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Just been given access to a 60K List

by alexandersmith
13 replies
Hi warriors, I thought I'd post in here about this because I'm a bit stumped on this.

A friend of mine has allowed me use of their highly targeted opt in list of 60K email addresses - the niche is in the self help sector.

For personal reasons he can't continue working, and has said I can do what I want with this list as long as I don't send the emails from the account he has been using.

My first question before even deciding what to do with the list, is check legalities. I have my suspicions that this could potentially be unlawful in certain jurisdictions, because I'm not sure what the laws on data protection are etc e.g. If they sign up with their email address can it be given to someone else like myself?

Obviously I don't plan on spamming the list at all, but rather build up a relationship with the list and provide them useful content for free and slowly build up to offers etc.

What are everyone's thoughts on this? I obviously don't want to do anything illegal whatsoever, and I won't be tempted to do so, so I want to ensure I can do this a proper way.

Thanks warriors,

Alex
#60k #access #list
  • Profile picture of the author nicheblogger75
    Originally Posted by alexandersmith View Post

    Hi warriors, I thought I'd post in here about this because I'm a bit stumped on this.

    A friend of mine has allowed me use of their highly targeted opt in list of 60K email addresses - the niche is in the self help sector.

    For personal reasons he can't continue working, and has said I can do what I want with this list as long as I don't send the emails from the account he has been using.

    My first question before even deciding what to do with the list, is check legalities. I have my suspicions that this could potentially be unlawful in certain jurisdictions, because I'm not sure what the laws on data protection are etc e.g. If they sign up with their email address can it be given to someone else like myself?

    Obviously I don't plan on spamming the list at all, but rather build up a relationship with the list and provide them useful content for free and slowly build up to offers etc.

    What are everyone's thoughts on this? I obviously don't want to do anything illegal whatsoever, and I won't be tempted to do so, so I want to ensure I can do this a proper way.

    Thanks warriors,

    Alex
    i'd be very suspicious of the quality of the list. Not too many I know of would give away a list of 60K if it was converting and making them lots of money. Also, do you know where the leads came from? Were they opt-in leads or did he buy them?

    I would proceed with caution on this one.

    Also it's not really ethical for someone to just transfer their leads to someone else whether it be for free or not. When those people subscribed, they were subscribing to that person's list under the assumption their data would be safe. Obviously many people could be angry to find that the person has just gone and given away their information to someone else. At least I would be.

    Also, if you cannot use his account I think it's going to be difficult to find a reputable autoresponder company that will just allow you to transfer 60K leads into their system.
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    • Profile picture of the author alexandersmith
      Originally Posted by nicheblogger75 View Post

      i'd be very suspicious of the quality of the list. Not too many I know of would give away a list of 60K if it was converting and making them lots of money. Also, do you know where the leads came from? Were they opt-in leads or did he buy them?

      I would proceed with caution on this one.

      Also it's not really ethical for someone to just transfer their leads to someone else whether it be for free or not. When those people subscribed, they were subscribing to that person's list under the assumption their data would be safe. Obviously many people could be angry to find that the person has just gone and given away their information to someone else. At least I would be.

      Also, if you cannot use his account I think it's going to be difficult to find a reputable autoresponder company that will just allow you to transfer 60K leads into their system.
      The leads are all opt in from his website. He really can't work anymore, and he's got other businesses than are pretty much on autopilot, so he doesn't mind about the money in that sense.

      But I totally understand what you're getting at regarding being unethical. It would probably be hard to start a relationship, but I do think it would be possible.

      I'm not fussed either way really, I just thought it could be a good chance to build up a small side income.

      Thanks for your comments,

      Alex
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      • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
        Alex,

        If he also gave you the web site they subscribed through, I don't see any reason you can't email them. You're taking over that business.

        It may depend on what the site's privacy policy says, but most are worded in such a way that it's perfectly acceptable for someone to take over the whole business and continue the relationship with existing customers and subscribers.


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        • Profile picture of the author alexandersmith
          Originally Posted by Paul Myers View Post

          Alex,

          If he also gave you the web site they subscribed through, I don't see any reason you can't email them. You're taking over that business.

          It may depend on what the site's privacy policy says, but most are worded in such a way that it's perfectly acceptable for someone to take over the whole business and continue the relationship with existing customers and subscribers.


