E-Mail Appending

"I have a large mailing list for my travel agency. I would like to do some e-mail marketing because of the volatile travel industry. Asking for email addresses has been unsuccessful. Are there companies that can take a snail mail list of addresses and find their email addresses without charging a fortune?" -- Doug Huneywell, Cruises & Travel of Spokane

Vendors for this kind of service can be found by searching Google for "email appending". Costs range from 25¢ to 75¢ per successful appended address, depending upon the size of your list. Vendors typically match your address with lists of individuals who have opted to receive solicitations from e-mail marketing networks. You receive your list back with e-mail addresses appended to some of the names. Contrast this to one-time renting of an opt-in list for 10¢ to 30¢ a name, where you never see the e-mail address.

The ethical issue is permission. Did the recipient give permission with the intention of having her e-mail addresses matched and sold in this fashion? Probably not. Do you have a prior business relationship with the individuals on your list? In that case, perhaps you could send out an e-mailing or two on the basis of the "implied permission" that such a relationship might give. Just be careful not to send unsolicited bulk e-mails to those who have no real relationship with you and have given no real permission.