What Makes You Unsubscribe?

If I don't read 3 in a row they get deleted.

If they just sell me all the time they get deleted.

If they just rehash the same stuff they get deleted.

I like interesting and entertaining material so if they fail to deliver they get deleted.

Quentin

Honestly, it could be anything from what I had to eat that morning to just my annoyance at receiving a sales email when I was expecting a really important email from someone, like a follow-up about a job or something, especially if this sales email I get is the first email all day, and it's 2:00pm. Other reasons include just poor, rehashed content, low value, and obvious pitches to sell something I really don't need, or am just not interested in. Hope that helps.

PAYMENT NOTIFICATION
NOTIFICATION OF PAYMENT RECEIVED
COMMISSION NOTIFICATION.

Basically, if you're going to lie to me.. I'll hit the unsub... Otherwise, I never do.

Caleb

Hi Robin

I unsubscibe to any email that uses RE: if I have not emailled them.

Also if they use lame stuff like 'you've got funds' , 'your check is waiting' or emails with lines like 'I know you are struggling' or my favorite this week: '(forgive me if I'm blunt here) BUT...

... Doing what you're doing right now, you're
NEVER going to make any money.

Yep you got that right. Not a single cent.'

Actually i'm doing all right thank you!

These are the reasons I unsubscibe and as I havent used any of these tactics myself I therefore haven't tested them so I don't know if they would work for the majority of people!

John

Hello,
I have unsubscribed many times when someone tries to sell me some old stuff that they claim is brand new.

All of the above - plus - when they are a very well known Internet Marketer that always emailed good information, then suddenly overnight seems to become a spammer and emails at least once a day promoting stuff!

The fastest way to go from a well known Internet Marketer to an unsubscribed statistic!

Thank you! I have to admit, the emails that always assume every subscriber is either a newbie, flat-broke, or flat-out desperate don't get my vote.... or the marketer that emails me for the 3rd time in a day with "just wanted to make sure you got this..."

Your input is really helpful.... I appreciate it very much!

Sincerely,
Robin

Well.. if the newsletters are full of promotion, I just unsubscribe.

I have a slightly different reason - too often I'm forced to sigh-up for a list to get access to a giveaway or product or etc.. I don't know if I like the giveaway or product etc.. until I've signed up for the list and gained access.

I think when you 'force' sign-ups like this - a good %'age are going to unsubscribe. If you just provide the goodie and let people decide for themselves if they want to return to your site to sign-up, you'd have a better list with less un-subscribes.

Now before everyone disagrees and says no one will ever return to sign-up - gotta catch them up front, signing-up to get the giveaway is a time-tested method - I know, I'm just saying, I'm a chronic un-subscriber because I feel like I'm always forced to sign up for lists to see what people have to offer.

Offer the value first then get subscribers that way.

Christine

I hate being sent a million emails from the same damn person. I mean really why in the world do people need to send three four emails a day. That is just milking it.

"Hey Dimitris,Payment Notification"
"Earn 783.961,98$ in 2 minutes work"
"Read emails and get paid-I got 480$ today only!"

This kind of stuff make me want unsubscribe immediately.I want to make money online,i am not stupid!

Dimitris

I hate emails that:

include 'I goofed . . .' in the subject line
body text that include profanities (inc OMG)
Subject lines that go something like, "Frankly, I'm shocked'
Subject lines like "Only 15 left . . ."

I will list more later!

Kevin

For me it is getting an excessive number of e-mails in a short space of time.

I don't do it to anyone (when I'm e-mailing my lists), and I don't like it being done to me.

Pretty well what everyone else said above!

Also:

When there is a link to a video that you can't see how long it is or control (eg, to rewind or speed up).

When I get what is patently a stick and paste message for an affiliate thing - can they not write it in their own words and style?

When I get a daily email - and usually promoting something.

When I have stopped needing something - I have just moved on; in that case I do write and explain why, and thank them for the newsletters.

When they are all promo and no helpful content.

When they all link to a video tip - they take so long! If it's just a chunter/chat (rather than a how-to), I would rather have something to read or listen to.

Unfortunately I believe I am contributing to e-waste.
Nothing seems to make me unsubscribe. I just make another filter. lol. I keep thinking one time I'll go look and find something that makes it worth while.

What makes me unsubscribe?

1. When I see their email in my inbox and feel "duty" to open vs "desire" to open.

2. When the time spent reading their emails is not worth the opportunity cost.

Constant promotions are a big killer for myself.

