Many companies today have found that it is crucial to have an internet presence in order to be viewed as a real company. In fact there are many consumers who make buying decisions based on the information contained in a company's web site. Along with that has come a growing realization of the value of newsletter marketing, blogs, and podcasting.

While most companies who market via newsletters have an information based newsletter, there are those who use a newsletter simply to sell a product, service or event. If your newsletter falls into the latter category, you may want to reconsider how your email is represented.

A newsletter is a source of information thus the name, news letter. It may be information on a particular topic or topics, company information, or a combination of both delivered periodically. A marketing email is an email to sell a product or service or to advertise an event. It is important to recognize the difference between these two types of emails.

Why is it important? Because of consumer expectations. When a consumer subscribes to your newsletter, they expect to receive a newsletter that contains the information that they want, not a third party advertisement from an affiliate program. A lot of newsletter providers judge the success or failure of their newsletter by the number of unsubscribes. I would like to float the idea that people may not unsubscribe, but they may not be reading your email either.

There are many people who subscribe simply to receive a free gift for subscribing. They then delete each subsequent email, or worse open it and delete, giving false read statistics. Why would they do this instead of simply unsubscribing? To be polite of course. Maybe you gave them something free to subscribe, maybe you didn't, but to unsubscribe would be rude, now wouldn't it?

Next there is the SPAM issue in newsletters. Some people who have a newsletter will just go on the web and look for people that are in a similar industry and sign them up as a subscriber, or better yet, they get your business card and add you to the list. This is not a way to send newsletters, it is a way to send spam.

There are many other things I can address, but to save you some time, why not just give you a DO list of things to do to keep your subscribers? Here it is:

1. Only use an opt-in system. This avoids all hassles that can arise from service providers that your subscribers may be using to receive their email. These hassles include simple things like being blacklisted.

2. Consider using a popular online email management solution service. The online solution, if it has a significant presence, can be a mediator in the event you are accidentally blacklisted. They do this for a living and will do all they can to protect their business and in effect - yours.

3. If you must send third party advertisements to generate revenue, consider establishing a separate list for this purpose. Make one list an obvious newsletter that may include advertisements, and make the second list for special offers only. Give people a choice and most will sign up for both.

4. Track open rate statistics and click through rates from links within your newsletter. If your mail list management system does not provide this data, find one that does.

5. Try not to send newsletters more than once per week. If you are an infinite source of information and can't help but write every day, consider creating a blog that can be used to supplement your creative outlet.

6. Content is king. Try to supply your readers with information of value to them, not just advertising or a commercial disguised as a newsletter.

7. Lastly, adhere to all Can Spam laws to keep yourself out of court.

These are just a few tips, but I have found them to be very effective in retaining my subscribers.