reasonable.


Double opt-in is an absolute must. Anything else is irresponsible. Surfers and members who sign up for our newsletter get one each week with an additional email for the addition of new cam performers. The opened rate far exceeds the open rate of affiliate newsletters (which are sent less often).

And as often as I have tried I can not get off Lucas' email list and so I get that guy pissing in his own mouth about three times a week. Lovely.

I did notice people doing exactly that, signing up other people for porn newsletters. But even the double opt in, with its confirmation email was enough to piss some people off. And can't the opt-in message be seen as spam as well and end up getting you blacklisted?

It seems much easier for paysite owners, as you got verified members who you know are the real email address owners.

[AlexManifestMan]

We use Lyris for our email to our members list and the CCBill email affiliates tool to send to affiliates. Thank you Jasun.

[jorgebianco]

Thanks to Q1sites for his detailed answer, I also think it's a gray area, but your results sound enough tempting as to try something, very gradual and very prudently.

Besides the one indicated by Abostonboy, do you guys use any recommendable software and/or service for emailing?