As a martial arts business consultant, it's our job to help gym owners like you navigate the often-murky waters of email marketing. And one thing we see far too often is gym owners falling victim to the allure of those too-good-to-be-true bulk email list deals. You know the ones I'm talking about: "1 million email addresses for only $29.99!" It's easy to get swept up in the excitement of potentially reaching so many people, but trust me, buying one of these lists is almost always a huge mistake.

The Source of Bulk Email Addresses

First of all, let's talk about where these bulk email list companies get their addresses. More often than not, they use robots and other sketchy methods to "harvest" them from the internet. This means that a significant portion of the people on these lists never actually signed up to receive emails from you or anyone else. And when you send them emails without their permission, it's considered spamming. Not only is this unethical, but it's also illegal in many countries.

The Drawbacks of Using Bulk Email Lists

But let's say you don't care about being ethical or following the law. You just want those 1 million email addresses to boost your gym's marketing efforts. Even if you somehow manage to avoid getting in trouble with the authorities, you're still not going to see the results you're hoping for. Here's why:

• A significant number of the addresses on these lists are either fake or no longer in use. That means a significant portion of your emails will bounce back as undeliverable.
• Even if the addresses are real and in use, there's a good chance the people receiving your emails have no interest in martial arts or your gym. They didn't sign up to receive your emails, remember?
• As a result of the above two points, your emails are likely to have a very low open and click-through rate. This will hurt your overall email deliverability and could even get your gym's domain blacklisted.

Ethical Ways to Build Your Email List

So, what's the alternative? How can you build a targeted email list of people who are actually interested in your martial arts gym and what you have to offer? Here are a few tips: