First, be truthful with your list when you’re promoting something. Tell them exactly why you think they’d benefit from it, and make sure you can give them an example of how it’s helped you. If you don’t use the product, don’t tell them they should. Why? Because if it’s crap, your list will find out, and you’ll lose their trust. No trust = zero sales. Zero sales = a worthless list.

Another great option is to give them content while you’re giving them promotions. See if you can compare 2 or more similar products, and provide pros and cons of each, that way, they can make their own decision, and they’ll feel a lot better about that. If you tell them what to buy, you’ll make sales, but if you provide them with options and information, and let them make an informed decision, they’ll feel like it’s their decision, and they’ll be more likely to purchase one.

Don’t forget to keep giving them great content in the midst of promoting products to them. If you do, you’ll start to see people unsubscribing, and that is not what you want to do.

Matt Callen said it best in his free, 7-day ecourse (for his Instant Popover product) – “The Golden Rule Goes A Long Way – Even With Internet Marketing.” He also went on to say, “Build a list, build a relationship with that list by providing mind-blowing, over-the-top content, give them a free report or product and show them that you’re a genuine human being that really cares about them, and you’ll have them fighting at your virtual door wanting to buy your products or services.”

Before I go on, I want to address this common question very quickly: “Is it legal to “grab” or “scrape” email addresses for your list?” The answer is no. They didn’t opt-in for your list, so you can’t legally email them bulk email. If you do, you’re sending them unsolicited commercial email (UCE) and that is SPAM. You can be fined thousands of dollars and thrown in jail for it, so I wouldn’t even test the waters.