List Building or lead generation on landing page

I certainly don't ask for their names.

I used to, when I first started list-building, but it was a mistake (as I readily learned, and proved, when I'd done enough testing to have significant results. I've also read of others who have done the same, and changed their policies accordingly).

I wouldn't be willing to use them in ougoing autoresponder emails anyway (that just makes you sound like an insurance salesperson, and subscribers resent it), and typically 12%-15% more people opt in if you ask for the email address only - at least that's my figure and it's what I've seen many others here saying, too.

If you hear people telling you that "using their first names makes it more personal", and/or that this kind of personalization somehow makes the lead "stronger", then in my opinion they're often people who've never actually tested it for themselves and never discussed it with their own subscribers, either.

No. There's an inverse proportionality between how much information you ask for and the number of people supplying it.

I am agreed with Alexa in certain matters, but in my opinion You should get data of their names.

You would look more credible to ask for their first name and email alone. This way, for an experienced IMer you would not look like someone who is just piling up an exhaustive list. By getting their name, you would also be able to respond to them in an one-on-one fashion, which enhances your reputation.

Alright, I get it.
Thanks again!

Generally the less form fields people have to fill in the better the conversions are. Though it's a matter of testing. For some offers asking them for additional info works better then asking for their emails only. Test test test

I find that the more data you get, the better quality the lead. If someone is not willing to give your their first name, they probably don't want to give your their email either. Asking for just the email encourages those type of people to quickly enter an incorrect email just to proceed to the next page.

Regarding using the first name in the email, I find that people don't think it's a conspiracy as much as some marketers believe - especially outside of the IM niche. In fact, most people are so used to seeing their first name at the start of emails that they don't think about it at all. People actually like seeing their name.

I still get emails from people who entered their name wrong and reply back to correct me on the spelling of their name.

The other thing to consider is - using the first name often confirms to people that they actually opt-ed in and gave you their real name.

As most email marketing experts will tell you, personalization still works. In fact many of them recommend that you use more fields than just the first name to personalize emails.

Depends on your goals. Ms. Smith nails it for IMing. If you're building a list for the purposes of promoting your own or affiliate products, then name and email fields will do (or rather, email only as Ms. Smith points out).

If, however, you're doing lead gen for the purposes of database marketing, then the more fields you get per individual - the better. For example: name, address, email, phone, etc.

Now, as a general rule - the more information you ask for, the more reluctant people are to give it. Thus, resulting in lower conversion rates.

On the other hand, the more information you get from an individual, the more "qualified" he or she is for your offer.

Again, just a general rule I learned from my offline days.

You'll find that if you decide to port your campaigns offline for say, a postcard campaign, then having additional fields will certainly come in handy. But again, depends on what your goals are.