Email blasting has become an extremely popular form of online marketing. In fact, a recent study indicates that nearly 90% of all emails sent out are commercial in nature…ads from businesses to consumers. Obviously, the effectiveness of any given email blast is in question with that many flooding your target’s inbox. Still, email is an excellent communication tool when used the right way.

Marketing via email to your established customer base is still very effective. Be sure to establish some way of capturing the email addresses of your most likely customers, either through offering a freebie on your website or collecting data during sales. If your customers recognize your emails and come to expect good information or a good deal from within the message, they are more likely to open and read. But, if your emails are just fluff or are poorly written, your customers may get in the habit of deleting without reading. Don’t overload their inbox either – unless you have a legitimate purpose for sending daily emails, yours will quickly be considered spam and ignored.

Buying email lists is very popular, but like anything else, you need to be sure you are getting what you pay for (or think you are paying for). Many email lists are so overused that you are likely to get as many “Removes” as contacts from the results. Many, many small business owners have told us horror stories of spending thousands of dollars on email blast list with exactly NO sales results.

There are hundreds of email blast brokers available, and most will guarantee a certain number of opens or click-throughs. Be careful of these scams. The reason they can guarantee opens or click-throughs is because they are paying people to do so. You know all those ads that tell you how to make money on the internet just by reading your email? That’s them. Check one out at www.sendmoreinfo.com. They collect email addresses by promising to pay for each click-through, then sell that list to other brokers…who take your money without guilt.

Here’s your best bet – email only to those addresses you have collected as legitimate potential customers. And, do not evaluate your email blasts based on traffic to your website if what you really need are sales. If you buy an email list, pay attention to your analytics – most programs will tell you where people are clicking through from. If one of these pay-to-click sites is used, it will likely show up as a few of the emails that clicked through.

If you are adamant about using purchased email lists, look for opportunities through other websites or periodicals related to your industry. Like any other form of advertising, your goal is to reach your target market directly. Don’t fall for the broker scams that tell you they happen to have exactly the group of email addresses you need. Ask them how they got them, and check out the website references they offer before you spend your money. If they can’t or won’t tell you where the names come from, don’t waste your cash.

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