I was part of a discussion group the other week on LinkedIn where a member was asking people to take a short survey about blogs and bloggers, which I completed and then posted my thanks for running the survey, asked to hear the results and a, oh by the way if you want to check out my blog, surf over to… right here – “The Naked Idea“.
Of course, other followed suit by posting their names and blog addresses when suddenly a comment popped up telling all of us to stop spamming and why were people so intent on spamming everyone and everything and the whole world is crashing down, oh my…
His argument, as flawed in many ways as it was, circled around the idea that if I send you an email telling you that you must read my blog, and you never asked for it, then I am a spammer. (Actually his argument was that if a company sends promotional material to him that he didn’t ask for, then they are spamming him – which in my mind equals almost all advertising and marketing as a type of spam.)
I didn’t care for his approach but the point did strike a chord. It was the point of discussion a few nights later over a few beers alongside a few local creatives.
Every month, I send out an email to a number of colleagues. I have two lists I use. The first list is made up of current friends, colleagues and current clients. The second are people who maybe I’ve only done a project or two or who I think may be interested in my content. And it dawned on me – part way into my second pint – ‘I am a spammer…’
I send this email out and most of them have never asked for it. I do have a opt out option at the end, and in the six months I have been doing it have only had one person opt out but still… I was essentially spamming them wasn’t I? (I can hear your heads nodding from here…)
But let’s think about this.
What are we doing when we send out a prospect mailing? It’s not “spam” because it’s not electronic. But we are sending our content to someone who doesn’t necessarily want it although we HOPE they do… What about email? I’m sure some of the people you email have opt’d in somewhere down the line right? But unless they have opt’d in directly with you – you have to be concerned about how they might receive your message…
My friend Chris Lombardo sent me this definition of spam:
The word “Spam” as applied to Email means Unsolicited Bulk Email (”UBE”).
Unsolicited means that the Recipient has not granted verifiable permission for the message to be sent. Bulk means that the message is sent as part of a larger collection of messages, all having substantively identical content.
A message is Spam only if it is both Unsolicited and Bulk.
- Unsolicited Email is normal email (examples: first contact enquiries, job enquiries, sales enquiries)
- Bulk Email is normal email (examples: subscriber newsletters, customer communications, discussion lists)
It was the icing on the cake for me.
All I was trying to do was share the work I am doing, or the resources I come across with an audience who might care… but I shall spam no more!
After I hit the “publish” button I intend on spamming my email list once more begging for forgiveness and telling them to just hit the subscribe button and if they don’t I promise to not bug them again. And I ask the same of you – if you like some of my content, please just enter in your email and subscribe.
My name is John… and I am a spammer… and I am sorry.
Here is another wrinkle on the spamming issue.
Spamming, as unsolicited advertising/promotion, has been around since the dawn of commerce and is not going away. But as I tell my students, junk mail (spam) is only the advertising that doesn’t connect with you. When content connects it’s valuable to us.
The distinction for solicitors is between the various portals that are now available. I still get spammed through my mailbox, spammed when I ride the streetcar and spammed when I answer my phone. But it occurs to me that while there are restrictions on outdoor advertising, phone solicitation is annoying but easy to avoid, and e-mail advertising is so restricted that I have to constantly check my server for junked client e-mails, my mail slot is still perfectly accessible to direct mail. Sure, it fills up my blue box, but I check through every piece just in case there is something valuable there. I can check it quickly, at my leisure and it doesn’t clog up my communications systems. It still costs money to produce, so there is some filtering of content, unlike e-mail solicitation.
I know that print media is supposed to be dead, but I suspect that for the money, it is still the most effective form of solicitation. This is especially true for non-profits who can’t benefit from the web which is really search driven and therefore product oriented.
A very timely topic.
Fantastic comments Joanne… I decided pretty quickly that I couldn’t be the one to decide if my content connected with the people I emailed. Just because we work in the same industry wasn’t a good enough reason- but this way – I know those who do opt in really do appreciate it… thanks again for coming by – and opting in!
John… My idea of spam is shit I don’t want. (And I’d very much like to know who’s spreading the word that my penis is a fraction of normal size.) Your stuff I like. Thank you. Sign me up. — Tom
I’ve been studying internet marketing (IM)for the past few years now and the biggest red flag for anyone who is making their living online is spam.
Most IMers use autoresponders whereby emails are automatically sent out on a pre-determined schedule. Most of these autoresponder companies (there are some exceptions) will not send out ANY mail for you unless your subscribers have DOUBLE opted-in, meaning that when they subscribe to your content they will then need to re-confirm via ANOTHER email that they do indeed want your emails.
In case there’s a spam complaint, there will be a trail of confirmed subscription.
Legit marketers will follow the Can-Spam Act to the letter because the last thing they want is to be shut down and not be able to mail to their lists which can easily number into the hundreds of thousands.
Another important element is to have a clearly labelled Unsubscribe link on every email that goes out.
So, bottom line is that when it comes to online marketing, spam is a BIG deal.
Rainer
Thanks for signing up Tom – glad to have you back aboard!
I agree Rainer… some people (even my own wife!) have accused me of over-reacting but I take these sorts of things pretty seriously… And I can’t say it’s wrong for some companies to do it but not mine because it is me… I will likely loose a LOT of eyeballs because people will not actually subscribe, but now I know those of you who do really enjoy the content – so – it’s all good…