How can I use e-mail marketing without "spamming" potential customers?

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Marketing and Advertising mentor Jay Conrad Levinson responds:
First, thank you for not wanting to spam anyone. Spam litters cyberspace and should be avoided. But e-mail is a superb way of marketing. Join newsgroups and forums centered around your industry, and collect the names of other participants. Become active in chat rooms discussing your industry, and get the names of other chatters. If you have a Web site, ask people to sign up for your mailing list and add those names to your e-mail list. You'll build your list slowly, but you'll only have names of people who are genuinely interested in hearing from you. That means you'll save money in your marketing by directing it only at people who are serious prospects.