Get More Clients Online

Death Knell of Email?

I was reading an interesting email this morning from Google Adwords guru Perry Marshall about whether email is obsolete given the social media revolution.  If you believe the hype, email is taking its final breaths because social media is sucking up all of the air.

I know that for me, email is where I get things done.  It's how I stay organized.  And, checking for email is what I do when I'm procrastinating or bored.  I admit it -- I'll check my email when I have no business doing so simply to be entertained -- I'm looking for something interesting.

As Perry pointed out in his post, your goal is for your emails to be more interesting to read than most of the other emails in your customer's box. That's it.  People can always make time for something interesting, and people will always multi-task and check email while they're on the phone or when they SHOULD be doing something else.

So, that where the opportunity comes in for anyone who markets online.  Perry claims that all that needs to happen is for them to get FIVE emails from you in a row, that they liked - and your relationship is set.

I have to qualify that statement -- I think it should be 5 emails in a row that they liked AND that they found useful and valuable -- particularly important if you are selling your services online.

Your prospects are busy, and while they may like the joke email that you sent, they probably won't tolerate 5 of them because at some point, they have to get back to their tasks at hand.

So, when's the last time you sent out an interesting email?

Newsletter Nominations

I've nominated my Get Clients Online Ezine in Linda Claire Puig's "Next Top Newsletter" contest. Rather than considering newsletters a burden, she wants to celebrate them in this contest. This contest kicks off nearly a month of newsletter-related learning and exciting opportunities for everyone, whether you have a newsletter or not.

If you have a newsletter and meet the entrance qualifications, you can enter the contest here. If you don't have a newsletter, this is a great opportunity to see what your peers are doing with their newsletters. Look to see what works, what you like, and what you might like to try yourself. Review them and get inspired! She has collected some great prizes to give to the winners (and I donated 2 one-year memberships to OnlineBizU.com to the offerings).

Hopefully I'll become one of the Top 20 finalists, and if so, I'll ask you to go and vote and comment on my ezine.

Flaming Emails

One of my favorite activities of the day (NOT!) is browsing through my emails when people unsubscribe from my list.  In most cases, the person just removes herself from the list without a reason.  However, a handful of people feel compelled to say why they're leaving the list.  The majority of them tell me that either my topic no longer fits their needs or they are overwhelmed with email and are unsubbing from lots of lists.  Occasionally, though, I get an email from a flamer, who is very irate at me and wants to make sure that I know it.  This happened a few days ago when a life coach unsubscribed from my list and let me have it about the fact that EVERYTHING in my newsletter is for members of my subscription website only.

Hmmm, did she even read my newsletter?  It appears not, as I have a full-featured, content-rich article available in every issue, along with a review of a business automation tool. Granted, I do note what's new on my membership website, as revenue from that site is an important part of my business plan.  Silly me, trying to sell things through my newsletter.  I must be insane -- what was I thinking??? Believe it or not, I've gotten similarly irate emails from subcribers who chastise me for daring to try and sell them something.  Hmm, they must be trust fund babies and not have to work for a living.

Sarcasm aside, I don't bother to try and correct these misperceptions, as they have already left my list by the time I get this notification.  I don't really feel that chasing them down to have an intelligent conversation with them worth my time and energy, and they have already made up their minds about my publication, however erroneous they are in their perceptions, and would most likely never return.

So, how do you deal with these naysayers who feel compelled to lob flaming emails at you on their way out the door?  Bid them a happy good riddance, and take some comfort that their vacancy makes room for more of your ideal target market on your list.  Think of it as water bouncing off a duck's back.

You have to develop a tough hide to work online, which is something no one ever told me when I started my business.  Email is the perfect anonymous medium for cowards to spew out garbage that they would not normally say in a face-to-face encounter.  Kind of a sad commentary on the direction of our society, isn't it?

How to Create an Ecourse That Will Triple Your Prospect Conversions

For years, I've been giving away a PDF ebook as my client attraction device to entice prospects to sign up for my list.  This strategy has served me well as a way to grow my list. However, what I've discovered during that time is that many people download my ebook and then never open it. So, as you might imagine, my rate of converting a customer prospect to a buyer isn't as high as I'd like.

Just like the people who join my list, I, too, often don't open a PDF ebook when I download it. What I have noticed, however, is that when I subscribe to an ecourse that someone is giving away as a client attraction device, I'm much more likely to pay attention to it, since I'm getting emails every day with new information in them.  And, all indications are that the conversion rate of prospect to customer is higher, as well, for this same reason.  Your mini-course helps you automatically build a relationship with subscribers and drive sales of your products and services.

Here's how you can create your own client attraction ecourse to help you triple your conversion rate:

1.  Buy autoresponder system.  In order to create your email mini-course, you need to purchase an email marketing system that has autoresponder capability, which is the ability to pre-set emails to go out at a periodic interval when someone opts into a list.  My recommendation is GetMoreClientsAutoresponder.com.

2.  Determine your theme and catchy name. Your ecourse needs to have a theme or subject.  What is it that you want to teach your prospects?  Once you determine the theme, your ecourse needs to have a catchy title.  Typically, you'll want to focus on solving a problem or the result someone receives by enrolling in your mini-course.

3.  Create content.  Your ecourse should consist of 8-12 emails.  The bulk of these emails need to contain valuable, actionable content that will help your prospect solve her problems.  In a couple of the emails, you can break up the content delivery by introducing your prospect to other resources you offer that will help them, as well.  In my new mini-course, I simply repurposed a number of articles I had already written, paring them down to 400-600 words each, in most cases.

4.  Add your soft sell.  Rather than hammering a prospect over the head with sales hype, I did three things in each of the followup emails.  First, I included a resource box at the end of the email with a link to the call to action I want my prospect to take or a postscript (P.S.) that included a link to the call to action.  Secondly, in the body of the email, I made a natural transition based on the content of the email to ask people to buy the product I wanted them to buy. Thirdly, at the end of each lesson, I added, "In our next lesson, we'll talk about..." to keep the reader engaged and anxiously awaiting the next email.

5.  Format and upload your ecourse.  In order to best track your open rates of each segment of the ecourse, you'll want to format each email as HTML.  This means that you'll want to have a header designed and template created so that you can simple copy and paste the content into a properly formatted HTML template.  To increase the likelihood that your ecourse will reach its destination, also format a plain text version of each segment of the course, as well. Next, create a catchy subject line to entice your reader to open that email. Lastly, copy your ecourse into your autoresponder system and create the followup sequence.  Ideally, you want your prospect to receive one email from you for a 8-12 days.

6.  Design your opt-in box.  Your email marketing program should provide instructions on how to create an opt-in box for prospects to join your list.  Typically, all that you want to request of your prospects is a first name, last name, and email address.  Once you have created the opt-in box, copy the code you'll need to add the opt-in box to your web site.

7.  Create a graphic.  To make your email mini-course more appealing, have a graphic designed that visually represents the ecourse.  I simply had a spiral book cover designed that contained my name and the name of my ecourse.

8.  Create your landing page.  To entice prospects to sign up for your ecourse, you'll want to create a landing page that "sells" the mini-course.  In today's world, you have to "sell" free just like you do something for a fee, so create a short list of the benefits that someone will receive by signing up for your course, and add the code for your opt-in box.  Since anyone opting in for my ecourse is also added to my ezine list, I make sure that all prospects know this at the time they sign up.

9.  Copy the course content to your web site.  To prevent your prospects from emailing you that they are missing some number of lessons in the ecourse, copy the content to your web site.  Then, at the bottom of each email lesson, you can add a note that if they have missed any of the lessons, they can read them on your site.  You can create one page for each lesson, or a couple of pages containing a few lessons.

10.  Track and measure. The only way to realize the success of your mini-course is to track and measure.  Create a simple spreadsheet with the open rates of each email and the unsubscribe rates. If you notice over time that many prospects are unsubscribing from your list when they receive a certain lesson, you need to review the content of that lesson and change it until your unsubscribe rate diminishes.  And, of course, you need to track how many sales result from your ecourse. 

Create an email mini-course to help you establish a relationship with your prospects and lead them to taking the action you desire.  You'll discover that a mini-course is the most effective way to convert a prospect into a paying customer.

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this blurb with it:  Internet Marketing for Introverts Coach Donna Gunter helps independent service professionals who are introverts learn how to authentically market their business and get found online without sacrificing their introverted soul.  Would you like to learn the specific Internet marketing strategies that get results for introverts? Discover how to increase your visibility and get found online by claiming your FREE gift, TurboCharge Your Online Marketing Toolkit, at ==>http://www.TurbochargeYourOnlineMarketing.com

5 Secrets to Creating an Email Newsletter That Gets Results

At almost every meeting I attend, I get really positive feedback about my email newsletter, Get Clients Online.  People generally tell me they love it, or they ask some question about something I've written about in a previous issue.  All in all, it's pretty cool--I kinda feel like a celebrity!

