I am frequently asked about purchasing email lists. Here’s the straight dope on the subject.
Three or four years ago, you could pay a company $1000 or so to send out 1 million emails to a targeted list.
Those days are gone, killed by spam and the CAN-SPAM act.
If someone is offering to sell you an email list at ANY price, it is almost certainly a scam. There are essentially no legitimate lists for sale. There are certain circumstances where you can get a legitimate list for free (see below).
If someone is offering to send out email on your behalf, to their own list, for less than about 35 cents PER EMAIL, it is almost certainly a scam. That’s right. Email lists are considered so valuable, they charge as much to send an email as it costs to mail a postcard.
Legitimate organizations that will broadcast your email to their list are usually magazines or associations. They will have to approve your email before sending it – and may have severe restrictions such as on size or content.
With rare exceptions, the ONLY legitimate ways to obtain email addresses for your own use are:
- Compile them yourselves, such as from lists of your own customers or prospects, or newsletter signups.
- If you exhibit at a trade show, you will often get an email list from show attendees and/or exhibitors – sometimes with strings attached on their use.
- If you are a member of a trade association of some sort, you will often get an email list of other members – sometimes with strings attached on their use.
Of course, no matter how you obtain emails, in broadcasting you have to follow the CAN-SPAM act rules, AND make sure you don’t get on the wrong side of Internet Service Providers (labeled as a spammer). More about these issues in the next couple of days.
If someone is telling you anything else, they are preying on your hopes and ripping you off.
So what do you do? Get busy and find ways to build lists using 1 to 3 above! Because email marketing IS one of the most cost-effective methods of marketing that exists. IF you can get or build a useful list.
