Posting messages to e-mail discussion lists is a great way to get free advertising. An e-mail discussion list is a group of people connected together via e-mail that can communicate with one another. When you post a message to a list include your signature file at the end. Your sig file should be no more than 5 to 6 lines. Include an attention getting sentence why they should visit your web site or e-mail your auto responder. Try to select list's that are archived because your signature file will be viewed for years to come.

E-mail discussion lists are highly targeted. There are thousands of discussion lists with thousands of different subjects. You can usually subscribe to these lists by sending an e-mail or by filling out a web form. You want to subscribe to one that would be related to your target audience. If you are selling books about marketing, you would want to post to lists were business people and marketers would congregate.

Before posting to any e-mail discussion list, read the FAQ or rules first. They will tell you what kinds of posts are allowed. Read the messages for a few days before posting your message to see what type of messages are being posted. If the list is archived you could read the older messages. If you want to make sure, you could e-mail the list moderator. Never post messages that are unrelated to the list's subject.

There are many different types of messages you could post to the e-mail discussion list. You could post an informative comment or article that would interest the other list members. Post a question on the discussion list that you would like answered. You could answer another person's question on the list. When you post and answer questions you will become know as an expert and meet other experts on the list.