In everything that I do, my goal and my focus is to get subscribers to my newsletter.  I'm not trying to sell them a coaching program, nor am I trying to get them to buy some product.  I just want them to get my weekly email newsletter.  That's it. Just get a little dose of Donna on a weekly basis (pun fully intended).

My rationale behind this comes from my philosophy that people have to know, like, trust and respect you before they'll decide to buy anything from you.  I've finally acknowledged and embraced that I'm a pretty good writer and have decided to lead with that gift and use that as my marketing tool for my business.

Back in 2003, I decided that I made some serious changes to how I published my email newsletter, and I'm now starting to see the results of the writing I do each week.  The results include readers calling or emailing me for coaching, to sign up for a program, to sit in on a teleclass, or to form a strategic alliance with them.  Just exactly what I'd hope would happen!

Here are the five secrets to newsletter publishing that I learned through the "school of hard knocks" that have helped successfully market my business through email newsletter publishing:

1.  Publish consistently on a weekly basis. I initially published my newsletter on a not-so-regular basis initially because I didn't see my newsletter as a serious marketing tool (silly me!).  I then went to a regular monthly publication about a year later and then to a twice-a-month publication, and finally ended up publishing weekly in 2003  Now, if I miss a week, I'll get a couple of emails wanting to know what happened and where the newsletter is.

2.  Let your "voice" permeate your newsletter. My first newsletters had some great resources that a busy business owner would find helpful in the management of his/her business.  The only thing about me was a short paragraph about my business at the end of the newsletter.  What I realized was that the newsletters to which I best responded were those in which I got to know the writer and liked what s/he had to say.  Resources were great, but lessons through personal experiences were incredibly more valuable and were the things that I remembered about the newsletter. I definitely put more "me" into my weekly newsletter now.

3.  Show how you can help clients resolve problems.   I could just kick myself for letting almost 3 years slip away by doing such a slip-shod job in demonstrating my expertise.  Again, resources are useful, but stories of what I'm experiencing or what clients have experienced in their businesses and decisions that have been made to change the way we're doing business are much more helpful to my readers. Hence, in every newsletter, there's now a "Business Gym" article in each issue to help my readers run a better business.

4.  Set aside time to write your newsletter. Finding space in my calendar to set aside time on a weekly basis exclusively for this marketing activity isn't always easy.  There are many times I want to fill that time with "profit generating" activities (i.e. work with clients) rather than holding onto this time as a business development activity.  Since I now publish weekly, it takes me about 2 hours to write the main article for the newsletter.  I now set aside time from 9 AM – noon each Wed. morning and knock out the newsletter copy.  Some weeks the process flows more easily than others.

5.  Repackage and re-purpose your articles. One of my primary motivations now for doing my newsletter is that I've now got a personal article bank of roughly 50 articles that I can reuse, tweak or re-purpose when I need to.  I submit my newsletter article each week to various online article banks through an article distribution service, place it on my website, and have it available to use to create a special ebook or report that I can sell as another income stream, or re-purpose as a special report for a give-away on my website.

What I’ve now discovered is that by having this client “reservoir” in place (my email newsletter subscribers that I go out and “tickle” on a weekly basis), my marketing has gotten so much easier.  On a regular basis one of my readers will wake up and decide that they've had enough and can’t do it this way any longer and decide to hire me.

If you don't currently have a newsletter in place that permits you to reach out and "touch" potential clients regularly, I encourage you to start one.  I realize that not everyone likes nor enjoys writing.  Perhaps there's someone you can team up with who could ghostwrite for you based on some conversations you've had or on some training or other kinds of workshops you deliver. If you currently have an email newsletter, pay more attention to its care and feeding so that it grows a healthy prospective client base for you.  It'll be one of the best investments you'll make for your business.

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this blurb with it:  Internet Marketing Automation Coach Donna Gunter helps independent service professionals create prosperous online businesses that make more profit in less time by teaching them how to automate their businesses, leverage their expertise, and get found online.  Would you like to learn the specific Internet marketing strategies that get results? Discover how to increase your visibility and get found online by claiming your FREE gift, TurboCharge Your Online Marketing Toolkit, at ==>
http://www.TurbochargeYourOnlineMarketing.com

Unsubscribing from email lists

I just recently went through a big email purge, taking myself off of many lists that aren't really helping me with anything or those that I simply have no time to read.  I'm discovering that the majority of the lists offer a pretty quick way to unsubscribe.  You simply hit the unsubscribe link in the broadcast, and you're either immediately unsubscribed, or have to choose the list(s) from you you want to unsub and you're done.  Pretty easy, overall, just like I make it for people on my lists.

