Email etiquette and autoresponders

As a Virtual Assistant I manage a number of autoresponders, both for my own business and that of my clients, mainly through shoppingcart services such as 1shoppingcart.com.  What amazes me is the number of recipients of these emails who don’t realise that they can update their email address or remove their addresses simply by clicking on one of the two links at the bottom of the emails they receive.

I receive numerous requests, almost on a daily basis, for me to update this person’s email address, or to remove that one and add a new one, etc, etc.

I know we’re told to be careful of spammers and not click on their links as it will verify real email accounts but that doesn’t go for emails that come on a regular basis from different avenues, such as newsletters, online ecourses, a series of how-tos and so on – especially if you’ve signed up for that series of emails.

Is it that people just aren’t thinking because they too are so busy, or do they really not read through to the end of the emails to see that they themselves can manage something that would only take them 30 seconds to do?  If I’m doing it for several people that 30 seconds soon turns into several minutes and much more over time.

I do understand it if it might be a client who is relatively new to email and autoresponders but I don’t understand it when it’s other VAs who should be used to the internet and what’s involved in these systems – especially if they themselves may end up providing a similar service for their own clients.

If you are a recipient of autoresponders, take the time to explore how it’s been put together and look at the very last lines to see the links supplied for updating/changing your email address or preferences.  And if you are someone who is setting up an autoresponder service, test it with another address to make sure it provides the type of system you’d like your subscribers to register with.