Purchased Lists and Email

Companies like Salesgenie and Jigsaw have become more popular to media channels recently and their 100 free leads campaigns may seem compelling.  So, if you happened to give them a shot and purchase a list, does that give you the right to send them email now that you own the list?

The answer is no - Because permission actually stands for something in permission based email -

If you are having a hard time generating leads, then purchasing a list through a channel like this may be a good way to spark interest in a few contacts.  Before you can email these people you need to start a conversation with them - By telling them about your services through direct mail or telemarketing efforts and encouraging them to go online where you can then ask them permission for their email address.  Once permission is gained, the barriers are lifted and you have earned the right to start a conversation in a different medium.

Grow Your Traffic, Grow Your List

We all want to build our list.  A bigger list means more potentially interested contacts which ultimately leads to more revenue.  So what are some ways you can build your list outside of simply including a “Sign up for our newsletter” link.

Provide valuable content - Offer a whitepaper, article, report, research document that forces them to give their contact info to receive it.  Run ads or buy keywords that direct potential clients to this page.

Run a Sweepstakes - “Begin a free trial during the month of March and be entered to win the new iPhone” - names and email addresses have to be captured to trial…

Make your own customers salespeople - Offer an incentive to your customers for referring their friends or colleagues to trial or purchase your products.

The power of the squeeze page - Give away things (Whitepapers, entry into sweepstakes, e-books, reports) for free but make them enter their contact info to receive it.

Ramp up your site traffic through traditional online marketing methods, but make the desirable free items very easy to view.