However, even in 2010 I'm discovering 2 things:

1.  Large companies, retail stores and department stores in particular, make it VERY difficult to get off of their lists.  I won't name names, but going through this unsubcribing process with them doesn't endear them to me at all.  In fact, it really makes me not want to do any future business with them.  Once I finally figured out how to get off of the list, I got a message that the unsubscription request will take 7-10 business days to process.  Really????  In this day of automation, when even a micro biz owner like me can offer unsubscription automation, a huge corporate entity is unable to do this instantly?  I think not.  Or, if that is the case, they REALLY need to rethink their email marketing policies.

2.  Some of these same large companies require you to dig for the email address you used to subscribe to their list in order for you to enter it into a box to get off of their list.  I realize that their goal must be to make  it as difficult as possible to remove yourself from their list in order to retain list numbers.  However, how much customer goodwill is being sabotaged in this process?  And sometimes you have to enter the email address twice for confirmation purposes.  Again, really???  Whoever heard of anyone stealthily unsubscribing people from a list??  Doesn't it usually work in the opposite way?

OK, I'll hop off of my soapbox now.  Too bad that they don't subscribe to my general business philosophy of making it as easy as possible for your customers/prospects to choose to do business with you.  If we all operated with this philosophy, the world would be a better place. <g>

Getting subscribers to my ezine

Q:  I recently advertised my ezine as a part of a radio show I was on and didn't get a single opt-in. Should I have done something differently? And now that I have a sales page for my newsletter, which can I do with it?

Susanna Opper
Shawenon.com

Hi Susanna--

A:  Here are a couple of recommendations I have for you:

1.  Subscribing to an ezine doesn't get the response it once did.  Now, you have to give something away (report, audio, ebook) to entice someone to sign up for your ezine.

Here are a couple of articles on how to cretae that giveaway:

Grow Your List with an Effective Client-Capturing Device

5 Secrets to Moving the Free Line with Your Client Capturing Device

10 Most Effective Client Attraction Device Giveaways

2.  Your sales page (squeeze page) needs to have its own URL that's easy to say and to remember, especially if it's being promoted on a radio show.  You can see my ezine squeeze page here:  http;//www.TurbochargeYourOnlineMarketing.com.

Here's an article I've written about creating an ezine squeeze page:

How to Triple Your Ezine Opt-ins with a Squeeze Page

3.  And, once you have your ezine sales page and your client attraction device created, use the squeeze page URL whenever you speak or when you have an opportunity to drive traffic to your site, rather than using your website URL.  I regularly submit all articles I write to various article directories, and the URL I give in my bio (resource box) is the one for my ezine squeeze page, as seen here:

Internet Marketing Automation Coach Donna Gunter helps independent service professionals create prosperous online businesses that make more profit in less time by teaching them how to automate their businesses, leverage their expertise, and get found online.  Would you like to learn the specific Internet marketing strategies that get results? Discover how to increase your visibility and get found online by claiming your FREE gift, TurboCharge Your Online Marketing Toolkit, at ==> http://www.TurbochargeYourOnlineMarketing.com

Bonus tip:  For more help in creating and implementing these strategies, names of the resources and tools I use to implement these strategies, and answers to your questions, become a member at OnlineBizU.com.

Got an Internet Marketing question?  Ask it here: AskDonnaGunter.com.

Ethical Bribes: 10 Most Effective Client Attraction Device Giveaways

One of the quickest ways to build your email marketing list is by creating an ethical bribe, or what I refer to as a client attraction device.  This free giveaway serves to entice visitors to your site to sign up for your email list because they want to access your solution to their problem proffered in your email list opt-in box.

What are the two most important characteristics of an effective client attraction device?  It must provide the solution to at least one of the problems of your target market and utilize the keywords that your target market might use when seeking this type of solution. Secondly, your offering must have a high enough perceived value that your visitors would be willing to pay for it.

I routinely opt into many lists just to get the client attraction device.  More times than not, the giveaway is simply a long reiteration of a problem, with the solution being available for purchase on the web site.  This is the WRONG way to introduce yourself to prospects. Don't be afraid to share some solutions with your prospects -- it's part of developing the Like, Know and Trust factor with them.  If you are truly an expert in your field, the info you share for free is only the tip of the iceberg of the variety of solutions you can provide to your prospects.