          Paul
          Thanks for your advice Paul. I think the main problem will be finding a way to actually use the email list. I've done some quick research, and it doesn't look like i'll be able to input the list straight into any of the big companies such as Aweber, Mailchimp etc - Do you know of any other ways I can get around this?

          Many thanks,

          Alex
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          • Profile picture of the author Paul Myers
            Alex,

            Assuming they really did subscribe on their own, just install your own email script on the server. Make sure your host allows it for the type of account you have first, though.

            If they don't, you could set up arpReach or something similar and do the actual mailing through SMTP.com or Amazon's SES.

            When was the last time he emailed them? If it's been more than a month, you could run into other problems, like people having forgotten they subscribed.


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          • Profile picture of the author Jesus Perez
            Here's what I would do.

            Step 1: Scrub the list first using a reputable service like https://www.briteverify.com. You probably have 10k+ bad/old addresses in there that need to be removed before sending.

            Step 2: iContact allows imports but they will be suspicious of 60k emails being imported (or 40k after scrubbing) in one run. I recommend taking out 9k from the list and doing a test send to gauge response. If it pans out well, run another 9k and so forth.

            Step 3: Ask your friend if you can send a "goodbye" email of sorts to the list on his behalf. Explain the shift in owners and throw a strong bribe so you can get them on YOUR list on Aweber, GetResponse, etc. I recommend this method because a relationship started with lies doesn't end very well. You don't want to mislead the audience and start blasting out of the blue. You'll get shot down very quickly due to unsubs and complaints.

            Edit: Don't be surprised if you only end up with 10k from that list. It's the nature of the email game. But you got started on the right foot by building a solid foundation based on trust. (And 10k is nothing to scoff at.)
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            • Profile picture of the author Steve B
              I was going to suggest what Jesus explained quite well.

              Have your friend email his list and explain that he is recommending you, by name, to take over the reigns at his site. Find a very high level, valuable offer that will be a no-brainer for the list.

              Set up an aWeber account or similar and have your buddy ask his list to opt-in for this wonderful offer. The better the offer, the more people you'll have respond.

              Your list will be a lot smaller than 60K but it will be your list. Even if it ends up being 1-3K, that's a healthy start in a niche where you're just beginning.

              Good luck,

              Steve
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          • Profile picture of the author loaf1011
            Originally Posted by alexandersmith View Post

            Thanks for your advice Paul. I think the main problem will be finding a way to actually use the email list. I've done some quick research, and it doesn't look like i'll be able to input the list straight into any of the big companies such as Aweber, Mailchimp etc - Do you know of any other ways I can get around this?

            Many thanks,

            Alex
            I believe Mailchimp does actually let you import emails, but I think you're right about Aweber.
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  • Profile picture of the author rid243
    Aweber is the most strict and unlikely to approve the list

    Mailchimp and GetResponse will both review

    CampaignMonitor is pretty lenient with this
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    • Profile picture of the author lerxtjr
      doesn't look like i'll be able to input the list straight into any of the big companies such as Aweber, Mailchimp
      YMLP is great for this and I've been using it for about five years now. Probably the only email system left on the planet that you can really upload a list of emails to and send it (and have anything actually delivered). Cheap too.

      just install your own email script on the server
      - sorry, just can't wrap my head around supporting this method for most people. There are just way too many things involved with becoming an "email company" and that's what you would become if you forego the 3rd party emailing system and use something installed on your own server. Not a big deal when you're dealing with 5,000 or so emails. But get over that 10,000 mark and things get complex in a hurry.
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  • Profile picture of the author tyronne78
    Most auto-responder companies make you send out an email to your imported list asking them to confirm that they want to be added to a different list. Here are Aweber's policies below:

    https://help.aweber.com/entries/2165...of-Subscribers

    I believe Mail Chimp and GetResponse are a little more lenient but I'm not sure.
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  • Profile picture of the author Rok Solid
    Lots of good advice above. Let me add that you don't only have to go with Aweber or the others.

    Especially given the size of your list you may want to look at the method described here
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  • Profile picture of the author TotalWebsiteControl
    I would try to get the people on that list on YOUR list. That way they are your subscribers now and you scrubbed out the non active people. 2 birds with one stone my friend.

    just send them a convincing email to get them to switch over. a lot of good responses on this thread though.
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