What would you do with a list of 45,000 hot leads

This is just an opinion, but I would start building a relationship with these people. Send out one or two emails a week that can bring value to them. For example, ask the list what products that they are interested and what kind of pricing would they expect from you as the new expert. Maybe send them a free how to guide on certain products and how they can benefit from them. Once the relationship has been started, offer a discount on whatever you can. This could turn into a long term relationship.

Good luck,

Mike

Before you think to get money from these people on your list, try to build a long run relationship with them by trying to send them some valuable material and hot topics of their interests . They will gradually start to trust you and accept your other offers. this is my opinion.

I would start providing them with an incredible amount of free information that actually helps them do things, with short offers at the end of each.

Make sure to give them a lot of great tips and value before making an offer to them, I would first start out by sending them a surevy to find out exactly what they want and need the most help with and exactly what they are looking for then create the content and offers around that.

To generate "some income" from the list, you must sell something to people on the list. Just having a list and mailing it will do nothing. You already have the list and don't need to have people opt-in if you observe the CAN-SPAM rules, but for safety (and to keep an autoresponder company happy) you might want to offer a "free something of value," and acquire opt-ins from the list.

Let me preface this with I am not a lawyer, nor do I look like one, but I do read lawyer jokes.

I researched this very "list-rights" topic a few month ago for an article I wrote about who owned the list, and to my surprise there were a lot of "it depends" to it. In some cases the ex-employee had the right to mail it.

Before you start contacting the people on that list you might want to run this past an attorney, just to keep yourself out of a bit of potentially very hot water.

What type of bankruptcy is the company going through - restructuring, or dissolution? If it is resturcturing, the owners are going to see you as new competition using their intellectual property - their list.

If you were an employee, and you were paid to generate the list, you probably don't own that list or the rights to mail/email to it. Customer data lists are intellectual property owned by the business, but as I found out, there are exceptions.

An ex-relative of mine (divorced out of the family) had an employee take his list and start competing with him using his own list. When he finished dragging that employee through the courts, it put that employee out of business.

As a person one who has owned several brick & mortar businesses, I'd be pissed if an ex-employee who stole my list.

If I paid an employee to build a list, and that employee was not an independent contractor, and the list contained info that could not be found on a generic list elsewhere, I would be the one who owned the list.

:-Don

1st build a relationship with them as an individual, rather than that maybe built with the company you were with, go to a forum where these guys hang out, find out what issues they have, develop or find a product that solves the issue, and offer it to them, with your email campaigns, give 80% value, 20% selling, go do a search ,see what others are doing in the niche, price points etc, and do it better

Don beat me to it...

When the OP says:

He didn't mention whether he had the right to do so or not. Actually, it sounds like he simply downloaded the leads, figuring that a company going through bankruptcy wouldn't bother to pursue it. He also didn't mention whether he used company assets to generate those leads.

That list of leads, however, is one of the assets of the firm. If the company is dissolving, that asset can be liquidated (sold) to help pay the debts of the company. An employee "liberating" that list and using it for his own purposes devalues the list, which might be of concern to the judge and/or whoever is appointed to supervise the liquidation and distribution of assets.

I'll echo Don's advice - get competent legal advice about your rights before you do anything with those leads.

Does Amazon sell these kind of products? Because if they do, you can become an affiliate and really get paid.

I also echo what Don and John said.

That list is an extremely valuable assets especially if they are going into bankruptcy.

I don't know what country you are in but if you were in the UK the official receiver would want that list as its the easiest way to dispose of the remaining assets in a fire sale, thereby trying to recoup some of the creditors losses.

build relation with the list .
provide your list some thing really good (if you provide them something really good they will be more eager to read your emails )
then you can send them offers

I would create free reports and videos that show them different uses for the products you have to offer. Just be sure to add links in your reports and your videos that drive them to your sales pages for the products. The more valuable information your provide to them the more they will start to like and trust you. And once they start to trust you there is no limit to the amount of money you can make with them.

build a product site and ask them to review it for you.

I would recommend asking for permission to send them future emails.

Let them know that at one time they did business with you and you would like permission to send emails that would be along the lines of information they would be interested in.

Manny

Yes I have to agree with Don and John on the ownership of this list. If it was an employee who simply downloaded it thinking they could make money from it - I would definitely be seeking legal advise before doing anything with it.

Is it just a list of names or is it a list on an autoresponder?

There are a lot of unanswered questions here but if you can legally use the list don't waste time and start contacting these people immediately and tell them why you are contacting them and offer them information and products. This list is not worth a cent if you do not form a relationship with them and you can sell them some products.

Personally, I would start my own equestrian site or something similar and send ads for that site to the list.

WOW!!!!

Dude this is awesome.. first give them some free content for the next few weeks (once per week).. then take a look at some equestrian digital products on CB that might suit them and send them a subtle promotion.