Mailers (spam?).... has the bottom dropped out?

In my experience renting mailing lists from other companies has not been profitable for us, at least recently.

On the other hand, using an in-house mailing list to stay in touch with our users has proven VERY profitable. Every time we do a mailing several old customers that might have been lost return to the site.

The addresses cost nothing since we collect them on our signup page (it is optional). Each mailing includes an unsubscribe option that actually works, plus we never sell or share the addresses.

If you take the time to build and care for your own mailing list, you may find that it is an excellent tool for retaining members.

B