Before purchasing or compiling mail lists, there are several steps that should be taken and checks that need to be performed, according to Business 2 Community.

First, the list you need may already be in existence - it's just a matter of finding it.

"I've found lists for everything, including … recent filers of bankruptcy, U.S. businesses, U.S. consumers, new homeowners, religious organizations, healthcare providers and new business owners," writes marketing consultant Ryan Turner for the media outlet. "You can further narrow down those lists by random traits such as marital status, gender, hobbies and interests, geographic region, age and income ranges, religion, veteran status and even voter registration."

If you do come across a list that seems like it's what you're looking for, exercise caution before using it as a basis for marketing campaigns. The data may be inaccurate or out of date, so it's important to determine the source of the list, how it was compiled, whether it's been updated since and, if so, how long ago.

For marketers looking to put together their own customer relational databases, ThinkSmart offers tools that can help immensely by providing the means to translate the harvested information into more personalized marketing efforts that generate greater ROI.