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Tuesday, February 17, 2009

The Basics Of Mailing Lists And How To Profit From Them

By Chris Channing

When a business needs a fresh set of clients to contact, they turn to consumer mailing lists. Such lists are able to be categorized according to who or what a business wishes to target. Such lists are also good for politicians, and other people of power. Knowing how they function, how to get them, and make use of them can mean the difference between success and failure for a business.

When purchasing a mailing list, it is often done for a specific purpose. It's important to obtain a database of contacts that corresponds to the nature of business the buyer is in. A good example would be with a textbook sales company, who would probably find more success marketing to students than to a general audience. As a result, buying a database full of known or prospective students is the beset course of spending money.

In general there are two different mailing list types to consider: the opt-in mailing list and its counterpart. An opt-in mailing list is what we call a list that was built based on email verification- a process that weeds out fake or deleted email addresses. It will also ensure no syntax errors result in wrong contact information. These lists are more expensive than the counterpart, simply because they are much more reliable and harder to obtain. As most find, it's usually worth the extra money.

Experimentation is important when working with mailing lists. There are proven ways a marketer can use a mailing list to the most efficient way possible. This may include sending emails with specific titles to avoid junk mail filters, or by perfecting physical mailing tactics or phone calls. Some providers of mailing lists will also supply a few tips to make use of the database correctly- but if not, looking into a few books on the subject is recommended.

The subject of legality comes into play with mailing lists when they are bought and sold. If a list is being bought, it is extremely dire to know how the list was obtained and under what conditions. Some countries will abide by the rule that if consumer data is bought and sold without a privacy policy explaining the issue, legal trouble could indeed arise. Even riskier is the fact that the buyer may be working with phone numbers on a "do not call" registry- which will result in heavy fines if the marketer isn't careful.

To get the best odds in making a sale of some sort, or at least a lead, a marketer should obtain an up to date consumer mailing list. Even those just a year old may be out of date enough to prove of a little use to a marketer. Some services that sell consumer mailing lists offer a continually updated service. This differs based on pricing, and of course where the contacts are obtained. Asking for a sample of the database is always the best bet in determining its worth.

In Conclusion

Consumer mailing lists are few and far between, so finding a good set of lists can be somewhat of a myth. Keep searching the Internet, stay within your legal bounds, and as many questions as possible to ensure your money won't be going to waste for your next marketing project.

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