How to completely destroy your email list? Only the best ways needed.

I like Barb's comments. She's exactly right.

Also, I'll add to the list of things that will destroy an email list: Choose a niche populated with, umm, distracted people.

I had a list for people interested in Feng Shui (the ancient art of placement and design). It was with Aweber, so it was double opt-in.

I emailed them no more than once a week, with "here's what's new" and the occasional freebie. The freebie was always unique, and something I would be selling to people who hadn't joined the email list.

In my emails, I never offered them anything they'd have to pay for; there were zero sales pitches.

My website articles often linked (affiliate links) to products I recommended, but even those were low-key. The site was a hobby site for me, more than anything intended to be profitable.

Also, my angle is generally practical and truly about interior design and landscaping. I stay far away from anything that could offend a profoundly religious person.

Despite all that, the number who reported my emails as spam... it was mind-boggling. That was one of about 15 lists I had at the time, and it stood out as a complete anomaly.

This was about three years ago, but I recall that I had about 1000 subscribers at any given time, and the spam reports were around 8% with a total unsub rate of about 14%, per mailing.

Then, about six weeks later, the same people would re-subscribe. This cycle repeated over and over again.

Before Aweber sent me any more notes about the problem, I discontinued that list. (I'm not sure if I should be surprised that my income from that site didn't drop when I stopped sending emails.)

So, sometimes... well, even if you don't spam them, keep your emails short and cheerful, and give them useful freebies, some niches (or audiences) are still impossible to please. Or something.

I'm still not sure what happened with that list, but I resolved not to take it personally.

In general, I've had the least success with lists related to art and spiritual themes, including paranormal. At best, they love the freebies but the emails don't seem to trigger purchases. My sites in those niches seem to fare just as well, with or without a list.

On the other hand, the techie and science-related audiences seem to love being on lists, and they'll buy & buy. Focus on mid-range products (over $15 but under $100) and they seem to spend the most.

Travel niches buy books, cameras, and some DVDs... and sometimes the occasional set of matching luggage. (I'm not kidding.) Some responded well to weekly mailings. Many did best with a longer, monthly email newsletter.

Though there are obvious (and perhaps not-so-obvious) rules to follow with lists, the niche has to be considered when evaluating what works, what doesn't, and if it's even worth having a list.