In a previous post I outlined what I call the “Opt-Out” method of developing an email list. This method allows you to enter contact information into your autoresponder and then
begin sending them occasional email messages without first asking their permission.
I am not recommending that you buy lists, plug them into your system and just start sending out emails by the millions. This is the worst kind of spamming, and it is illegal. It is also ineffective because most purchased lists are not targeted and they are usually of very low quality.
But what if you take the time to scour through Chamber of Commerce lists and look through local websites to develop your own list from their data. Is that good or bad? This would probably give you a fairly up-to-date list, and it would be targeted because it would be aimed directly at business addresses.
Do Not Spam
First, let’s clarify that sending messages to a list of this sort is not spamming, as long as you clearly identify yourself and give your recipients an obvious way to unsubscribe.
The effectiveness of an email campaign of this sort is a different matter and it depends on several things?
First, it depends how accurate and how targeted your list is.
Second, it depends on how you present yourself in your messages.
And third, it depends on your offer. If it is a good offer some people will respond no matter what they think about your method of reaching them.
Scrubbing Your List
Here’s the strategy in a nutshell. First you find a source of current, up-to-date contacts. Then you enter them into your autoresponder. As they are entered the autoresponder sends out a tactful, helpful message that points them to a quality offer. People on your list can either act on your offer, ignore your messages, or unsubscribe from your list.
As you send out messages over a few weeks or months your recipients become familiar with your offers and begin to recognize your name. Those who are uninterested unsubscribe. So you end up with a qualified list of targeted contacts.
I call this “scrubbing” your list. You start out with a raw list of targeted but unqualified contacts and you end up with a targeted, qualified list of contacts who you can assume are interested in your products.
In most cases this will not be as good as a pure opt-in list, but this system gives you a way to create one of those too. In each of your messages you will include some kind of offer, and that offer involves an opt-in mechanism of some sort – a free report, a new product, a training course, and so on. As people sign up or order these things they get put on a second list – a pure opt-in list.
For more details on how to set up a scrubbing system of this sort, I recommend you subscribe to my email course “Local Web Marketing – The Next Web Goldmine”.
How Do You Feed Your Scrubbing Machine?
Once you have your contact scrubbing system set up, the question is, where do you get raw contact information to feed into it?
Please don’t misunderstand me here. I am not advocating just grabbing email addresses from wherever you can find them. For instance, I am not suggesting you should use an email “scraping” system that scans sites and pulls email addresses out automatically.
What I am suggesting is that you find reliable sources of contact information and enter that information. For example, if you can get your hands on a Chamber of Commerce or business association list you might be able to make use of that list if you do it carefully.
Another way to find local business information is to just sit down and do some good old fashioned research. You might even try telephoning people and asking them if you can send them some information by email. You might be surprised how well this works.
Here are some other ways you can get email addresses that may be helpful.
1. Look in the Yellow Pages. Business are nicely categorized and some ads include emails and web addresses.
2. Look at YellowPages.com. This will give you businesses in specific locations by category. You can click through to websites and find email addresses there.
3. Look in local newspapers and other publications for advertisers. For example a quick look in the local Real Estate promotional publication shows email addresses for almost every agent with an ad. They also have a website for the publication.
4. Find information in advertising fliers, supplements and coupons.
5. Pick up business cards from business card racks in supermarkets and places like the UPS Store.
6. Find local business directories where businesses are listed and advertise.
Remember, the point is to get your list started, and that means sending likely prospects to your squeeze page so you can get them signed up. The scrubbing system I have described here is just one way to do that. We will discuss other ways in a future post.