Why not buy the contact info from a directory

Then you can contact the sites in the directory

[dougs]

Surely this will save time and effort and give you all the information to contact the correct sites.

It may cost now, but the rewards will be immediate.

Doug

[Shak]

yes why NOT, go on Doug, tell us :)

or was your message in reply to a post, and you started a new thread by mistake?

Shak

[pageoneresults]

Hmmm, I'll take a shot at it...

Because that contact info is not available for sale?

Is this a trick question? ;)

[dougs]

Just a thought .....I'm willing to buy it.

[pageoneresults]

I'm sure many people would be willing to buy it. Unfortunately that information is usually private in nature and is usually not available for resale unless of course it is stated in the directories TOS that you allow them to have third party vendors contact you. If that is the case, then the information may be available for you to purchase.

[dougs]

So why is someone not building one? ....we would all be willing to talk?

[pageoneresults]

Because private information is just that, private. It would be against the law to sell that information in most countries without first having the approval from the directory member. In most cases, that is not going to happen.

[dougs]

Put in the TOS that the data maybe sold and you may be emailed offers from partners.

In comparison to amount of spam I get it would be nice to get something related to what I do.

Doug

[TravelSite]

If this is with regard to all the recent threads about hiring people to find links, buying tools etc then I'd agree its a good idea.

The problem is where you get the leads from - the only ones I know of that are permission based are the big uk "directories" (as in "phone/business directories" sent via post) that have corresponding (popular) websites. I think that they are quite expensive though. If you can find other legitimate sources of website contact details then great.

But...you would need to test the water first to see what conversion you get. After all - at least with hiring people you only pay on performance (e.g. per link)! Its more of a risk if you buy info direct - who knows what the conversion rate (i.e. people linking to you) might be? Could be worth a try.

[pageoneresults]

You could always purchase a mailing list based on SIC codes. There are many different avenues available for obtaining industry specific information.

[dougs]

Of course once someone has acquired this good info, owns it and knows what to do with it. Why would they sell it? It can be reused for any project they wish to launch

I reckon build your own is the only way.

Doug

[TravelSite]

With lots of the offical mailing lists you don't get to see the actual list - you just send them the email you want to sent and they send it to their mailing lists.

[rogerd]

I think it depends on the directory. Some directory publishers make money by selling mailing lists, contact cards for telemarketers, etc. Others use the information to get new members, i.e., the info is available but only if you join the organization.

If you know if a relevant directory for your project, it's certainly worth a shot.

[mack]

I run a directory and there is no way I woudl sell email addresses. Any directory that is serious about building a presence must feel the same way. In order to build a directory you need to inspire trust, after all it is the site submitters that build the directory.

Mack.

[nakulgoyal]

If we get the info and we start emailing them, we are generating spammers.

I have a list of 900,000 website owners but I never ever thought of spamming them. Coz If I receive a spam, it will be in my trash in 1 sec.

I don't think we should spam. We all get all those Viagra and HGH and P..is enlargement pills emails and we are all fedup of them...aren't we?

This seems to be a good idea but better to do targetted emailing rather then sending emails to all directory owners.

I harvested Viagra website owners, Doctors, Authors, Writer, Webmasters, Real Estate Agents, Advocates/Lawyers, etc for some of my clients. I just harvested the email, the website url from where they were extracted and the website title and I sold them to some of my clients.

It may have worked well for them....I had to do this coz this is my business..providing services but I never SPAM for myself. not even for the services I offer.

[mil2k]

Why not buy the contact info from a directory

As said earlier very difficult. What you can do instead is swap databases with like minded people from allied industries. Also if you are SEO can contact other SEOs so at least your combined clients benefit from each other. HTH :)

[Iinkpopularitypro]

Sapmming is not a good idea i guess. I have DB's for over 100 Million email addresses, and i have tried spamming them. It gave me good leads, but not enough to cover my spamming expenses.