On Privacy and Opt-in Publishing

How does one successfully target their audience on a website while at the same time respecting their privacy issues?

Opt-in.

The European Union Data Privacy Directive asks for four things:

1. Tell me what information you are collecting and what you're going to use it for. 

2. Allow me to participate or not, don't make the disclosure of that information a requirement. 

3. Let me review the data you've collected about me so that I may make corrections. 

4. Protect that data from use (by yourself or by others) outside of the specifically agreed to purposes.

These rules make infinite sense and should be followed whether they are the law or not.

In regard to marketing and lists, do you foresee privacy issues online becoming more congruent and regulated?

As with all regulations, there will be lots of talk until somebody does something really bad. Vendors should respect prospect and customer privacy because it's good marketing, not because of legislation. But eventually, yes, somebody is going to die because an insurance company wouldn't insure them because they participated in a cancer discussion group online and that will be the final straw.

Should people be filled with fear that "Big Brother" is collecting infobits about them?

Big Brother? No. Big Brother hasn't a clue about what to do with the information. Little Brother is the one to watch for. If I can find and correlate all the information I can already get, a list of the websites you visit, which pages you look at and I use that information to inflate the price of Beanie Babies, then we have a problem.

Why is it better to rent a list than to buy one?

I cannot remove myself from a purchased list until you spam me. A rented list, by its nature, is one that I signed up for (opt-in) and may leave at any time.

Why is the content even in the e-mail subject line so important?

It's the same as what's printed on the outside of an envelope. It has to be something compelling enough so that people will actually open it and read it.

Is opt-in email publishing going to continue to grow in its power as a marketing tool?

Yes. It's great for the public, I get the information I want right up until I don't want it any more. It's also great for the advertiser as response rates are very high. I'm only sending my message to people who want it.