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You Sending Legitimate Email?
By Clifford Kurtzman President, Tenagra
Corp.
One of the most successful Internet marketing
techniques that we often recommend to clients
is to include a sign-up form on their Web
site to allow their visitors to register
for an email newsletter. Tenagra sends one
out every two months or so and we find it
to be both an extremely productive and inexpensive
way to stay in the mindshare of current
and potential clients along with other users
of our Web site. This technique is often
called "opt-in email marketing" because
each person joining the mailing list "opts"
to do so themselves. Mailing lists can be
so successful that we sometimes suggest
to our clients that they put at least as
much attention into their newsletters as
they do in their Web site.
But problems can develop when people cross
the line from email marketing into "spamming."
There is no doubt that the spam situation
is getting unmanageable, which requires
that you must be extremely careful in how
you build your emailing lists. I frequently
receive 20-40 spam messages a day (among
the 300 or so other emails I receive), and
just sorting through it to read my real
email is a significant annoyance.
Tenagra has a policy of never buying a product
or service from companies that send out
spam, and we urge you to use the same policy.
An organization or individual that sends
you spam demonstrates that they are not
a reputable party to do business with.
People will often classify any of the
following five categories as spam:
1) Unsolicited advertisements distributed
via email (even if not mass emailed).
2) An unsolicited mass emailing (whether
commercial or not).
3) An out-of-context mail list, newsgroup
or forum posting. (For example, if we used
this list to send you an ad for long distance
phone service, you might call it spam because
it is out of context, even though you signed
up for this list.)
4) Using a mail list or newsgroup or forum
in a manner that is outside of the volume
or frequency that readers have signed up
for. (For example, if we started sending
you 100K of stuff through this newsletter
distribution on a daily basis, you might
consider that to be spam too.)
5) Putting someone on a mailing list without
their consent and requiring them to "opt-out."
Spam often seems even worse when it comes
from someone you know and have given your
trust. There are few things more annoying
and disappointing than meeting someone or
trading email correspondence with someone,
only to find that they have decided to spam
you by placing you on their mailing list
without your request. It sends a message
to you loud and clear that they do not have
enough respect for you to let you decide
yourself whether or not you want to be placed
on their mailing list.
It doesn't matter if the sender tells the
recipient how to get off the list -- it
is still spam if sent in an opt-out manner.
There are three main reasons why:
1) Many people feel uncomfortable responding
to such unsubscribe instructions on a spam
list, knowing that many spammers use unsubscribe
requests simply as a signal to confirm that
the recipient is reading the email and should
therefore be sent even more spam.
2) Some recipients have many email aliases
under different domain names, and won't
know which one they have been involuntarily
subscribed to the list under.
3) It is unfair to the recipient, too, for
them to have to spend their time removing
themselves from a mailing list that they
never wanted to be on in the first place.
Many people and businesses bill for their
time, and making these people waste their
time trying to get off a list that they
did not subscribe to is essentially the
same as stealing from them.
Someone who adds others to their mailing
list without first getting their permission
may not quite be in the same category as
the adult-oriented services and MLMers that
are known for sending spam. However, each
time they send out an email to their list,
those recipients who were subscribed involuntarily
will think of the sender as rude for not
having first asked them whether or not they
wanted to be on the list. The sender has
transformed their newsletter from being
an opportunity for them to reinforce their
mindshare in a positive way, into a negative
experience. All because they were too lazy
to simply ask if the recipient wanted to
get onto their list in the first place.
The bottom line is that if you want to add
someone to your mailing list that has not
subscribed themselves, you should always
ask them first (with a polite message that
is individually emailed) before adding them
to your list. Most people that you have
a business relationship with will say yes
if you offer them something of interest.
But if they say no or don't reply, then
leave them off your list and leave your
reputation intact!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Clifford Kurtzman is president of the Tenagra
Corporation. This column first appeared
in the Tenagra Corporation's Newsletter,
which you can sign up for at http://www.tenagra.com/
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