What is the easiest way to create your own client attraction device? Here are 10 ideas that you can use to package your information into a valuable ethical bribe for your web site:

1.  Audio of a presentation.  Hold a teleclass on a particular topic and record it, or simply record a presentation with audio recording software on your computer.  An audience isn't necessary for a good recording -- it is quality content that is the key.

2.  Interview of an expert.  Request to interview a noted expert in your target market.  Ask the expert questions, or pull questions from a pre-assigned list you've been given. Record the interview and have it transcribed to create a two-part giveaway.

3.  Special report or ebook.  A special report is simply a short PDF report that runs between 2-5 pages.  You can create this pretty easily by writing an article that's 1500-2000 words.   Typically an ebook is longer than a special report, combining several articles, or topics, to make a more complete overview of a topic.  Format it to be easily read and add a bio page and and upsell page and your report is complete.

4.  Checklist.  A checklist is a 1-2 page PDF file that walks someone through a to-do checklist to complete a task.  To create a checklist, simple outline the steps required to complete a particular task and insert a checkmark box in front of each so that the user can print out the list and mark off the steps as they are completed.

5.  Video.  Using video to promote your business is one of the hottest Internet marketing strategies today.  You can create an info video that is a training or tutorial video made by using video screen capture software, or record yourself answering questions or presenting a topic with an inexpensive video camera.  Upload it to your site or to one of the video hosting sites, and you've got a new client attraction device to give away.

6.  Software.  For as little as $50, you can hire a programmer to create a simple piece of software to help your prospects automate a task or solve a problem. Another option is to buy a license for some inexpensive software that you can then distribute as you wish.

7.  Rolodex (Resources) list.  Once you have developed a relationship with your prospects, invariably you will get asked to make recommendations for vendors to perform certain tasks. Because this list is valuable in that you have already gone through a number of services to find just the right provider and are thus saving your prospects hundreds of dollars and hours of time, create a list of these providers in a PDF document.

8.  Templates.  Templates are another time-saving device that prevents your prospects from having to reinvent the wheel.  Package together templates you regular use, like templates for telephone followup calls, emails, email newsletters, to-do list, budgets, etc.  Anything that will let your prospect use as a model for developing her own version will be greatly appreciated.

9.  Worksheet/workbook.  Sometimes information is better delivered in a format where the prospect can jot down ideas, answer questions, or brainstorm.  A PDF worksheet or workbook is the ideal format for that to happen.  Create a document with a series of questions and space to answer the questions, along with a bit of introductory text to set up the question, and you've created a useful workbook.

10.  Ecourse.  An ecourse is a series of emails that deliver information over a specific course of time via email.  Your ecourse can last as short as 3 days or as long as 52 weeks.  Once you pick a topic, simply determine the number of points that you want to make as you discuss the topic, and then create an email that thoroughly explains each point.  Put the emails together in a sequence in your email marketing program and you have an ecourse.

If you simply request visitors to opt into your ezine list or your blog list, you're not maximizing the work that your web site can do for you.  Add a client attraction device to your opt-n box and watch your list grow!

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this blurb with it:  Online Business Coach Donna Gunter helps baby boomers create profitable online retirement businesses by demystifying the steps needed to successfully market a baby boomer business online. Would you like to learn the specific Internet marketing strategies that get results? Discover how to increase your visibility and get found online by claiming your FREE gift, TurboCharge Your Online Marketing Toolkit, at == > http://www.TurbochargeYourOnlineMarketing.com

Email Marketing Tips: 5 Best Strategies to Develop a Responsive Email List

I see the well-known Internet marketing gurus do this all the time -- they begin to try and sell to me when I first opt into their list. This has worked quite well for them over the years, but I think the tide is turning and people are generally becoming more marketing-savvy. Your list members don't mind being sold to, provided that they have a relationship with you and have completed the like, know and trust journey (or are at least on the path of this journey) of getting to know you before they decide to buy something from you.

Whether you have a 500-person list or a 5000-person list, the rate at which they respond to your offers ties directly in with how well they know, like and trust you and see you as the expert providing answers to the problems keeping them awake at night.

Here are the 5 strategies you can employ to develop a responsive email list.

