As an internet marketer, you can either choose to purchase an email list or build one on your own. However, there are many reasons why the latter is the better choice.



First, if a consumer receives an email from an unknown source, he will most likely pay no attention to it or delete it straightaway. However, if the email message happens to come from a reputable name, he will have a greater tendency to read it.

If you use email lists that you purchased, you are making your business more open to problems that could arise from spam complaints, phony or outdated email addresses, and more. In the end, all these would only lead to a considerable waste of money.

Building a list on your own, on the other hand, is advantageous because you can decide which part of the consumer population you are going to target as subscribers. Aside from this, you will get to monitor your emails in the sense that you can track who received them, who opened them, who replied to them, etc. You can also split up your list and section the members into those who want to receive particular emails and those who prefer not to. More than anything else, the advantage of building an email list on your own is that the members, being from the target market in your niche, are surely interested in and will want to read, your emails. They can also help your business grow by making referrals to friends and other people.

How to Build an Effective Email Marketing List

- Privacy Policy

Many consumers are very particular about their privacy and will not easily give out their personal information, especially to those whom they do not know personally. Assure them that any personal information they will provide will be kept confidential. Also, let them know that every month, they will be receiving only a certain number of emails.

- Provide Ease of Use

If you will make the signup process easy, the higher the chances of getting consumers to do it. If subscribing would only require them to type in their email addresses and a few additional details, you will find that considerably more consumers will sign up.

- Provide The Content You Promised

Promise them what they will receive in their emails and make sure that you will indeed deliver. Let them know what they will be reading in their emails and how often they will be delivered so they will know what to expect.

- Let Them Feel They Are In Control

Give them the liberty of choosing which and which not to receive. This provides them the pleasure of not having to go through irrelevant content or material that they are not interested in.

Ways to Acquire Email Addresses

- promoting your email list in your website

- offering email-only freebies

- offering free subscription to your newsletter

- offering discounts

- using direct mail and advertising

- using contests

- including your website URL in your business cards

- offer free signups during networking events or trade shows