NONE: Re: ONLINE-ADS>> e-mail marketing the right way
Re: ONLINE-ADS>> e-mail marketing the right way
Linda S. Hammer (SEEKER_at_packet.net)
Wed, 20 Aug 1997 18:06:55 -0400
> Marco Scheluchin wrote on August 17th:
<snip> top part.
about something that you are interested in is NOT spam.
>
> That is not a true statement for many Internet users. I consider all
>unsolicited fax or email to be spam!
--I personally am NOT a spam advocate, I receive more than enough
emails from people needing my help, BUT, there are exceptions. My site
helps people find missing friends and relatives, even birth parents with
nothing more than a date of birth.
When I first began, I went to AOL, and Prodigy and went to the places
where people were looking for people and put messages out there on
bulletin boards inviting folks to visit my site, to find out if someone
was perhaps looking for them, or allowing them to post as many messages
- for free - looking for their friends and missing family messages.
Which isn't spam, but I also read some of their messages where they
seemed like they were desperately looking for someone and sent many of
them messages about my site. The response was more than overwhelming -
and still is from people thanking me about my site. If you should have
time, please visit my Sought & Found section. I am talking about ages
ranging from 90 down to 19. For a zillion different reasons ranging
from military people wanting to get reunited, to a person who lost a
spouse and wondered, "what ever happened to...", to people trying to
probate a will and are looking for beneficiaries.
It is just like an invention I had once (a snack plate with an indention
in the middle for a glass, so you can eat and drink at cocktail parties
- which I no longer have), the stores bought it, but put it in the most
rediculous places - on top of wine bottles. People weren't walking in
stores wondering if the Parti Plate had been invented yet. However,
that was a product that I was receiving money for, so, yes, if I put a
message in your mailbox about that, I would certainly consider it
spamming. But I don't have anything to sell now, so I question the
harshness of your statement.
Lawyers may put messages on my site for people they are looking for to
probate a will (there is a lawyer in this group who adamentely agrees
with you concerning spamming, and at his "suggestion" I did not send
probate lawyers a promotional message about The Seeker.)
My point to all of this is that there is no black and white answer. To
say you would not do business with someone who could possibly help you,
but because they sent an uninvited message to you is a bit narrow minded
- in my humble opinion. I may only read one line of an unsolicited ad,
but that delete key is right at my finger tips. I am an entrepreneur
from the word go, and I am always interested in new - whatevers. Not
get rich quick schemes. And, although I have not once received an
advertisement that I could use or would have anything to do with in this
lifetime, I could never generalize that I would "never" buy a product
from a person who spammed me, nor would I tell others "not to have
anything to do with them".
>
> Yes, there are a lot of people on the 'Net who agree that
> if they want the product it isn't spam. But there are a lot
> like me.
--I would throw the percentages against you on this statement. But
then, I am speaking of my site alone. I am not "over generalizing".
Think about it, if you were an invalid, and someone sent you an e-mail
about a revolutionary whatever-will-fix-whatever-is-wrong-with-you,
would you really tell everyone you know to stay away from them?
The question is, is it worth alienating people like me, when it is so
easy to do it right!
--Right. hmmm Well, as I said, I don't have anything to sell - other
than ad space, which is what theoreticaly pays for my site. Where does
"right" fit in when I ONLY target people who want to be helped? Sure, I
use the newsgroups, etc., but when I see so many people looking for
people, I can't help sending them a note to visit my site. I really
hate it when people tell me that they found where their missing person
was - they died the prior month. Too late, they tell me, and they wish
they "would have known about The Seeker sooner".
--
Linda S. Hammer
The Seeker, Reuniting America!
http://www.the-seeker.com
sponsor_at_the-seeker.com
Find all your missing friends, relatives, classmates, military pals,
heirs & beneficiaries, birth parents, adopted child - and see who is
already looking for you right now in The Seeker!
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