Re: Dealing with Spam, and the genius of ADBUMb

From: Rob Charles <rob_at_list-universe.com>
Date: Mon 05 Aug 2002 13:50:48 -0500

Hi All,

I would have to say that even though I find Pesach very amusing, and I
enjoy reading his comments, both on this discussion list, and inside of Ad
Bumb, I disagree with him to a point about this whole issue of SPAM.

There is a clear and concise difference between permission based marketing,
and SPAM. If everyone engaged in only confirmed opt-in practices, and only
utilized their own site as a way to build their subscriber bases, we would
not have near the problems we do today. I understand that getting people
to do that is an exercise in futility however, so there has to be an
education process that needs to take place on proper ways to build your list.

Co-Registration is a tool that many list owners are using, including Pesach
from the sounds of it. I think it can be a great tool if done in the right
way. If you are working with companies that might add people to your list,
without them opting in, fire them. A great way to ensure that you are
getting opt-in data only, and help to ensure that you will not receive spam
complaints if you are utilizing co-registration as a tool to build your
list, is to make sure the company that you are running your co-registration
campaign through will back up their data, by guaranteeing the opt-in
process. At List-Universe, if any of our clients challenge us on a spam
complaint, and we cannot supply them with the time and date stamp, IP
address, and site of origin proving the opt-in process, their campaign is
free. This is not full proof, but our clients receive very few spam
complaints if any, as a result of the campaigns they run through us.

Another way to cut down on spam complaints if you are utilizing
co-registration is to make sure all new subscribers receive an
auto-responder that you can customize once they sign up with unsubscribe
directions in case they signed up in error, or someone else signed them up,
etc. This is also a great way to get in front of your new subscriber in
advance of sending them their first email.

It is easy to rationalize, but the fact of the matter is that spam is a bad
thing, and there are ways to reduce the amount of spam that we all receive
and send by taking a few of these aforementioned steps.

Many people purchase co-registration on price, and if you do that, you can
get yourself into trouble. If you are getting opt-in names for a 5-10
cents a piece, there is a good chance they are not opt-in. Unfortunately,
there are a lot of dishonest people, and companies that will tell you that
you are getting one thing, and deliver something entirely
different. Hopefully, those companies will get weeded out soon, but I am
not holding my breath. You just have to know what you are looking for when
you make your purchase, and have a little education behind you. If not, it
is very easy to get taken to the cleaners, and end up purchasing a bushel
basket full of spam addresses.

Rob Charles
VP of Sales
http://List-Universe.com




Received on Mon Aug 05 2002 - 13:50:48 CDT