[americandesi333]

What you have mentioned above "Your personal email list is one of the best ways to drive initial traffic and build awareness" only holds true if they are your 'right audience'.

When we first launched a closed beta for my startup LearningJar, we ran an experiment of sending it to my contacts and then to people that had genuinely showed interested. What I quickly found out is that your friends/contacts will not be as engaged because they dont have a need and further more, they will not be honest with you because they want to encourage what you are doing.

On the other hand, 'real' users will give you real feedback that will make a more effective awareness campaign.

Therefore, it means a lot more if a complete stranger finds my product valuable and then promotes it to others than my friends doing it just because they like me.