The digital world is teeming with anonymous marketers. If you're a website owner or participate in online forums or discussion groups, you've likely encountered them. They're the ones who send you unsolicited emails, often starting with a line like, "I got your email address from a list of people interested in... (business opportunities, health products, etc.), so this is not spam." Or they might say, "You're receiving this email because we belong to the same mailing list. Therefore, this is not spam." Sound familiar?
Many of these so-called "Internet Marketers" harvest emails from online forums using software, then spam the people on these lists. They often start their messages with a seemingly innocent sentence, hoping you'll think, "I must have forgotten I subscribed to this mailing list." These deceptive emails, which I refer to as "legal spam," trick recipients into believing they agreed to receive them.
These anonymous marketers also employ a clever legal tactic. They include a line in their emails saying, "To be removed from this list, hit the REPLY button and write REMOVE in the subject line." They then add something like, "According to bill 1234567890, since a way to be removed from the list is included in this message, this is not spam."
Regardless of its legality, this practice is still highly irritating because these are unsolicited emails. Sometimes, when you reply with REMOVE in the subject line, you receive a message from your ISP stating that the message couldn't be delivered because the email address doesn't exist.
While it only takes a few seconds to read and delete these emails, they contribute to a less pleasant internet experience. These tactics, and the people using them, need to be stopped to maintain a high-quality internet.
Some anonymous marketers argue that these emails are free and recipients shouldn't complain. To this, I say, "I despise receiving unsolicited emails, especially when there's no way to be removed from the mailing list."
If you receive these types of emails, be cautious. It's likely someone who "stole" your email address from a forum, your website, etc., and is trying to make a quick buck. They might be advertising a good product or affiliate program, but there are legitimate ways to advertise, such as press releases, free-for-all (FFA) pages, classifieds, e-zine advertisements, etc.
If you're an internet marketer who has built or bought your mailing list from a website, please include the complete source of your list. A simple sentence like, "You're receiving this message because your email address is on my mailing list, which you joined at my website, located at http://www.yourwebsite.com." This allows people to remember where they subscribed.
If you use "legal spam," consider this a warning. We won't tolerate this situation any longer. Stop using this marketing tactic. If you have a good product, a press release is still the best way to get your product known. Have you ever received an unsolicited email from IBM or Microsoft? Of course not, because they use the media for publicity, and they're the ones making a lot of money, not the spammers.
Remember, a simple, complete sentence stating where you got your list can help you build and maintain a trust-based relationship with your members. This way, we can distinguish between the "good" marketers and the "should-think-about-another-way-to-earn-money" marketers.
