Everybody says ‘the money’s in the list’, so you’re going to start an email marketing campaign. Where do you get your email list from? Don’t fall into the trap of buying email lists - it could be a big mistake.

You may have seen adverts that promise you millions of people willing to be sent your emails, for a seemingly low price. Be careful if you choose to buy these leads, because as soon as your first email hits their inbox, you’ll get a reputation as being a spammer. As far as the usefulness of the email addresses, some will be made up and the rest will not have asked to receive your emails.

It’s a much better idea for you to build your own, targeted email list. You can do this using various methods, but these ideas should help you build a list of subscribers who want to receive your emails.

1. Your Website Or Blog
Put up a signup box on your website or blog for visitors to get your newsletter or perhaps a report of some sort. Perhaps you could run some sort of competition or give away a free ebook. Make sure that this subscription box is on every page of your blog or website.

2. Postcard Marketing
Send out postcards or flyers to all of your potential customers. On your postcard, give details of a valuable gift which they will receive if they visit your website. Of course, they have to signup to get this gift, and then they’ll be on your list.

3. Run A Contest
Contests are always popular, and a useful way to obtain email addresses. You can do this online or offline, but remember if you’re doing this offline, perhaps using flyers or postcards, that you get their email address.

4. Join a giveaway event. These are always popular amongst internet marketers. A marketer will run a giveaway event, and will encourage other marketers to join in. If anyone wants to download your gift, they need to subscribe to your email list to get it. The only downside of this is that some giveaways demand that you have a minimum number of subscribers.

5. If you run a physical business, try to get your customers to give you their email address at the checkout, in return for something like a discount on future purchases. If you have their physical address, you can send out surveys and contests, and ask for their email address in the process.

I hope you’ve found these ideas useful, and that you don’t have to resort to buying a list of email addresses.

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