All the work seems to be directed at getting people to sign-up to their mailing lists. After you are on they just throw crap at the wall and hope some sticks.

I have found only a handful who deliver useful information. They all run great blogs with better info than many paid products. They promote products rarely but with honesty.

I am on a persons mailing list to receive more of their knowledge - not as a third party product notification tool. If I think you have the knowledge and authority on a subject I am going to be a lot more responsive.

If you promote constantly and immediately after I join your list without any hint of sharing your knowledge, I assume you have known and unsubscribe.

A lot like the reports above - I hate lying with a passion so the "you have received payment" and stuff like that is an automatic unsubscribe. Other emails telling me that they have "had a problem with my email account" - I mean how many times can that happen? And because I am signed up to a lot of IM lists if I look down my emails in the morning and see 5 - 6 different marketers all using the same subject line - they are all gone because they are obviously selling affiliate products and have not been bothered to put any effort into the marketing side of things...

And finally those stupid emails that just say "you have to see this" and a link - no I don't have to see anything i don't want to and at least with the emails that short it is easier to find the unsubscribe button...

Didn't mean to get this irrate with this but I had over 150 of these very things in my email this morning and as I was busy I did get annoyed

Lisa

If I continuely am getting something then that really annoys me. If its just every two weeks or so then it doesnt bother me. And I definetly agree if it starts with RE then im gonna unsub.

I've honestly been on some list where I'd get a sales
email everyday and the one email talked about how
it was better than "product abc" which they were
trying to sell me the day before!

I guess they thought if you thought this one
wasn't good enough to buy how about this!
haha

I received an email asking for my mailing address so they could mail me my 'free gift' lol

I unsubscribed.

I also unsubscribe if it's a sales pitch after sale's pitch with now real content value.

Honestly, you need to build rapport. Personally, I like to give a lot of advice, and only recommend anything that is really worth it. Never over recommend, and always give a lot of tips for your niche. I unsubscribe when I get too many "recommendations" without any real content in between.

heaps of emails. i hate it.

Let's flip the equation...

Are your subscribers leaving?

Do everything you can to provide valuable, timely information related to the reason they signed up.

Personally, I unsubscribe for lots of reasons - most listed above.

All success,

Gary

The subject line (and I'm not making this up)...

" , a personal invite from me."

I unsubscribe to everything.

Unless it's one of the very few people who I know by name, and I really want to hear from them.

I get way too much email and if I actually read it, I'd never have any time to work.

Always being offered nothing and recieving emails every week or two...

if your going to email me make sure its an offer or try and make it seem that way!

LOL

i find the best remedy is never signing up in the first place.

I tend to only unsubscribe when I do not even remember how I actually got on somebody's list. So basically it was forced in opting in to somebody's list I opt out

When emails are sent for email's sake and they come in more than one at a time.

It immediately tells me that they don't genuinely want to help me, but are only contacting me to enhance their chances of a sale.

Only contact your lists if you genuinely have something of quality to offer them.

Sam.

- Too many e-mails
- Ridiculous claims
- Ridiculous subject lines.

One time I got an e-mail from someone with the subject "Dammit you need this!". I hit the unsubscribe button as fast as possible.

I Still Subscribe To 80+ Marketer's

If it just start's to become Sale's pitches Only, I'd Unsubscribe.
But Like a Sale's Pitch that's the same one there all handed out ect.

If I just Get Sale's Pitches But there good one's I stay , & Store all those to Look at for later.

Everyone just want's Quality & not to be sold to Really Some Marketer's all they do is send out Sale's Pitche's

Agree with most of the posts above.

Being bombarded (1-3 emails every day on some lists) with emails is a real turn-off. To me, it's a sign that the list owner is focussed on quantity not quality and is playing a tacky percentages game with their list.

Misleading subject lines is another way to get me reaching for the unsubscribe button really quick. Also subject lines that make too many (usually false) assumptions like: "I know you're desperate for some cash," or "I just HAD to share this with my closest friends."

I have unsubscribed when I got a repeated mail with old things and if my mail box has huge mails, I will unsubscribe the unwanted ones.

People who send me junk emails with no real value. Or they are sending emails that Always have something to sell.

If I get an email from the same person or company more than once a week and it's a sales message I delete, and cancel my subscription.

