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The best list is your own, compiled from people who have requested information about your products and services, or who have contacted you for whatever other reason. It's not a good idea to surf the net simply looking for names to add to your list. This is spamming, that is mailing to people who have not requested information from you and who may be alienated by your approach.
Cause bad feeling this way and expect a host of 'flame' letters in your mail box.
You might even run the risk of being disconnected from a particular server. Beware!
Do's and Don'ts of Compiling a Mailing List for Your Products and Services
Don't buy email lists from dubious sources. Many are gathered 'illegally', that is without the owner's permission and will result in flames and possible expulsion from your server. Not to mention the fact you will be wasting time, money and effort in the process.
Do consider purchasing opt-in lists or having mail distributed for you by genuine mailing companies, such as Postmaster Direct (key 'Postmaster Direct' into your find facility and you'll be greeted with a long listing of potential clients for your business).
The likes of Postmaster Direct invite enquiries from individuals keen to receive emailed messages about specific goods and services. Hence 'opt-in' means people have done just that, namely opted to receive mailings from appropriate sources.
Build your own list by collecting names and addresses of every user contacting you. For example, make sure visitors to your site leave their email addresses, say as a means of receiving a free newsletter periodically, or to ask questions, enter competitions, and so on.
Do obtain software to manage your house list. It takes time and effort to compile addresses manually as well as to mail regularly to potentially tens of thousands of names on the average house list. A listserver is a software programme that manages, updates and distributes your list automatically. Many excellent programmes exist and can be purchased for less than £100.
Do announce your newsletter (the best way to attract email addresses to your site) in appropriate places:
Newsgroups and discussion forums.
On classified advertising sites.
Using an opt-in mailing service such as Postmaster Direct.
In e-zines.
Using advertisements in traditional media: printed newspapers and magazines, radio, television.
On signature files.
On business notepaper, envelopes, product packaging.
Sources of Opt-in Mailing Lists:
PostMaster Direct: http://www.postmasterdirect.com
Bulletmail: http://bulletmail.com
Htmail: http://htmail.com
Targ-It: http://targ-it.
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