I totally agree that buying email lists is the worst thing you can do. People treat that as spam, and you gain far more haters than likers.
I give away genuinely helpful gifts to help build my list of people who want to hear from me. When I show people that they come first and that I'm offering for free something that can really help them solve a problem or get something started . . . then they are happy and want to keep hearing from. It's a win-win situation. You help other people, and at the same time, you are helping yourself. And that's a great feeling