1. Get personal. Discovering the inner workings of people's lives makes reality television shows popular. In the same vein, your readers want to know more about you as a person. Don't be afraid to share what's going on in your life, be that good, bad, or ugly. I receive the greatest number of comments to my ezine and blog when I post articles about very happy or very sad occasions in my life. I was overwhelmed with the responses of sympathy, care and concern I received from around the globe to an article I wrote for my ezine when my mom passed away. As a matter of fact, some folks still check in on me occasionally to see how I'm doing.

2. Talk about your business in first person. Many marketing books and training courses tell you that you need to appear to be a large company to encourage others to do business with you. For many of us, this means referring to ourselves and our companies in third person or by our company name, even though we're really a one-person shop. In reality, people want to do business with other people, not some nameless and faceless corporate entity.

I dread calling my ISP for tech support because invariably I get a nameless, faceless drone who acts as though I'm a bother and that I'm interrupting his productive goofing off during work time. All he wants to do is make me jump through the hoops outlined by his script rather than really listening to what my problem is. Instead, when I need technical assistance, I call a friend who has a tech support business and pay him to solve my problems (instead of using the free tech support provided by my ISP) because I know that my friend will get my problem fixed -- the first time.

3. Show up as the business owner. Part of the process of having your list get to know you is sharing images and audio of yourself. You can do that by using your headshot in your blog or ezine header or by posting an audio or video intro on your web site. Make sure the images that you share are recent and are reflective of how you look today. I was a guest speaker a conference several years ago and had many of the participants tell me with some amount of surprise that I actually looked like my photo in the program guide. I've had the experience of going to someone's workshop and thinking, "Wow, that headshot on his web site must've been taken 10 (or more) years ago! Man, has he aged/gained weight/fill in the blank here...." Be accurate in the images you share online -- that's very important in the relationship-building process.

4. Contact consistently. One of the questions that I'm asked all the time is about the best day of the week to send out ezines or email broadcasts. Usually I can recite the results of a recent survey that some marketing company has conducted and rattle off the stats that support certain days for B2B (business-to-business) broadcasts and other days for B2C (business-to-consumer) broadcasts. Ultimately, for the most part, the day of the week that you send a broadcast doesn't matter. What's more important is training your list to come to expect your ezine to arrive every Thursday morning, for example. Tell your list when you'll be in contact with them, and do what you say you're going to do. It is really that simple.

5. Contact frequently. Most of my clients make the big mistake of not emailing their list often enough. Many are concerned that too many emails will cause list members to unsubscribe. You need to develop a thick skin in this business because reality dictates the following: You will lose subscribers with every email you send. Perhaps you're no longer relevant to them or they're overwhelmed with email or they never really had an interest in what you offer in the first place. Who knows the reason? You need to get used to it. Send them away happily knowing that they would probably have never purchased from you anyway, and their departure makes room for a more perfect list member to join your list through one of your many list-building strategies. (You are practicing good list-building, aren't you?)

For best results, you need to email your list weekly. Any less and it takes a much longer time to build a relationship with your list because they don't hear from you as often. If you're frustrated with not getting the results you want from your list, touch base with them more often.

Email marketing works well when you have a well-established relationship with your contact list. Follow these 5 strategies to strengthen the responsiveness of your list today.

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this blurb with it:  Online Business Coach Donna Gunter helps baby boomers create profitable online retirement businesses by demystifying the steps needed to successfully market a  baby boomer business online. Would you like to learn the specific Internet marketing strategies that get results? Discover how to increase your visibility and get found online by claiming your FREE gift, TurboCharge Your Online Marketing Toolkit, at == > http://www.OnlineBizU.com

Should I buy an email list?

Q:  Can you obtain clean/opt-in email addresses for a targeted zip code from reputable provider, if any?
Ashok

A:  Hi Ashok!  Never, ever, ever buy email addresses from anyone for anything.  There's no such thing as clean or opt-in email addresses.  If the person who owns the email address did not specifically give his/her permission to be on your list, then it's spam. Period.  And trust me, if someone is annoyed enough at you for "spamming" him, he can make you life an utter hell by telling your domain host, your web host, and your ISP that you're a spammer.  If the only "proof" that you have that this person requested to be on your list is from a list that you purchased, that will not serve as proof at all, and  your registrar, ISP, and web host can shut you down and make you go out of business.

The best way to build a list is to have an opt-in form on your own site and use an email marketing program (I like www.GetMoreClientsAutoresponder.com) to help you capture these opt-ins.  Here's an article from my blog that will also help build your list:  15 Proven Strategies to Grow Your List. 

Got an Internet Marketing question?  Ask it here: AskDonnaGunter.com.