You know how sometimes you come across a website that’s offering a freebie you want, but they ask for your email address, so you change your mind? Mailinator is a wonderful tool for those situations.

Anytime you need a throwaway email address that you’re only going to use once, Mailinator can provide one. That saves you from having to opt in to a list, when you just want to get the free download.

It’s very easy to use. Go to mailinator.com. You can make up any email address you want, but I just use a random one. On the left side below “Can’t think up an address,” they’ll have a link to a random address. Right now it says jrcvdgesgazwa@mailinator.com. Click that link and it takes you to the inbox for jrcvdgesgazwa@mailinator.com. The account is automatically created, and you don’t need to sign up for anything.

Now, when you want to download a free report and you need to give them an email address, you just give them jrcvdgesgazwa@mailinator.com. Then when you refresh the Mailinator page, you’ll see you have an email with a link to your free report. Meanwhile, your real email address remains free of spam. jrcvdgesgazwa@mailinator.com might get spam, but it doesn’t matter because you’ll never use that address again.

But you only need this when dealing with a potential spammer!

Mailinator is very useful when you don’t know who you’re dealing with, and you don’t know what they’ll use your email address for. But there are plenty of legitimate email lists out there that don’t spam you. They may offer a free report as a sweetener, but the list itself delivers value, not just sales pitches.

I tend to trust real people a lot more than faceless companies. If you know a person, and they’re offering a free ebook, in exchange for your email address, and they tell you what they’re going to email you, that’s probably fine. I’d be likely to opt in, if I know this person and I like their work.

Many people with legitimate mailing lists use AWeber, which has a very strict anti-spam policy and guarantees that you can opt out at any time. I’m never afraid to give my real email address to AWeber, and that’s what I use for my own newsletter. Besides, AWeber is smart enough to know about Mailinator, so they won’t let you use mailinator.com addresses.

To see if a mailing list is run through AWeber, just click the submit button without entering your name or email address. You’ll get an error of course, but you can see if it’s an AWeber error. If so, you can click the back button and enter your info. I’m sure there are other services with strict anti-spam policies, but I don’t know who they are.

Mailinator will set you free! Go forth and download free reports with reckless abandon!

If you’re reading this post directly on my blog (as opposed to in your email or in your RSS reader), you should have seen a pop-up announcing my email newsletter. You’ll see that pop-up only once, at least in theory (if it ever pops up again, the Escape key will close it), but you can always find the newsletter sign-up on my contact page.

Many of you receive my blog posts via email, but my newsletter is completely separate from that. My newsletter is for the group of super cool people who want to be part of my inner circle.

I’ve been on a number of different email newsletters, and I’ve seen firsthand what annoys me as a subscriber. So before I had a newsletter of my own, I wanted to come up with a better way of doing it. I definitely didn’t want to piss people off with my emails. (Though I did break one of my own rules with the subject of this post!)

Everyone says that all internet marketers need to have a newsletter. But I kept putting it off, because I hadn’t really seen a good role model among the lists I was on. The emails were just one sales pitch after another, or there were way too many emails, or they just weren’t interesting.

But I recently got some inspiration from a couple of good email lists.

Naomi Dunford and her discounts

When Naomi at IttyBiz released SEO School, she wrote a post about it that included a discount code meant for her regular readers. Later, when she released it to the general public, a bunch of people who don’t even read her blog just did a Google search for “SEO School discount code.” People who didn’t know who she was got the discount that was only meant for her fans!

To fix this the next time around, she started an email list. The idea was that whenever she came out with a new product, she’d tell her fans about it first, and let them buy it at a discount. That’s it. No regular emails, just discounts.

I thought this was a good idea because it gave a clear incentive to subscribe, and no one could honestly think they were being spammed (free money, duh). But I wasn’t sure that just doing discount emails would work for me.

If someone joined my list, and then I didn’t email them for a long time, they might wonder “Where the heck are my emails?” And then when I finally came out with a product six months down the road and sent an email, people might have forgotten about me by then. And then they’d wonder, “Who are you, and how did you get my email address? I don’t remember signing up for anything!” Still, this idea had potential for me.

Michael Martine keeping it short and sweet

My other inspiration came from Michael Martine at Remarkablogger. First he had Remarkablogger the blog, then he came out with his Remarkanotes newsletter. (Next he’ll probably come out with his Remarkaclothing line, or the Remarkafragrance for men.)

Michael sends out emails about once a week, so his subscribers don’t forget about him. But his emails are really short and interesting, so it’s more like getting emails from a friend than reading big long dissertations. His list is great for people who want a little something extra, but are short on time.

My newsletter for super cool people

I decided to combine these concepts in my own newsletter.

