WHAT DOES OPT-IN  MEAN?

Many e-mail marketing gurus and legal advisers say that e-mail must be opt-in and this is the received wisdom. But when faced with the reality of designing a form for collecting prospects, the reality is not this simple. Despite the opt-in mantra, many companies are not practising true opt-in: it all depends on how the forms are designed.
True opt-in requires the potential customer to agree proactively that they are prepared to receive future communications by selecting the option using a tick-box or ratio-button. Opt-out is where the person completing the form has to decline proactively the offer of receiving farther communications.