Using Emails of Commenters | Bloggers Lair | Yakezie Forums

One way to not break the law is to include a line in your comment area informing about your intention. Else, its against privacy law

I agree.  I would get annoyed if someone used my address to send me stuff.  As much as the impulse is there I would put it to something else attracting them to do it on their own.  Set up a competition of some sort.  

I've used a plugin called "Thank me later" that sends out an email thanking commenters for the comment, but I wouldn't go any further than that.  The CAN-SPAM law says that they have to explicitly sign up to receive further emails on a list or whatever.  You're better off making it super easy for them to sign up to the email list with a check box next to the email field.  I'm sure there's a plugin for that.  I might have to look into that as well…

LaTisha @YoungAdultFinances said:

You can also use an automatic checkbox that a commenter can check to opt in as they are leaving a comment. I use this on my site and it's pretty effective.

 

It's called 

Bhu commenters 2 subscribers

Thanks LaTisha – that sounds like it would do the trick. Going to check it out now.

I also use the thank me later plugin, but I agree with everyone else that sending something unsolicited is not a good idea.

Piling on to the general sentiment.  Unsolicited email contact would be enough for me not to visit your blog again.

I think one thank you for commenting/visiting is ok, I actually don't mind getting those.  Any thing more would be annoying.

Thanks again, everyone. I had always wondered why every blog I comment on asks for my email. Maybe for Gravatar purposes? Not sure…

I added a checkbox to my comments to allow opt-in of notifications for new posts.

On another note, I've officially gone live in the Yakezie Challenge.

Thanks to everyone who has stopped by so far.

Looking forward to meeting more Yakeezers (?)

I think they ask for the emails to help keep down the spam and as a way to identify returning commenters.  That way your comments shouldn't get stuck in moderation after you have been approved once.

I actually dont even like the "thank you" emails after receiving a comment…I mean, it's a plugin that sends out a generated email to every single person, its just another email for me to delete.  If you want to thank me, then say it in your comment back to me on the blog.