It's estimated that over 60 billion emails are sent daily. That's ?billion? with a b! Admittedly, many of those are SPAM of one sort or another, but it's also safe to say that hundreds of millions of them are carrying marketing messages. Sadly, most of those will never be opened. Of those that are opened, many will never be read.
Whether that contact involves working a cash register, by telephone, or in the customer's home, training your frontline staff to ask for the email address is imperative. You can support their efforts with secondary collection tactics, like web forms and contests, but nothing is more important than well trained personnel.
After your head is clear regarding how to ethically use opt-in email, you can then realize the unbelievable power and potential of email in a business sense - creating your own opt in list. Building a list isn't always easy particularly for those lacking the knowledge.
Autoresponders enable you to essentially "set it and forget it" by providing a platform for email deliverability and list building. By automating much of the email campaign process, an autoresponder can free up your time to do what you are best suited to doing- building your business. You should strongly consider using an online autoresponder for your small business email advertising.
As in any business endeavor, doing isn't planning...doing is doing! This easily translates to the difficulty one has to undergo during the execution of his or her efforts. Stop thinking and get started. Fortunately, many affordable means are available that allow neophytes to promptly create a small business marketing opt in database. Keeping track of your small business marketing opt in database can pose a problem to some. Technology and related sources should be utilized in making this aspect of it more manageable. Keep your most responsive names in a separate list that you continually update.