I dislike the the warning window on exit. If I have to click ok more than once to get out of the application I unsubscribe immediately.
If I have opted in and I get sent to another optin page I immediately unsubscribe.
Since I started doing this my inbox has cleared up a lot.

Spelling & poor punctuation would be the first reason.

Second, referring to me as 'mate' or 'guys'.

Third, too many emails in a short space of time ie. more than one a week. Some send several PER DAY. They are ditched sharpish.

It would be a much shorter list to describe what will STOP me from unsubscribing...or relegating everything sent to a spam folder for all eternity.

A subscription MUST, MUST, MUST provide...

- Interesting, engaging, original, informative content.

- Good writing.

- Minimal sales pitching, and ONLY when the writer took such care in crafting the sales message that the pitch ITSELF was actually interesting, engaging, original, and informative.

Give me those three criteria, and I don't mind if you hit me up three times a day. Fail at any one of them, and you've lost me for good. Plus, I'm bitter, so I'll go out of my way to tell people to avoid you.

Well there is a real difference between spam and opt-in lists. I don't bother unsubscribing from my IM lists until there is a big launch and I get lots of emails about one product then I go through my gmail account and unsubscribe from the following:

1.Haven't found value in a while
2. Have not read in a while
3. Too many emails
4. Emails are pointless and long
5. Not very innovative message on a regular basis

I get lots of emails so I need some way to stop myself from just reading things that I agree with. I want emails that make me think and teach something new or else I will just waste my time reading them.

I have to say though that it would be better to have a list of people to optin to instead of the endless optin...read for a couple months....opt out kind of cycle.

There is a thread here somewhere on the forum of people to subscribe to always.

If the offer sounds too good to be true, I will unsubscribe without giving it a second thought.

If the email contain some serious grammatical errors, I will unsubscribe.

- Constant sales
- Multiple emails within a day

I agree with Caleb... additionally I do not like to get emails with bogus "confirmation".

I also unsubscribe when I get 3 or more emails in 1 day... It is very annoying and sometimes buries an email I would like to read.

Something else that makes me unsubscribe:

A link to a sales page that automatically subscribes me to someone else's list. Why didn't you cloak that link Chris & Jerome of CBPredators? eh? Because it wouldn't work if you did. I do wonder how many people just subscribed themselves to another list without realizing it.

Not to mention the fact that I unsubscribed from their list twice already. How many lists did you automatically subscribe me to C&J? Did I ask you to do me that favor? Nope.

Being sent to pages with tons of "click cancel" scripts

I signed up to many lists just for a freebie, and then end up deleting them as soon as they start promoting me stuff. The thing is, I dont know who they are or whether they have real credibilty or not. If they are well known on warrior forum, then I tend to trust them more than others.

If the content is irrelevant to my interests, or it's just salesletter after salesletter...it's annoying and pointless, so I unsubscribe.

Thank you it is really a great question, I don't mind receiving your mails if you are dealing with me as a human being not a money machine, I have unsubscribed many times because they want to teach me what I don't know about what they are mastering.Because I am the ediot and they are the masters. I think encouraging me to participate will be more humane. Try to ask me what I know about your product before saying it is the one of its kind. I like the email when it start saying : (Hello I really want your opinion about this product .. what do you think ?.. I heared many people saying bla bla about it what is yours?), May be I am wrong but it is my opinion

They start talking about things I'm not interested in. Or they start sending me offers every other day about how this one made $50,000 in 2 weeks. etc. Or there content isn't top notch. But what really annoys me is when all of the sudden I'm getting emails from someone that I didn't subscribe to! And then they won't let you off!

I usually unsubscribe when they start trying to sell me their friends products. Or if all they do is sell and never just send me something useful. My fave lists to be on are the few where you buy their product which turns out to be good and then they email you now and then with a useful hint or just to ask if you need any help. Those are worthwhile, and making an attempt to look after their customers.

When I get too many messages and when I get messages
about stuff that I did not sign up for.

I'm on so few lists, I'm sure I'm not typical. I was on a well known Guru's list purely for amusement value, as I was not interested in his products, but liked his style of writing. I was on the list for a couple of years.

Then I began to get almost daily emails that were no longer amusing of every product launch coming down the pike. I unsubscribed.

If I get an email every day, I will unsubscribe. If I don't like the kind of pitches I get, I will unsubscribe. If the headlines or body are deceptive, such as using fake scarcity or RE: You've received a payment kind of deception, I will unsubscribe.

