How to minimize unsubscriptions

Whenever I send out a bulk email I always end up with fewer people on my email list than I started out with. This is for 3 reasons

1. Inevitably some people will decide that they've heard enough from me. Often it's simply because they are suffering from information overload and can't deal with the sheer volume of emails they are getting.
2. Some will also decide that they don't like the type of emails I send out.
3. Some will have full in-boxes with their ISPs or will no longer be using the email address they signed up with.

My autoresponder also automatically deletes email addresses from my database if it generates a bounce back on 3 consecutive occassions. This happens when someone subscribes using a false email address.

To minimize unsubscriptions I tend to test messages: I send them out initially to a test audience and monitor unsubscription rates. If they are acceptable I then release the email for distribution to my whole list.

This testing serves 2 purposes: it keeps the overall quality of my emails high (as assessed by my readers, not me) and it helps me grow my list by managing unsubcriptions rates down.

Partial list broadcasts with my autoresponder have been made a lot easier recently - you can create sub-lists according to criteria such as subscription date and once you've created a sub-list you can use it any time you like to send a test broadcast out.