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I'm not sure about email lists. However, the press is a great way to draw attention. The key is to have information that is needed by consumers who might benefit from your product.
Because my product is a cover for vehicle mirrors protecting against snow, frost, etc., I created an anciliary site www.winter-car-care.com to promote the importance of preparing your vehicke for the winter, which, in fact, 70% of drivers do not do.
This site contains 102 pages of aticle and videos from other respected sources like Edmunds, Car and Driver, etc., that are linked via my website, with topics ranging from how to start you car to driving techniques, batteries,etc. Essentially, what I have created is a one-stop place for net surfers to learn how to deal with their vehicles in winter weather.
At the same time, I have a link, with photos, to my intenet store on every page; that's 102 pages of access.
Here's where an email blast comes in. I wrote a press release discussing the importance of getting that vehicle ready for winter and sent it out to about 4,000 newspapers and also a few hundred tv stations. (I found the newspaper list online, googling). So far, an online paper in Minnesota published my release verbatim. An anchor at a tv station in Oregon emailed me asking for some tips. Even before this happened, an auto industry magazine had emailed me in October asking for tips that auto supply stores could use in terms of which products to stock up on for their customers for the winter; this story was published online along with the link to winter-car-care.com.
The point is that providing info that people can lead potential customers to your store. Now sales, that's a different story, but exposure for your store can be done with a media strategy.
Any business can furnish info the public can use about the product you are trying to sell. You've got to lead people there. Providing info won't piss 'em off but spamming just might.
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