SPAM Free Email

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My Feelings towards SPAM

I DESPISE spam and those that send it (spammers) with a passion. I, personally, tend to receive 100+ emails a day and only about 15-20 are relevant! So, I actively use our spam filtering service and love it --cuts back on spam by about 90%. I feel the pain... believe me.

Definition of SPAM

Spam is:

• spam ( P ) Pronunciation Key (spam)
  n. Unsolicited e-mail, often of a commercial nature, sent indiscriminately to multiple mailing lists, individuals, or newsgroups; junk e-mail.

Everyone SPAMS Sometimes!

Have you ever spammed anyone? How about this: Have you ever sent unsolicited email? I'd be hard pressed to believe you, if you said, "no." The reason why is that the "unsolicited" part of the definition is where it gets "sticky."

For instance, if you've ever gone to a website and thought, "let's go to the contact page, get an email address, and see if we can form a partnership or see if our two businesses can benefit from each other." Well, that's a legitimate enough thought, but sending an email to an account gathered off of a site is still considered "unsolicited."

Why is this? Because spam has become such a hated thing that the Internet Authorities have begun to seriously crack down on spammers -and so they should. But, the problem is that innocent people get caught in the mix.

The email sent from a contact page (if not sent within an online form) is "unsolicited" in that -even though their site is for general perusal and information- they did not specifically "solicit" to do business with you. I know, I know... it's a little bit of double-speak.

They may "want" to do business with you and use their website to help you find them. However, taking advantage of that site could still be misconstrued!

Let me give you an outrageous example that I have seen happen before:

1. Website set up for business years before
2. Visitor goes to website, looks around, goes to contact page and submits a question
   --Their question sounded kind of like a solicitation
3. The websites' webmaster only created a basic form that didn't identify that the email came from their own website
4. The website owners do not realize that the form submission came from their own site
5. They also think that this email is trying to sell them something -as their form doesn't make it clear for them
6. They report the email as spam because they do not have all the facts
7. User gets burned -without being able to argue!

Don't think this is too outrageous. Like I said, I have seen it happen to a friend of mine before!

A Few Key Things NOT to do

1. Never ever, ever, ever "harvest" emails and then mass-email them. Period. Don't do it.
   
   I actually had one of my hosting customers use Arelis Link Managers' "harvesting" feature recently. It's ok --in my opinion-- to collect emails this way, but ONLY if you seriously take the time to write one individually with exact, undeniable proof that you visited their website and know everything that they are about!
   
   This particular hosting customer, however, used Arelis to "harvest" thousands of emails off of the Internet; and then he committed the unpardonable sin. He mass-mailed a link exchange request to every one of those emails he had collected.
   
   You can only imagine how many SPAM complaints we received as a result (before our automated system shut down his email ability).
   
   He thought it was ok because he wasn't selling anything --he was only asking for a link. But, the fact of the matter is that if you send an email and that person doesn't think it's relevant or that you took the time to justify it's relevance; then you're out of luck. So, what happened to our hosting customer?
   
   Well, I was forced to terminate his account... and, this was after I had invested significant time in helping him understand marketing and warning him to never ever spam and to read my article on spamming. Obviously, he didn't listen very well. Now, he has to try to find hosting elsewhere.
   
   
2. Never, ever (unless it's an auto-responder and you can prove they opted-in) put a tagline at the bottom of your email that says something like:
   
   "This is the only email you'll receive from us, you do not need to opt-out"
   "This is not spam"
   "I wrote this email specifically for you and it is not spam"
   
   These are dead-giveaways, and please don't be fooled --this IS SPAM. Some people think it's ok if they tell you that you won't receive another email. So what?! THAT FIRST EMAIL WAS SPAM! So, don't do it. Period.
   
   
3. Never, ever "buy" "spam-free" leads from anyone. If you do buy from a "lead vendor", be extremely careful! This should be obvious when it comes to the 1 million emails for $100 scam. But, it also applies to buying targeted MLM-type leads from lead vendors.
   
   There are TONS of cases where people have purchased leads and then received SPAM complaints. You better believe that more than not; those people had their hosting cancelled. And, even IF they were able to get their money back (doubtful); that pales in comparison to having to find another host and hope THEY do not find out you SPAMMED!
   
   If you ever do consider "buying leads", my recommendation is to call each lead first (if you also get the phone number). At a minimum, I recommend that your first email to them be a request permission or opt-in request email. In other words, tell them where you bought their lead, what you offer, and ask them to confirm that they want to be on your list. This will eliminate nearly 20%-70% of your leads, but you won't get in trouble!

CONCLUSION

So, be cautious when sending emails --a single email can get you in trouble! The best way to go about contacting companies for issues not directly related to what they are expecting from you is to email a request for permission to email the appropriate person.

In other words, send an email stating no more than "I would like to speak to or email someone within your organization that could handle a link exchange request. If interested, please reply with your permission and any relevant information." However, even this is risky and can be reported as spam.

What to do then? The best method is always to call. Find a number on the website and pick up the phone. If they don't list a phone number, move on. Speaking to a live person may not get your goal accomplished, but it won't get you blacklisted on the Internet either!

The exception to this rule is when you can easily justify that your email intended to give them your business. What I mean by that is that your email clearly states you would like something from them and will be willing to pay them for it. This is not a spam to try to get something for nothing; it can easily be proved to be a request to do what that company wants --generate a new sale with you.

For instance, in the linking example, you can send a link email to a high-ranking site and ask them for a link. Let them know that you would be willing to pay a "reasonable fee" for their time in creating the link OR you would be willing to place a reciprocal link on your site to theirs.

Some sites will not link to you if your site traffic or your link popularity is not near to their ranking. So, in that case, you would probably have to pay them for the link. But, in any case, the point is that an email with an offer to pay is better because it should get a response, accomplish your goal, and best of all --generate excitement by the other party because they may earn your business!

Cheers,

Wesley

Internet Marketing Home

For excellent info on exchanging links, visit MarketingHwy's Link Exchange Guide

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Link Explore Review - Link Exchange

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Wesley Tomas is a leading authority on Internet Marketing. His knowledge and successful execution of marketing tactics, strategy, and secrets are evident by his ability to have built numerous online businesses from the ground-floor and up through successful sale. Let him share his experiences, offer free support, numerous product reviews, and recommend tested, ground-floor opportunities.
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