Hi, does anyone know of ANY good companies that sell opt-in email lists with DECENT results? I have tried so many of them and they all seem like CRAP! Thanks for the feedback.

Hi,

you've written that you've tried a few companies who offer crap. Is it possible to tell their names? Thx

I think www.expedite-email-marketing.com/index.htm and www.optinrealbig.com are worth a try. Scott Richter is trying very very hard to serve his clients (google him).

You can try www.spamlessmails.com]link ,the company been has been around for a long time. I use it, its ok

I can prove that a number of Far-East companies that advertise their email lists as being fully opt-in have actualy scraped the email addresses from the web. That will be why their results are junk. I can also tell you which year they compiled the list too...

Hi, does anyone know of ANY good companies that sell opt-in email lists with DECENT results? I have tried so many of them and they all seem like CRAP! Thanks for the feedback

Okay, let's start at the beginning:

1. Are you talking about: (i) renting access to an existing mailing list, so that the list administrator mails your advertisement to the list; (ii) purchasing leads through the use of a co-registration service; or (iii) purchasing an "opt-in" email list from a broker?

2. Are you speaking about business to consumer; or business to business?

For the sake of discussion, I am going to presume you are looking for business to consumer and want to purchase an "opt-in" email list from a broker.

Unfortunately, this is a mugs game at best. In most cases, you have no idea how the data was collected. The list will likely have been sold a number of times before you purchase it.

Even though the list is sold to you as opt-in, in reality it is opt-out.

The average consumer does not appreciate what is going to happen to his/her email address upon signing up to a "lead generation site."

More often than not, there is limited or no disclosure as to what will transpire. If there is, the disclosure is buried in a privacy policy.

Let's presume the consumer is told:

"By providing your email address and clicking the submit button, your email address will be transferred to third parties who will send you marketing email"

Now ask yourself this question?

How can you as the mailer say that the consumer has agreed to receive commercial email from you?

You can't. In addition, when you receive the "list" from the broker, how many other mailers have had a crack at the list?

More than likely, the consumer will have received anywhere from 10 to 50 marketing emails by the time you purchase the list.

So, now you have two strikes against you. The consumer does not know you and has already been bombarded with marketing messages.

Of course the first thing you will do when you receive the list is start to send out marketing emails, right? Wrong.

At the barest minimum, you want to introduce yourself, explain to the person how you came to be mailing him/her, assure the person, you are not going to transfer their email address to anyone, describe the list and give the person the option of unsubscribing.

The proper course? Ask the person for their consent before sending any marketing messages.

Why? Because you are hitting the person cold. You need to "warm" the person up, so the individual comes to want to receive your email.

Then there is the whole exercise of getting the mail delivered. Sending "marketing email" to an "opt-in list" purchased through a broker is the quickest way to find your mail filtered to bulk, blocked or simply dropped, unless you know what you are doing and do it right.

Most folks are looking at around 25% of their mail when sending to these types of leads making it into the inbox, with another 25% being filtered to bulk, or junk and the rest simply being dropped or blocked.

The result? If you get a response rate of 2 to 3%, you are doing well. More than likely it will be around 1/2 to 1%.

In the situation I have written about, I am not talking about harvested leads. I am speaking about buying an "opt-in" list from a reputable broker, which in reality is an opt-out list, unless you do it properly and ask for express consent.

Even then, understand that leads which cost you next to nothing, after all is said and done, will cost you around 50 cents to a $1.00 per email address, meaning those folks who actually consent to be added to your list.

Can you make a success out of it and do it all without spamming? Yes, providing you know what you are doing. But, don't be fooled into believing it is easy or cheap.

Trusting this helps.

John

John Glube
Toronto, Canada