It's no secret that having a responsive email list can boost your sales, but having the right supplies for email lists can make your advertising campaigns even more effective.

Email lists are a great way to market your product, keep in touch with your customers and make more sales. Having the right tools for the job is the key to a successful campaign.

When thinking about the supplies for email lists you may need, look for things that:

1. Make it easier to send an email. You can spend hours crafting the perfect email and sending it to your business email list, but is that really worth your time? Choose products that can make things easier on you.

2. Improve the speed at which you send. When you send thousands of emails to an opt in email list, your email servers can get clogged. You want your emails to reach customers quickly.

3. Makes your campaign more effective. It's important that you track results and your return on investment. Certain programs can help you do this.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Manage your bulk email list with a software program

A software program can help you keep track of subscribes and unsubscribes as well as the return on your investment. Look for a program that offers all of the features that you need to run a successful campaign.

I recommend: Elite Email offers a free trial of their software program, which allows you easily create and manage campaigns. Live Software has an affordable solution for managing bulk mail.

Use dedicated servers to send messages to your email mailing lists

If you send messages to a large email database, you may notice a slowdown in functionality of the email and Internet services in your office. It can take hours for all of your emails to reach their destinations. It may be time to look for a company that offers dedicated email servers.

I recommend: Use the servers at Aweber, which offers a number of additional benefits. They can manage your subscriber base and generate reports on deliverability. GetResponse is another excellent email marketing company that can quickly deliver your emails.

Save time by using templates in your email list marketing efforts

There's no doubt that HTML-based emails look better than plain text ones. If you're not familiar with HTML, however, it can take you a long time to create your message. Try using templates for email messages in order to save time.

I recommend: Campaign Monitor lists several free templates that they've tested in the major email clients. HOT Email Templates offers both free and premium templates for you to use.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  When building your targeted email lists, consider offering your customers something in exchange for signing up for your list. This makes them more likely to sign up.

Getting the best results from your email marketing campaign depends on having the best names on your email marketing lists. Emailing to the wrong people can anger potential customers and violate tough anti-spam laws. To stay out of trouble:

1. Send email only to "opt-in" subscribers, that is, recipients who choose to be on your list
2. Give recipients the option to unsubscribe in every message you send.
3. Make sure you understand anti-spam laws.
4. Buy or rent email marketing lists from reputable list brokers only.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Use a subscription form on your Web site

The best way to build an email marketing list is to create your own from scratch. That way, every person who signs up has expressed specific interest in hearing from you. The simplest way to build your own email marketing list is to include a sign-up form on every page of your company's Web site.

I recommend: If you're tech savvy, create your own form manually. Otherwise, consider using an email marketing service to create a subscription form for you. Bravenet offers free email marketing services and a tutorial on creating forms. For professional services, try Constant Contact, which also offers tips and hints for building your list.

Have a signup form in your store or business

Brick and mortar businesses don't have to use the Web to build an email marketing list. If you run a restaurant, retail outlet, or any other type of business, ask customers to sign up for your email marketing list at the time of purchase.

I recommend: In addition to a simple sign-up sheet, have postcards printed that customers can take with them, fill out, and send back to you.

Offer an incentive signing up

Incentives can increase your subscription rates dramatically. Entice customers to sign up for your email list either online or offline by offering coupons, special offers, reports, a free e-book, or anything else that would appeal to your target market. Take note that incentives for signup can also dilute the strength of your list since some people who don't want to receive emails from you will sign up simply to receive the incentive.

I recommend: Create and host e-books for free at online print-on-demand (POD) publishers, such as Lulu.com, then provide the download link to new subscribers.

Buy or rent a list from an email list broker

If you don't have the patience to build your own email marketing list, you'll need to buy or rent a list. Make sure your broker uses opt-in procedures rather than harvesting email addresses online, otherwise, you could be labeled a spammer. Note that some email marketing services won't allow you to use these lists even if they're opt-in, so check with your provider before buying a list.

I recommend: Search for list brokers at the Direct Marketing Association's (DMA) Yellow Pages.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Violating anti-spam laws will not only get your business in trouble, but you'll also anger the prospects that you contact, and build a bad name for yourself.
• •  Buying and renting email marketing lists should always be a last resort.
• •  The best resource you have in building an email marketing list is your current subscriber list. Add a link to your subscription form in messages so customers can invite friends to subscribe.

An email list can help you keep in contact with your customers. This is vital to the success of any business. Not only online companies should be concerned about email lists. They are just as effective with brick and mortar companies as well.

Making the most of email lists involves taking things to the next level. You can use your bulk email list simply to contact your company with company updates, but it's much better if you can make money every time you send out an email.

Consider the following things about email mailing lists:

1. You must follow spam laws. A spam message is one that the recipient did not want to receive. If your recipients consider your emails spam, then they will lose their trust in your company.

2. It's better to build your own list. If you buy email lists, recipients may not know why you are sending them an email and think that it's spam. Instead, build your own list of customers by collecting email addresses in your store and including an opt-in form on your website.

3. Targeted email lists open the lines of communication between you and customers. Make sure the conversation is not one-way.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Use a business email list to offer exclusive discounts

Periodically send out emails to your customers giving them an exclusive discount. Typically, this is a special discount code that they use at the checkout screen when making a purchase on your site. Some customers are more likely to make a purchase when they believe they are getting a good deal.

I recommend: Contact an email marketing specialist to help you create your marketing campaign. EmailLabs offers a number of consulting services. SubscriberMail can also help you create a targeted campaign.

Communicate with the customers on your email list by asking for feedback

If you're serious about making the most of email lists, it's best to interact with your customers. Asking for feedback in the form of a survey is a great way to do this. Don't forget to offer them something in return for their time and effort.

I recommend: SurveyShare.com offers several levels of memberships for their online survey program. You can easily increase your level once you see the effectiveness of your surveys. SurveyMonkey.com has a basic membership plan that restricts the number of responses you can receive, but is free.

Make money by selling ad space in your opt in email list

Non-profits or other organizations can make money when they sell ad space in their newsletter. Your newsletter should have a large subscriber base before you seek out advertisers.

I recommend: Create a page on your website that lists advertising rates. Alternatively, you can list your newsletter with a directory of newsletters, such as Newsletter Access or Ezinelocater.com so that potential advertisers can find you.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Don't forget to track the results of your email list marketing efforts. It's a good idea to track your return on investment.

Marketing through e-mail lists is an excellent way to get your message out to thousands of customers at the push of a button. However, it's very important that you understand all of the rules associated with e-mail marketing because breaking them could have costly legal ramifications. It's a good idea to start with knowledge of the key terms. Spam is illegal, for example, but even if you aren't sending spam, you may need to be whitelisted in order for customers to receive your e-mail.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Spam

Spam is the name given to unsolicited e-mails from commercial companies. Most people do not want these e-mails and it's illegal to send them.

I recommend: All businesses should review the CAN-SPAM Act from the Federal Trade Commission. Learn more about what constitutes spam so that you can avoid getting caught sending it.

Single or double opt-in

In order to send e-mails to an individual, you must get that person's permission. This is called an opt-in because the customer opts into your list. With a single opt-in, the customer must only request to be contacted by you once. However, with a double opt-in service, they receive an e-mail that asks them to confirm their subscription.

I recommend: WebSite101 discusses single and double opt-in and some of the advantages and disadvantages.

Whitelisting

Most e-mail servers utilize a 'spam filter' which moves e-mails that it suspects are commercial to a special folder. Many consumers do not read the e-mail messages that go into this folder. Because of this, it's a good idea to ask customers to whitelist your e-mail address. In whitelisting, the customer tells the e-mail provider that he or she wants to receive e-mails from you, which means that your e-mails will go directly into the customer's e-mail box.

I recommend: NotBadMail.com discusses whitelisting and offers instructions for whitelisting e-mails for the most popular e-mail services.

Dedicated server

A dedicated server can help your e-mails reach their destination more quickly. E-mail servers can only send so many messages through at a time. E-mail broadcasting companies may be sending hundreds of thousands of messages for their customers at any time. Because of this, you may want to consider using a service that has a dedicated server. This means that you won't have to wait for your e-mail messages to go through.

I recommend: GetResponse DEDA (short for "dedicated") offers dedicated servers for clients that need it. They discuss the advantages on their site.

Deliverability

Deliverability is the percentage of e-mails that a company actually delivers to their destination. Some e-mails don't make it due to spam blocking or incorrect e-mails. Using an e-mail marketing company typically improves deliverability.

I recommend: AWeber explains deliverability and how their service improves it.

Open rate

The open rate is the number of recipients that actually open your email, which is different from the number of people that receive it. Companies track this by placing a small piece of code inside your email messages.

I recommend: Email Marketing Reports has an extensive guide to open rates.