A Question about Spam
using Form Build It

Question - I have several FBI! forms on my site that are more general: one is "Keep me informed of changes in the industry, and "Let me know about other special offers" for example. 

There's no autoresponder attached to these forms so I don't have regular follow up. However, if I then send periodic e-mails to people who send me their details on these forms, is it considered Spam?

Answer - Great question and the Spam issue certainly is a minefield alright. 

I think the best way to handle staying on touch with people about changes in your industry and special offers is always through your newsletter, not through a specific form. 

Plus using FBI to do what you are doing I guess you'd have to manually enter each person who contacts you through one of your various forms into an email list somehow and remember which form they came from etc. - YUK! 

With your newsletter everything's in one place and you have a chance to cover these things plus give other regular content which over time will help you to build a relationship with your readers. 

Trying to manually update who wants to hear from you and who doesn't using Form Build It - and then trying to unsubscribe them effectively once they tell you to stop - is a nightmare...best not to go there 

Automating as much as possible is something that's a priority so the less forms you have floating around that people can join different lists the better. 

I've got dozens of forms on my sites for various things but they are only ever used to collect information and reply to a specific question, never to follow up unless there's an autoresponder set up (for a mini course for example). 

Everyone gets funneled towards joining either a mini course (which then directs them towards the newsletter once they've fnished) or a dedicated newsletter specifically targeted to that niche. 

That way I can segment people into the markets they are interested in and give them ongoing useful content without worrying about spamming anyone. 

Hope this helps...