The best email list to start with
If you need an email list, I would recommend mailchimp.com. Yes, there is a learning curve, but that's because there are a lot of options available. Since Mailchimp is free for up to 2,000 subscribers and up to 12,000 emails per month, Mailchimp is a great option. Mailchimp, does get a little pricey once you progress past the free limits.
If you've purchased the Affordable Website Package with 2slick.com, an email list is included for up to 5000 emails a month and 5000 subscribers.
The biggest hurdle you will face when it comes to emailing lists is getting people to subscribe. If you don't actually offer anything of value, and you simply want to send people affiliate product listing and hope they'll buy, chances are they will not subscribe. There're a lot of online merchants out there trying to spam-sell their way to profits, and it doesn't work. Stores that offer product people genuinely want, have a steady rate of eager subscribers waiting for yearly sales and new-product notifications.
You can easily export your email list into a more affordable service at a later date.
Alternative to email lists
An alternative to email lists is Facebook. People are much more eager to let you add then as a Facebook friend then to an email list. You can easily add new friends (10/day) and present a product for sale on your personal Facebook profile timeline (1/month). Adding new friends to Facebook over 10 per day will get you temporarily banned. Trying to sell more than one product per month on your Facebook timeline will make it too obvious that you're using Facebook to spam. Try to look as natural as possible. Adding friends of friends is the fastest way to build up to the Facebook friend max limit of 5000 per account.