If you never send anything worthwhile that doesn't cost money ... nothing but pitch after pitch, I unsubscribe. If I get an "ooops ... sent the wrong link" for the second email that day, I will probably unsubscribe.

There's 3 I'm on right now that are keepers. Infrequent emails, lots of great information, never pitching the latest launches ... this is what they all have in common and why I stay on them.

One of the lists I'm on is for domaining, one is for PLR Content, and one is Paul Meyer's newsletter.

I usually don't unsubscribe after i subscribe to some newsletter.
but it's a compulsion is i get my inbox cluttered due to the emails sent to me as webpronews does to my inbox.

Being peppered with offers (even if I find them interesting, sending out offers 2 times a day isn't cool)....

They should have a function where they let people who are still interested (not yet ready to unsubscribe) choose how often they want to receive mail....

I hit the unsubscribe button when I am sent multiple offers from the same person in one day all offering different products. I also unsubscribe when the person fails to offer me relevant info.

What makes me stay subscribed is a marketer who is known to offer assistance. (ie a video on blogging for example). Someone who offers good info. without always trying to sell something to me.

for me.. i unsubscribe these people emails.. they send too much emails.. with useless and unrelated products..

when I am expecting to download a free ebook and comes up corupted or if they try to sell me every single email or if they mention methods that I am not able to apply at the moment.

A lie could cause me to unsubscribe.

Usually when I subscribe to something it's to get more information. The first email generally gives me everything I want then I unsubscribe. If you send me an email once every 3 months though I wont unsubscribe. Makes me feel like part of the circle

Great thread and thanks for the valuable information here. I am going to turn this into a blog post and a series of articles (probably a webunar too) for teaching newbies how to build and maintain a list.

I hate receiving countdown style emails, '12 hours left' 'hurry up closing in 5 hours' etc throughout the day, it sucks! I unsubscribed from every marketer spamming like that.

Most of the marketers here on WF bombard there list every day. few of them even send 2-3 email a day.

Few of Warriors making money by selling solo Thats too much for the inocent subscribers.

Not giving enough VALUE.

Always trying to sell rather than GIVE.

Not communication the rightful message for your particular niche.

And some people just flat out QUIT their business cold turkey...

I don't like emails that start with my friend just made this new program that makes heaps of money, and not say the name of the friend or explain what the program is.

I also don't like, get on this webanir and see what its about as most are in USA time meaning I have to stay up all night as I am in Australia.

I like a personal touch where the marketer shares a little about themselves like telling about their childs b,day or expecting a new baby and how the wife is, it makes the marketer a real person and friend I am more likely to look at what they are selling

One list I am on is an Aussie that is on holiday and traveling around the country they send an email once a week telling where they are and what its like there. Its fun to read and helps me decide where to go for my holiday plus I like the products she sells.
And it seems she is promoting her business with a sticker on her RV that has got people asking her about it.

Sandra

I've been ranting and raving on this as soon as the "payment notification" and "RE: refund" trend came out.

I can't stand marketers using these stupid tactics.

Oh yeah, when I unsubscribe I usually tell the senders to "f*** off" and "stop spamming me, as*hole!". I doubt they'll change, but maybe if enough of us did it they would stop it?

Not to mention I also report them as spam on their email service provider. Can't recall if aweber has this or getresponse but if theres an option to do so, I will do it.

This industry needs an overhaul, it's only getting worse with those ridiculous exit pop discounts.

Gee.

- Dean

If I get...
-more than 1 email a day
-an email everyday (unless it is a course)
-a sales pitch every email
after a couple of weeks I'll unsubscribe.

If I receive...
-the famous "whoops I sent the wrong link" or "I didn't know if I sent this to you so I'm resending this email to you" more than 3 times, I'll unsubscribe.

Jim

I'm really picky about signing up for lists, but I do sign up for emails from a few great marketers. the number one thing that makes me unsubscribe is too many emails. Either that or stricly selling in each and every email and never giving any kind of value. The funny thing is that there are a couple times where I actually was kind of bummed to unsubscribe because I really wanted to learn something from the person but didn't feel like wading through countless sales pitches to find the value.

