In recent weeks we've posted links to some great tips on how to write effective welcome emails and making the most of your unsubscribes and the feedback so far is to keep tips like this coming. There are plenty of great email marketing resources out there (we tell you a few of our favorites in our own resource center), and when we spot something that might help you or your clients, we'll continue to point you in their direction.

Today we came across a great article (via the fantastic no man is an iland blog) filled with ideas to improve your subscribe forms and overall subscribe process. For many, your web site subscribe form is the single most important tool to grow your list and can always do with some tweaking.

Wendy Roth gives some useful suggestions on where we should be placing our subscribe form, setting the right expectations and making them feel welcome. We especially liked her second point about avoiding cheap tactics to capture subscribers.

Subscribers should be signing up to receive your email, not so they can download a game, get a report, or for a chance to win an iPod. Although these tactics may garner more subscribers, you're also cueing them that the emails themselves aren't worthwhile...

There are certainly examples where this approach can work, but in most cases this is so true. While you might see a short-term gain in your subscriber base, if they're not genuinely interested in the content you'll be sending them, they won't be sticking around for long anyway.