Know-How Exchange : E-Marketing

The best list is one you compile yourself. So even if a broker is honest and reliable, the people on the list are still likely to consider your mailings as unwelcome spam. Who do you suppose knowingly signs up to be on a list that will be sold to a dozen (or more) advertisers? Are those folks likely to be prime prospects for whatever you're selling?

You say

"Don't necessarily trust generic web results with everyone claiming to be number 1 or having the best list."

Isn't this the evidence of Mr Goodman's statement? You want an email building service (not one to purchase) who tells you what they don't do.

Let's face it, anybody can tell you they're number 1. They probably think it too, act it and get all bravado in the bars on a Friday night. Then when Steve is countered by his drunken mate Mike saying "you just sell trash", Steve has no answer. Because he doesn't know what he sells, he doesn't actually know why he sells things at all - with the possible exception of the cash. He just rolls out the same patter each time like a clockwork copywriter because it worked last time.

So what happened when he couldn't phrase an answer to his mate's question. In a split second the response to this is felt. No consideration, no thoughts, just a Glasgow kiss or a swift upper-cut that takes Mike's jaw with it. Violence, insult, whatever, a reaction as disgusting as it is immediate. In awakening Steve's deepest fears, he has no option but to defend himself - against himself. he has never tackled these things, never will. They terrify him, and the response is to silence the probing questions that arouse this inner demon.

So go for someone who will *build* you a list, knows why they offer this service and can do it for you in a way that makes you a profit.

Please see my anwser to a similar question here:

https://www.marketingprofs.com/ea/qst_question.asp?qstid=40853

I'll repeat my answer for you here:

Go out and buy yourself a copy of Seth Godin's book 'Permission marketing', and read it cover to cover.

Rented email lists are one of the quickest ways to shoot yourself in the foot. If YOU didn't gather the email address yourself using an opt in form, you are edging very close to being a spammer yourself. Renting email lists and using them is 'spray and pray' marketing at best. These are in no way a qualified lead, and you'll tick off more people than you will generate leads. Mass marketing using rented lists is much like running around town taping your business cards to light posts, its a waste of time and effort that would better spent finding another system to generate qualified leads.

You are asking for a lot of heartache and frustration, not to mention risking being added to Spamcop's blacklist.