Everyday I receive unsolicited emails selling my ‘high-quality” email lists to market AceProject. All those emails promise me that the lists are 100% opt-in, qualified buyers who just can’t wait to learn about my product. I also see the same offers from magazines and online community sites. Magazines and community sites will often have nice colorful graphics about their audience.

And the price is interesting too. For a few hundred bucks, I can bug thousands of project managers and try to convince them that AceProject is the tool for their needs.

The problem is they don’t know me

Those people whose email addresses are on those lists may have accepted to be contacted, but they did not agree for me to email them. This is a problem. They did not give me permission to market to them. Furthermore, what really is the probability that someone on this list goes “Wow! This is exactly the product I was looking for! I must purchase it right this instant!”

Slim to none. Because my email is just one of may spam messages she’ll receive today. Because she probably won’t read it. Because she did not ask for me to email her.

I would rather put a banner ad on that community site or the magazine newsletter. Then, I give those readers the choice to know more about my product. I am not forcing it down their throats.

Moreover, if I didn’t give those marketers permission to email me to sell me their mailing lists, what guarantee do I have that these lists are really legitimate?

I would rather not wager AceProject’s reputation on that.