I unsubscribe for a few reasons.
Messages that resemble this:

You should check out this great ebook that my friend created
**Insert redirect link here**
It's really amazing, check it out
**Insert same redirect link here**

You have to love how amazingly useless these emails are. Why would I spend my time downloading something that A) I have no prior information about, B) I have no interest in, and C) A program that is not Cross-Platform Compatible (Or better yet, full of malware)

I also unsubscribe if I receive a message every single day, and there is no useful information. Usually this is done after the first week. There are very few people that stay in my Inbox for long, and with Googles new Priority Inbox I only have 2 marketers right now that show up there.

Occasionally, I go a few days without checking my email. Earlier this month I had one marketer send me a "Payment Received" style headline. When I checked, it was a fake payment notice tactic used to get me to open the email. I then received a second email apologizing for using this tactic, which was already in my inbox due to not being at my computer for a a few days. I signed up for his newsletter with a spam email I used to use often, and found this dirty tactic with a follow up apology was part of his normal marketing scheme. I quickly unsubscribed.

I have also been known to unsubscribe when people use redirect links even when they are describing the product. I know you're a marketer, and I expect affiliate links. When I hover over a link, I expect it to tell me where I am going in the status bar, before I click. Seeing www.aweber.blahblahblah45390485blah234 is not going to get a click. Why? I have a 3 year old son, and I have followed a few of those links that bring you to adult websites. I expect to go to a sales page about an ebook or video, and find some half naked girl parked on my screen... Try explaining that to a child. Show me where I am going, or don't get clicks.


So basically, it all comes down to being honest. If you are an honest and helpful person, I will stay on your list longer. If you hide your affiliate links, try and sell me every day without giving me any real information, or use dirty tactics, you won't survive long.

I am on a few lists for products I have no real interest in, simply because the person is honest about what they are promoting. I'm not a car person, but I have one person sending me messages 3 times a week about new car upgrades, and tips on how to save on gas or repairs. If the information is useful, I have been known to forward bits to friends that can make use of the information, and they sometimes sign up themselves.

I didn't mean to rant. I do hope this was helpful though.

~ Teravel

I unsubscribe when I understand that the theme that I was interested before does not interest me anymore. Other reason could be too much of e-mails from the person which I did subscribe before.

People have mentioned this one already, and it's one of two that makes me unsubscribe. The first is "Ooops" or "I goofed." I tend to be forgiving the first time because I actually did make a mistake where I sent the wrong link. I was rushing to send off the email and didn't check for errors. The second time, the person is on my radar. Three strikes and you're out.

The second thing is sending me the same email over the course of months saying that "14 spots left." You mean a famous internet marketer can't fill 14 spots in a 6-month time period? Yeah right. When I was given the opportunity to explain why I was unsubscribing, I just said that I didn't trust him anymore.

I have a junk e-mail address which I use to opt-in for the free reports, videos, etc. I almost never un-subscribe because that's the whole purpose of this email address is to be the disposable email I don't use for anything else.

There are a handfull of people whose e-mails I actually read (like 2 or 3 marketers).

I have to say though that when I buy something from somebody (it is usually good stuff) my paypal email address which is different from my junk email address gets on their list and I'd like to stay on their list to receive notifications of new products.

The promotions I want to receive more of and to buy are software productivity tools and various scripts, PLR content and graphics. For those I would like to receive MORE emails because this is the stuff that once I buy I immediately turn it into big profits. Those are emails I am waiting anxiously and buy immediately.

If they flood my IN box with emails, they get deleted. If they repeat themselves over and over, they get deleted. If they dont get to the point, quickly, they get deleted. I'm actually not very tolerant when it comes to these things!

Thank you so much to everyone for all the input. There have been so many excellent points made here, many of which I would not have considered before.

I've learned a great deal in a very short amount of time, thanks to all the comments....

I appreciate it and welcome any additional thoughts anyone might have....(though I can't imagine much more could be added thanks to the great response up to this point!).

Sincerely,
Robin

Personally, I hate daily's or weekly's. I think once a month is enough. If it is longer than a couple hundred words, it is more information than I want to process. If it is talking about multiple subjects, I am out. If it has to do with a "Don't miss this offer", or "time is running out" type of theme...I don't want to be marketed to that way. I want information, and ideas. I'll buy from you when it is time. I have to be in the looking zone.

I simply have two email accounts. One for clean emails and another for other junk emails or "pending" my approval emails.
So when I subscribe them I usually use my junk email account.
If I see that they deliver value, I subscribe again for my clean list and unsubscribed them from my junk email account.
This is really helps as I quickly scan my junk email account and do not spend much time reading them.