[carlthersem]

Hi all I hope some of you may be able to give me some advice. I have a blog that covers martial arts health and fitness. I have an optin newsletter that has grown over the last 8 months to over 3000 subscribers.

The question I would like to ask have any of you used the services of companies like Optin services,I contact who either sell email lists or send your ad campaign themselves.

The idea of 5 million potential customers is appealing though at a fairly hefty price. I understand that your ad content still has to be good but do these companies provide a reliable serice.
What has been your experience are they potentialy worth the price or just another way to waste your budget.

Thanks Carl Thersem

[2busy]

The biggest problem with using purchased email lists is that the people on those lists did not sign up for your newsletter. One spam complaint that can be verified is enough to get you tossed out of some networks. I would not want to take that chance.

[writerguy]

Never used any -- precisely for the reason 2busy suggested: A purchased list, no matter how the individual or business selling it tries to convince you, is NOT an "opt in" email list.

Opt in lists only happen when an individual requests YOU to send them your newsletter or whatever email item you are sending. That means you have signed them up from your site or they have otherwise contacted you and asked you to email them.

Don't waste your money.

I actually have 3 so-called "gurus" who are sending me emails now that go directly to my spam box. I never requested them sending me email. And in their cases, I actually used their supposed "unsubscribe" links and they persist in sending me email even though their software assured me (5 times in one guy's case -- Ken Reno) that I had been unsubscribed.

But the point is, you don't want to be or have your business be "that guy" who's sending people email they never requested.

Gary

[carlthersem]

Hi Gary and the moderator,
thanks for your prompt reply your answers have been a great help I will follow your advice and steer clear of these companies. I will continue to grow my list slowly but surely.

Thanks Carl Thersem

[grh395]

Originally Posted by carlthersem

Hi all I hope some of you may be able to give me some advice. I have a blog that covers martial arts health and fitness. I have an optin newsletter that has grown over the last 8 months to over 3000 subscribers.

The question I would like to ask have any of you used the services of companies like Optin services,I contact who either sell email lists or send your ad campaign themselves.

The idea of 5 million potential customers is appealing though at a fairly hefty price. I understand that your ad content still has to be good but do these companies provide a reliable serice.
What has been your experience are they potentialy worth the price or just another way to waste your budget.

Thanks Carl Thersem

Hi Carl, Rather than buying a list which I think is asking for trouble, you could email/call the list owner of a related website, find out how big their list is, and offer a deal to do a promotion of their product/promotion to your list in exchange for them doing a promotion of your product/promotion to their list. I think you will both end up with new opt ins - a win - win situation.

[carlthersem]

Great idea thanks will try it.

[ProMarketers]

Some lists are even recycled and that sucks cause then you start getting angry people emailing you directly. Build your own leads by signing up for Mailchimp or something and using their build-a-form code, slap that new code on your blog. Yea, you will have to do the marketing yourself but it will be people wanting your emails and you will feel better about that later on.

[Jxurramov]

Originally Posted by 2busy

The biggest problem with using purchased email lists is that the people on those lists did not sign up for your newsletter. One spam complaint that can be verified is enough to get you tossed out of some networks. I would not want to take that chance.

Instead of buying email lists build one. It sure takes some tips but results will be amazing.

[Johnnyb12]

Really only useful when used in heavy bulk. Don't expect any meaningful results with purchased lists of under 100K.

Even then....

[daiarian]

In one word Cr**

Don't waste your money

[craigstephen]

We have tried such stupidity as well.... :S but all we get is bounced emails reached to 80%. That was too much shocking as the sources say they dont take responsibility of spam filtering and disabled emails....

Good option would be hiring an E-Marketer who can accumulate the list on daily basis through Social Media and/or relevant forum relationships building....

[partner1001]

The general consensus is that purchased list are not worth it, optin are always the best but nevertheless if you find a good source that does not recycle the email list over and over and if they offer some sort of trial then it may not be a bad idea to try it out

[LukeCBiz]

Purchased email lists can be a bit of a mixed bag. You have to find a seller (or company that specializes in them) that is extremely reliable. But that's only the tip of the iceberg, there's far too many factors to answer if it is effective or not - suppression opt outs, ISP specifics, etc...

[SPnelson]

Generally purchased list just don't give you the return you are looking for. I know that we "rent" list from associations that are within our niche. But even then we generally don't see the lift that we want. So I would be very cautious about buying a list unless you know a lot more about the people on it.

[CPA Saw Adam]

Most likely its not an exclusive lists and the leads are years old anyways. If you can get a good source and keep a high inbox rate, you can make good money from it. However, its hard to buy good data.

[Afreshup]

I have considered this, however I would not put my server or reputation at risk. But, there are some companies where you can rent a list and they will send the emails from THEIR server.

Where's the downside ... simply rent the list, measure the results and repeat if profitable.

[volvant]

You should be expecting some people to get upset with this kind of campaign. There's a big risk in this one for they are not aware that they have been link to your ads somehow, saying so... you should know what to expect.

[JPC-Sabrina]

I would worry about the source and the collection methods used to compile e-mail lists of that nature. People generally are not very receptive to a product when they find out that their names and e-mails have been included in a mass solicitation.

[affilorama]

I don't think email lists are helpful. It's best to build up a subscriber list naturally. This is a slow process but at least you're getting targeted market in your list. You have a higher chance of people responding to your newsletters if they initially subscribed to you rather than sending your newsletters to an email list that have not heard of you or been to your site.

Have a good day!