Email marketing is still very powerful. Though social media has more of our attention lately, it doesn't compete with the fact that the messages sent to a double opt-in list do actually drop in the personal inbox of the prospective reader. Like direct (snail) mail, it is a very successful methodology for marketing. Unlike direct (snail) mail, it is not very expensive.

There are a few rules you must follow for email marketing if you want to avoid the [spammer] label.

People complain about getting mail from people they don't know when they don't have a reference point.

Never send mail to lists unless they are:

1. Direct [recent] buyers from the company
2. Double opt-in members of the website sending the mailing

Reasons your email looks like spam:

1. They don't know the sender.
2. The sender doesn't identify himself by the brand they do know.
3. The sender's email is largely blank if they block images.

You're never going to have this problem sending mail from a double opt-in fan club list. They know you, they asked for communications. But, buying some "investor interest" list and sending them email about your retirement savings account is going to get you in trouble.

If you want to send mail to someone else's list, the way to do it is let them send out the message and let them push them to the URL for the signup or offer. If you do it yourself, you risk people clicking the "spam" button and blocking your IPs - which gets both expensive and can potentially get you sued or prosecuted.