Many people wonder how lists are generated and whether they are harvested using honest methods. In today’s age and time of lawsuits and “do not call lists”, list providers have to be very careful in the ways they collect list data. They employ several strategies to collect relevant information that helps business owners market their product to consumers.

But before we look into how it is done, let us look at the two distinctive ways in which lists can be bought. For starters these are lists specifically targeted to the consumer market. Consumers are people that are at home. A business to business list however targets people at their workplace. Business lists are normally gathered with one or several of the following methods:

- Response lists are gathered from other types of list where the individual has demonstrated an interest in receiving further marketing offers
- Subscriber lists are normally sourced from magazine and trade journal subscriptions
- Compiled lists are a direct result of research in relations to the market at hand
- In-House lists are normally sourced from a companies own database
- Exhibition lists are collected when trade exhibition attendees register
- Merged lists are made up of several lists depending on factors and stipulations
- Cold lists have no direct affinity with the list owner

Consumer lists on the opposite are sourced via the following methods:

- Surveys
- Product consumption
- Competitions
- Telemarketing
- and more

All relevant details are collected via opt in data and then gathered into lists by the list owner.
To determine which list you will need, you have to look at what your target market has in common. Do they all live in the same area, do they work in the same industry and so on. This will help your list broker to recommend the perfect list to you in order to get the best possible results.

List brokers also have security systems in place in which you can only use the list you rent once. Sometimes leads as list names are called are also sold 3 times to 3 different clients, depending on the industry. This is often the case in home based business list providers.

Lists are particularly effective for new website owners who want to fast track their business. Testing is essential when it comes to list marketing and many providers offer a small test list for a minimal fee. Once you are certain that you hit the nail on the head, you can roll out the big list for maximum conversions.