to confirm opt in or not to confirm opt in?

by ruch1v
36 replies
which do you do?


have you tested both, what were your results?


I have just started list building this month, and am kinda getting agitated by the number of people not confirming, when your list is very very very small, like under 20, you feel like you've worked hard for each subscriber, so is pretty frustrating


would love to hear which you do and why
#confirm #opt
  • Profile picture of the author aborana
    I would stick with the double optin. This way you don't have to deal with spam complaints down the road.

    The last thing you would want is several spam complaints that could result in terminating your autoresponder account.

    Fuad
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  • Profile picture of the author David Tugwell
    I agree

    Double opt-in is the only way to go. If your confirms are low, perhaps you need to look at the page that your subscribers are redirected to on subscribing. You need to include something there that makes them realize an e-mail is coming and that they need to add you r e-mail address to their safe-list.

    I found before I created a custom page to do that, my confirmations were low... I think confirm e-mail tend to be seen as pretty spammy by most of the modern spam filters, so that may be why not many people are confirming... it ends up in their junk-mail folder.

    Another option would be to write a custom confirm e-mail that is not seen as spammy by the filters. There are a heap of free online tools that allow you to test the SPAM score for your e-mails.

    Hope This Helps

    Dave
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  • Profile picture of the author money2k
    double opt in is the ONLY way to get subscribers.
    You get serious subscribers on your list and it Keeps you from the Spam Police. You can resend a confirmation message to your subscriber.
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    • Profile picture of the author francoza
      I truly agree with you guys. I also choose double opt in thing. It keeps my subscribers safe and also keep the spamming away.

      Regards
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  • Profile picture of the author jzmoore
    I visited your site. A friendly critique - The sign up box is not very prominent. Also a compelling offer in exchange for their email address should increase optin rate. A % OFF coupon perhaps. The % off you give away will be significantly made up from future sales of repeat customers. Hope this helps.
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  • Also subcribers usually know who you are, therefore no spam double!
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  • Profile picture of the author Jarrett
    Banned
    I've talked with a lot of people who live and die by the single opt..
    But I've always 'opted' to go with the double-opt.

    Helps lessen the spam problems, more likely that my email will end up in their inbox or get whitelisted.. and gives me a better quality of people on my list.
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  • Quite frankly guys: what spam problems are you talking about? if you dont spam the bejesus out of your list, you should not be getting into too many spam complains at all. I've used single optins for as long as I've been in this business and never had a problem.
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    • Profile picture of the author donhutchinson
      Originally Posted by Anonymous Affiliate View Post

      Quite frankly guys: what spam problems are you talking about? if you dont spam the bejesus out of your list, you should not be getting into too many spam complains at all. I've used single optins for as long as I've been in this business and never had a problem.
      A restaurant loses a high percentage of clients by forcing double opt-in.
      What AR service do you recommend?
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      • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
        Banned
        [DELETED]
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        • Profile picture of the author Syndicator
          I prefer double opt-in because if you are using an ebook as an incentive, if they really want the book they confirm, if not then...NEXT!

          Re your site and some earlier friendly comments, you have a lot of really great graphics and images so you opt in box needs to stand out even more.

          If you made this look like a t-shirt with the sign up boxes inside that would be cool eh?...and tell them EXACTLY what to put in the box TO sign up! - "enter first name and email" for example.

          Also put the plain (what you currently have) opt in at the bottom of the page as well!

          graphical opt in at the top, plain at the bottom (above the footer)

          Footer = dumping ground for all those extra bits you cant fit anywhere else.

          My 2 cents.

          P.S you sign up form is not working right now either
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        • Profile picture of the author donhutchinson
          Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post

          ... it depends on the niche and how the list is built.
          There's absolutely no need to to use it for a list of housewives interested in cauliflower soup recipes, and doing so will be really counter-productive and in the long run cost money.
          Agreed Alexa. A restaurant wishes clients to join their discount club on premises and double opt-in loses quite a number.
          What AR d'you recommend?
          Thanks,
          Don
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        • Profile picture of the author Jag82
          Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post

          I strongly disagree with all the people above saying that double opt-in is the "only" way to go.

          For me (and for many others, by the way, including some very successful, very experienced internet marketers) it depends on the niche and how the list is built. In some niches, yes, it's important to use confirmed/double opt-in.

          Ah yes. Alexa. I'm 100% in agreement with you on this.

          You are absolutely right.
          It's definitely NOT always the only way to go.

          It depends.

          As Eben Pagan says - if you want to lose money
          - use single opt in.

          Aweber wants you to use double opt in.
          But of course, it's in their interest.

          You have to think in your interest. Test a single
          opt in and double. You will see that you may
          potentially lose a ton of subscribers.

          Daniel Levis actually wrote a detailed post
          on Clayton Makepeace's blog
          on a double opt in vs single opt in case study,
          which you may find a big eye opener.

          => Split Test SHOCKER! | The Total Package

          I used to be adamant about using double opt-in
          in the past. Not anymore.

          I use single opt in for almost all of my lists now.

          Jag
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  • Profile picture of the author simonjwarner
    Hmm,

    I use both depending on the offer, Im trying a new thing at the moment with special page that offers a bonus for confirming your email adress, that seems to help.
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  • Profile picture of the author Kevin Birch
    I have a mindset that says, "Why should I limit the amount of potential subscribers I get by forcing a double opt in?"

    A couple of years I have found that a quite high percentage of my double optins were not confirming so I switched to single optin - I noticed a slight increase in sales.

    However, in the IM niche I am now forcing double optin and I think people are conditioned to do that.

    But, if your niche is outside IM, I would wholehearedly say stay single optin! I try to make things as easy as possible to get them on my lists . . . plus they aren't as educated as to spam and stuff as us IM people!
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  • Profile picture of the author dsmpublishing
    Hi guys

    it always has to be confirmed with me - it covers your back against people reporting you for spam. But best of all it gives you a wonderful low rate when it comes to bounced emails later on during broadcasts.

    Sometimes people will enter their email address wrong and these would be classed as part of your list if you didnt get them to confirm or they could be using an email address of someone they dont like.

    kind regards


    sam
    X
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  • Profile picture of the author Sandor Verebi
    Originally Posted by ruch1v View Post

    ...
    I have just started list building this month, and am kinda getting agitated by the number of people not confirming, when your list is very very very small, like under 20, you feel like you've worked hard for each subscriber, so is pretty frustrating

    would love to hear which you do and why
    Hi ruch1v,

    Generally, if your service offer or product relates to the Internet Marketing niche then it is advisable to go for double opt-in. This way you prevent yourself from many problems may occured in the future.

    In other case it might be enough the single opt-in.

    Depends on the collecting mood, too. If you are able to give an alluring thing for the email data then people don't find themselves uncomfortable to double opt-in. This method also may be paying in the case of a 'sleeping' audience.

    All the best,

    Sandor
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    • Profile picture of the author Ruth Hendrickson
      I started out not using double opt in and had no problems for awhile. But then something strange happened. Someone's bot started signing up random people to my list; I had subscribers being signed up constantly all day for several days. Then I got scared and changed over to double opt in. That stopped it cold!

      The reason for double opt in is to make sure the person whose email address is entered in your web form is actually the person who requested the information. With double opt in, if someone else puts your email address in a web form that you know nothing about, when the confirmation email shows up, you can just ignore it and won't get any further emails from that person.

      Double opt in really is the only way to go to protect yourself as well as your subscribers.
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  • Profile picture of the author Floyd Fisher
    I will only use confirmed opt in.

    While you are dealing with emails bouncing off the walls due to people entering fake email info in the opt in box, I will be sending my emails out to real customers who are actually interested in what I have to say.

    Confirmed opt in weeds that stuff out, end of story.
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    • Profile picture of the author Sandor Verebi
      Originally Posted by Floyd Fisher View Post

      I will only use confirmed opt in.

      While you are dealing with emails bouncing off the walls due to people entering fake email info in the opt in box, I will be sending my emails out to real customers who are actually interested in what I have to say.

      Confirmed opt in weeds that stuff out, end of story.
      Yes Floyd, this is a very strong argument for the confirmed data collection.

      Anyway as we all of us know 'you are safe while there is not arising a trouble'. The prevention is much easier and cheaper than to handle problems.

      All the best,

      Sandor
      __________
      - coming -
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  • Profile picture of the author jennypitts
    Serious subscriber will have no problem completing a double optin request.
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  • Profile picture of the author Nicola Haxby
    Hi RuchV1,

    Double opt in may seem like a means of business prevention but it's a necessary evil I'm affraid.

    It's too easy these days for subscribers to mark your email as spam. A double opt in is your insurance if you get complaints - which you most probably will at some point.

    If you are having trouble getting your subscribers to confirm their opt in there is a technique that does increase your figures.

    When you send your confirmation message asking for them to confirm. Put a brief paragraph telling your subscriber that you have an awesome free gift for them but they must confirm so that you have permission to send them it.

    Not those exact words.....make it a bit more juicy!

    This is proven to increase opt ins.

    Good luck and hope this helped,

    Nicola
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  • Profile picture of the author ruch1v
    thanks for the responses everyone,


    I wasn't asking for my t-shirt site, it was for my squeeze page in my niche site Free Gift | Training Dog Obedience

    I've been watching the bigger names in the internet marketing niche, Frank Kern, Ryan Deiss, Russell Brunson, none of them use double opt in either.

    have any of you ever had spam complaints/problems with single opt ins?
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  • Profile picture of the author Lilach
    Hi ya

    This is a trickie one and I think both have a purpose.