If you want to be in my inner circle, just sign up below. When I release a new product, you’ll be told ahead of time, and you’ll get a chance to buy it at a discount. (This also helps if you want to be an affiliate, so you can have a head start on writing a review.) I have a new ebook that will be announced to my newsletter subscribers soon, hopefully within a week, so this would be a good time to join my newsletter.

Aside from the discounts, you also get an email whenever I come across something motivational, interesting, helpful, etc. For example, the videos about Nick Vujicic and The Tea-Loving Caterpillars.

I sometimes write long blog posts, but my newsletter emails will be short. And they’ll be infrequent too, probably somewhere between once a month and once a week. Many of us who spend a few hours a day reading blogs sometimes forget that some people don’t want to spend much time on the internet.

And of course, your email won’t be used for any other purpose, you can unsubscribe at any time, and all that good stuff. So, if you want discounts and cool stuff, sign up for my newsletter!

(The form below might not work from your email or RSS reader, so you’ll have to sign up directly on the page. And you can always sign up on my contact page.)

Photo by notoriousxl

1. Email the wrong people.

Use the element of surprise. You always want people to wonder “who is this person, and why are they emailing me?” It’s a good idea to email everyone in your address book, since you’re bound to have lots of people in there who barely remember you. If you have an opt-in mailing list, at least make sure your email is irrelevant to the topic of your list.

2. Send emails way too often.

Every second that goes by without sending an email is a missed opportunity that can never be recovered. Since Americans receive 5,000 marketing messages a day, you need to stand out by making sure that at least half of them are yours.

3. Use vague, tacky subject lines.

If your subject reveals how lame your email is, people might not want to read it. Be sure your subjects make it impossible for people to ignore your emails. Some examples:

• Want to know what cool thing I’m doing right now?
• Do you know this great secret of life?
• Exclusive opportunity – act now!
• DON’T read this if you’re not ready to be amazed!
• Are you too stupid to read this email?

4. Start off with a ridiculously flashy intro.

People will be bored by an email sent under normal conditions. You need to be clear that you’re in the middle of something exciting. For example:

“I’m sending this email from my Blackberry while riding my jet ski over what I think might be the lost city of Atlantis. I’ll have to go in for a closer look, but first I wanted to quickly let you know about a new program I’m offering…”

5. Emphasize the effortless riches.

Dollar amounts keep going up, so you need bigger numbers to impress people. And people are lazier than ever, so you can’t let them think that effort might be required.

Try something like “Make MOUNTAINS OF MONEY overnight with ABSOLUTELY NO EFFORT. This is a FULLY AUTOMATED SYSTEM and it can be run WITHOUT EVER GETTING OUT OF BED OR EVEN BEING ALIVE. Don’t ask why we need you if that’s the case, just enjoy THE INSTANT INFUSION OF MEGACASH!”

6. Use specific numbers, while being as vague as possible.

Specific numbers lend credibility, but any particular number might not be big enough. Whatever number they like, you want them to think it’s possible. So stretch out the range as far as you can. For example:

“You do not need to do anything at all to make a minimum of $10,000 a month! If you do well, you could make up to $30,000 a month OR MORE! Some people make up to $100,000 a month PLUS $50,000 a month. OR MORE!”

7. Use excessive formatting.

Plain text is boring. People see it all the time and they just TUNE IT OUT. Make sure ^none of your words are _overlooked.

8. Question whether the recipient is “serious.”

I don’t know what serious really means, but apparently people want to make sure that everyone who reads their emails is serious. Use phrases like “This email is for SERIOUS people only,” “I’m putting together a program just for SERIOUS people,” and “If you’re not SERIOUS, then maybe this isn’t for you.” WHY SO SERIOUS?

9. Call everything a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Some people say that a once in a lifetime opportunity only comes by once in a lifetime, but those people apparently haven’t heard of HYPERBOLE or LYING. Every opportunity needs to be more “once in a lifetime” than the one before it. Of course, it will also be complete crap compared to the next one.

10. Emphasize that it’s totally free, then tell them the cost.

“Free” is such a relative term. Are people in a capitalistic society free? Is there such a thing as a free lunch? Is freedom free? Who knows, but people like the word, so be sure to use it. Any costs can be written off as an “application fee” or “shipping and handling” without jeopardizing the “free” status.

11. Put no useful information in your email.

If you let the cat out of the bag, what will you talk about next time? Always keep people waiting. The purpose of every email is to build anticipation for something that will never come. If it never gets there, then they can never unsubscribe, right?

P.S. Always have a P.S. if you want to look professional. Never mind that a P.S. is meant to be used when you forget to include something in a handwritten letter (since it can’t be edited, unlike an email). This is another good chance to reiterate your main points. For example:

P.S. If you’re serious, you need to act on this once in a lifetime opportunity right now! I started just 2 days ago, and I’ve already made up to $5,000 (or more) in completely passive income!