The decision to rent email lists can be one of the best decisions an online marketer can ever make. However, it can also be one of the worst. Without first having an understanding of how these lists were generated, nurtured and most times abused, it is very difficult to truly know if your investment will truly yield any substantial ROI. After all, you are renting the lists from a list provider. This means they have essentially given permission for you to collect their subscribers’ email addresses.

When you rent email lists, you are giving permission for someone to collect your email address. In most cases, this is done without asking for consent. This gives internet marketers a way to collect names and emails that would otherwise go unused. Opt-in email marketing programs work differently than permission-based email marketing programs, however, and you should consider opting for one over the other when you need to rent email lists.

The difference between permission-based lists and opt-in email marketing is pretty simple. With permission-based lists, marketers gain permission from people who sign up to receive updates from the marketer through email marketing . With opt-in email lists, marketers gain the email addresses of people who have expressed interest in the marketer’s product. They can then use these names and email addresses to market products to them.

While most marketers would look favorably on the ability to rent email lists, there are some major pitfalls that come with this practice. For example, there is no clear way of knowing how the individuals on the list have been attracted to the marketer’s website. In fact, a great deal of the appeal of an opt-in program comes from the opportunity for the marketer to keep in contact directly with the individual. When a person signs up for the program, they do so because they feel like they have found a direct line to the marketer – they have found a relationship. That relationship is paramount to the success of their business venture. However, if the relationship isn’t mutual and the marketer is not willing to discuss the product with the individual, it can result in a wasted opportunity.

The quality of the marketer’s relationship with his or her email list also dictates the success or failure of a business venture. If a marketer spends too much time trying to convince someone to sign up for their email marketing list, the end result is usually frustration. The marketer will actually get fewer leads because they are communicating negatively with the potential prospects instead of constructively building relationships. It is better to set aside a time for direct communication between the marketer and the people on his or her list. That way, the marketer is more likely to successfully sell something to them. At the very least, rent email lists from companies that offer you good overall customer service.

Another way to ensure your success with your opt-in list rental is to ensure that you only forward emails with content appropriate for your audience. This means avoiding emails that only contain a sales pitch or one-way links. In addition, a good opt-in list rental service will screen incoming emails for anything deemed as spam, which is illegal and annoying to people on your list.

There are some other considerations you should make when you are considering renting email lists from list brokers. Often, you’ll be able to contact the list broker after you have rented the lists. You may want to ask how long they have been in business and if they have customer testimonials to back up their claims. You can also check with the Better Business Bureau to see if there have been any complaints filed against the list broker. As well, ask about their rates, since these can vary quite a bit depending on the size of your list.

It’s also important to remember that email marketing is not solely an email address advertising strategy. In fact, it is quite effective as long as you know how to do it right. Don’t assume that just because you’re getting high conversion rates on one mailing that you can do this same thing with all of your email marketing campaigns. If you are planning to use an email list broker, make sure you choose one that will not charge you a fee unless your results are excellent. Remember, not all email marketing services are free, but there are some that give you very high quality results at very reasonable costs. Renting email lists can be a great way to promote your website and increase your Internet presence, but only if you are prepared to take the time and make the effort to find out what works and what doesn’t.