Welcome back. In this article, I'm going to explain the very best practices to keep you out of spam woodshed, which I lovingly call the Spamhaus.

The reason this is important is spam is no joke. Just on a lark one day, I did a Google News search using the word spammer. The results were positively shocking, which I will show you below.

The first result was a 5 year jail sentence. Ouch!

http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2155709/spammer-gets-five-slammer

Did the news get better? Nope. Next one down was a $4 million dollar fine. Not a civil judgment, a criminal fine by the FTC of all people.

http://www.techspot.com/news/21503-spammer-gets-huge-fine-of-4-million.html

The third result was absolutely shocking. An ISP was awarded an $11 billion judgment against one spammer!

http://www.newtimesbpb.com/Issues/2006-05-11/news/feature.html

I'll give you a minute to let that last one sink in. Meditate on it for awhile before continuing reading this article. I'll just wait before continuing.

Now that I got your attention front and center, it's time to bring home the bacon and tell you how you can avoid such a bad fate. Here's the list:

Sharing.

Years ago, mom told you to share everything. However, she didn't live in the internet age where you can acquire personal info on others quite easily.

When you collect information via co registration, you then begin the process of building a relationship with that person. This is usually done via email. When that exact info is being shared with others, this means other people are doing relationship building with this person as well, and the person in question is receiving multiple emails.

If the info is shared too many times (as is usually the case), the person who signed up will get an avalanche of emails in his email inbox, and will start filing spam complaints. If you sent that person any email, he will file a spam complaint against you. It's not a very good day for you when this happens.

So, how to keep this from happening? Simple, never share information collected via co registration no matter how much others offer you for it. Also, if you are purchasing such information collected via co registration (such as from a lead house), ask them how many people they share the info with. If share the info with more than two people (you and one other person), throw it out! Or better yet, ask before you purchase leads and save yourself a massive waste of money.

Opt In vs. Opt Out.

It's simple to tell which is which. If the co reg box is pre checked, it's an opt out offer. If the co reg box isn't checked, it's opt in.

If the leads are collected via opt out, there is a good chance someone forgets to uncheck the box and doesn't realize they automatically opted in. So, they get email they didn't ask for, and start filing spam complaints. If you collected the info via opt out, you are now the target of spam complaints, which ruins your whole day (and many more days to come).

Never collect info via opt out methods. Never purchase leads from someone using opt out methods.

Clear enough for you?

Those two suggestions alone will go a long way towards keeping you clear of the Spamhaus. But there is more.

Your co reg offer.

For the love of god, don't be deceptive in stating what your co reg offer is about. Tell them exactly what it is all about and what they are going to receive. Always deliver what you promise, and don't ever start right out the shoot with emailing and ad to them.

Also, don't make them jump through multiple hoops (like squeeze pages), don't wait until the 5th email to deliver the free ebook to them. And if you promise an e-course, deliver that as well. Failure to do what you promise will generate spam complaints, and that means you're going to have a very bad day (with many more to come).

Single vs. Confirmed Opt In.

This depends on how the leads are collected, and how old they are.

If you're running a co registration campaign that uses real time delivery, and the info isn't shared in the least, using confirmed opt in is a good way to vet out the ‘bad leads' you're going to get in a quick and dirty fashion. My preference is to use it.

If you're purchasing ‘lead sheets' or 'records' there is a time delay between when the info is collected, and when it gets to your hot little hands. It can be up to 30 days, so they have plenty of time to forget they ever opted into your offer, so getting a confirmation email out of the blue like that will generate spam complaints. I've never bought lead sheets myself, but the pros say never use confirmed opt in or you'll be very sorry.

Warm Up.

No matter what kind of leads you use, this is critical. I'll go over this in some detail under ‘care and feeding of co reg leads' so I'm not going to do this now. Let's just say hitting them with a bunch of ads from the get go will only get you spam complaints. If you practice proper care and feeding, you will not only avoid spam complaints, you'll eventually have a much more responsive list as well.

Time lag.

Never purchase leads that are more than 30 days old. Those are basically trouble just waiting to happen!

Segregation of co reg leads.

Whatever you do, always keep co reg leads separate from your main list. When done with them, simply throw them away, and forget about re mailing them ever.

What info to collect?

To keep yourself out of hot water, you should as a minimum collect the following info:

•Name

•Email Address

•IP address of the person signing up

•Date and time the person signed up

This is the absolute minimum only. Some services may require additional info (such as the url of the co reg page), check with them first and ensure you meet that requirement.

Following these will keep your little rear end clear of the Spamhaus, and keep your list and business from going up in smoke.