    For my consultancy services I would have a double optin but for my work at home opportunity I don't.

    I've found my optin rates are higher this way. I have an unsubscribe box which is clear to those who wish to.

    I would experiment. Create two landing pages and work out which one gives you the higher optin rate.

    I also think as you're list is lower it can be frustrating and at the moment although its important to have a targeted list I do believe volumne is important too.

    Best of luck

    Lilach
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  • Profile picture of the author oneplusone
    I think the answer is similar to whether to use text or HTML e-mails, the reality is they both have advantages and disadvantages.

    I've used both single and double opt in successfully.

    Neither should be ruled out.
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  • Profile picture of the author ruch1v
    I just spoke to aweber, they said that you can either have double optin or single on a account, not different for different lists, so how do you guys who are in more than one do it? more than one autoresponder service?
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    • Profile picture of the author ronmojohny
      if I'm paying for clicks, single opt-in is the only way to go.
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    • Profile picture of the author oneplusone
      Originally Posted by ruch1v View Post

      I just spoke to aweber, they said that you can either have double optin or single on a account, not different for different lists, so how do you guys who are in more than one do it? more than one autoresponder service?
      You can open multiple aweber accounts.
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      'If you hear a voice within you say "you cannot paint," then by all means paint and that voice will be silenced.' Vincent Van Gogh.
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    • Profile picture of the author drmani
      I've tried both, in the past.

      Now I use double-opt in. My rationale is that a prospect who won't
      care enough to reconfirm an opt-in isn't oen who'll read my follow
      up emails, or take other action (including buying).

      Yes, my list is smaller than many others - and also more responsive,
      on the whole.

      I may be wrong - or this may apply only to my list/audience.

      If you go single-opt in, you run the risk of getting blamed if
      someone maliciously signs up someone ELSE to your list - and
      you send them unsolicited email.

      Originally Posted by ruch1v View Post

      I just spoke to aweber, they said that you can either have double optin or single on a account, not different for different lists, so how do you guys who are in more than one do it? more than one autoresponder service?
      Make sure of this, because if you set up EVEN ONE list in your
      "single opt-in" account at Aweber to be "double opt-in", the
      default settings will be changed on ALL of them to become
      DOUBLE opt-in.

      (And sometimes, even when you don't!)

      All success
      Dr.Mani
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      • Profile picture of the author Eric Louviere
        A guy goes to walk into a store. he is interested in remote control cars and it's a remote control car store. he walks in, but gets a phone call. He has to leave (distracted), so he leaves.

        Two weeks later, he decides to go back to the store and check it out. He talks to the sales clerk and ends up buying thousands of dollars worth of merchandise. After all, he was interested in remote control cars all along. Just was not the right timing, because of distractions.

        If someone searches "how to do blah blah" in my niche and lands on my squeeze page, that person is interested in "blah blah". Therefore, that person may not be ready right now, but might be ready later... BUT is interested in my "blah blah" niche, or he would not have put his email address in the opt in form in the first place.

        I can then "warm" that guy up to me, brand myself to him, turn him on to me and my stuff, and maybe eventually have a HUGE customer for life. Maybe a customer who buys thousands and thousands of dollars worth of merchandise/info.

        That sure would have sucked to miss out on him just because someone said to use double opt in. I've been using single opt in for years, and have a nice list. Not one problem. Sure, I get people telling me off and to unsubscribe them etc, but I think I've gotten more "push back" from IMers just telling me I should use double opt in, than from actual subscribers.

        LESSON: Dont believe everything you hear from gurus/experts. Test stuff yourself and find out for yourself.

        To each his own.

        Double is safer, of course. It's an ongoing debate for the ages. I've got my opinion and results I stand on.

        Eric
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  • Profile picture of the author willard
    Double Opt-In is best as you get the clients that really want your information, true you will get more subscribers without it, but they are of less quality.
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  • Profile picture of the author Online Bliss
    I also use both,
    Aweber will not let me add my Paypal customers by hand
    so I use another service with options for single opt-in and imported lists (mostly paypal customers). Some will argue that one should not do that with Paypal clients but
    they are my customers and they can opt-out.
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  • Profile picture of the author trevor75
    I use single opt-in myself. Its what I was taught when I first started my list, makes people feel more comfortable when signing up, and I get much higher sign up rates. Plus Like somebody else already said, what spam complaints. If you don't email the hell out of your list with garbage everyday there shouldn't be any problems. I've never had one complaint myself. Don't abuse their trust and everything will be cool.
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