1. Don't steal (do not buy/rent/sell lists)
There's no other way to look at it—buying, renting, or selling lists is stealing other people's time, and that's just not nice.
In the email world it will also wreck your reputation with ISPs and subscribers, which will make it very difficult to get your emails delivered to the inbox. So, play nice and don't steal. Instead...
2. Work to make new friends (grow your opt-in lists)
It's much better to make new friends instead. Make sure you've got an active acquisition program to get new people to opt-in to your mailing lists. You can start as simply as placing a form on your Web site and then build more involved programs from there.
3. Re-acquaint yourself with old friends (re-activate inactive subscribers)
Sometimes, relationships fade—people stop responding to your emails and you lose their attention. Make a special effort to reconnect this year.
Identify those people who haven't opened or clicked on your emails in the last few months and send them an email to ask them to opt in. Remind them why you're in contact in the first place and give them a reason to pay attention.
Don't be tempted to try to email people who've actively opted out, though; that's again stealing time.
4. Be more interesting (work to create content that interests your subscribers)
With all these new friends, it's important to have something interesting to say. Putting effort into creating interesting content that engages your audience will pay dividends. Not only will you get a better response from your current subscribers, you'll also find you get more referrals.
5. Be less lazy (make sure to test campaigns properly before pressing send)
It can be tempting to get your campaign created as quickly as possible and then just press send. However, haste leads to mistakes, which can be embarrassing. Take a few minutes to thoroughly test your campaigns before sending.
6. Pay attention to other's needs (target campaigns better)
Remember, friendship is about give and take. Make sure you pay attention to your subscribers' needs. Identify what's of most interest to different groups and target your campaigns accordingly.
Your email statistics will provide you with invaluable information here, so use them wisely.
Matt McNeill is the CEO of Sign-up.to (www.sign-up.to).