Re: legitimate unsolicited commercial e-mail vs spam

From: Joyce Schwarz <Maydayint_at_aol.com>
Date: Fri 5 Nov 1999 21:26:10 EST

DAVID ROSS WROTE:
> What I am thinking of is really more of a b2b situation.
> E.g. where the owner of WebSite A (which makes widgets)
> invests the time and energy in actually researching, finding
> and visiting Websites B, C & D (online widget retailers),
> and wants to sell them A's widgets. A is not harvesting
> random e-mail addresses (or buying them from such a
> harvester). Yet an unsolicited email to B, C & D proposing
> a business relationship would be, as Frank points out, by a
> strict definition, spam.

Hi, I think this guy has brought up a great point. I do a
lot of business development using email. Most people I've
met at conferences (or in discussion groups sometimes :)
and I send them emails personally. I hate mass emails or
carbon copies or seeing my name on someone's list with the
full print out though. I'm wondering though if there isn't
room for some other kind of "email" marking system ie
Priority mail or FedEx etc-- where you know that the email
is legit not some xrated or some spam house but someone who
is interested in doing business with you or a new
technology that you might be interested in taking a look at
the website. Any ideas? We're putting up a technology mall
on maydayinterative.com and want to promote it to have
people look at cool technologies. We have our own 20,000
VIP mailing list of top execs and producers we've met and
know but there are probably another 20,000 who might
benefit from a "virtual stroll" through the mall when it is
done. We can use offline promotion ie postcards etc...and
we can do online PR but there must be much more than can be
done that is not even invented yet?? The spam I hate the
most is the xrated stuff...and the multilevel marketing -
the rest I could deal with because every now and then there
is something interesting...Also how do you women out there
feel about opening up email that does not appear to be
xrated and then is?? I find nothing more embarrassing --
it's like an obscene phone call. There MUST be some way to
regulate that -- I suppose I could put my own filter on.

Joyce Schwarz, JCOM,
www.joycecom.com 310-822-3119,
marketing, sponsorships and investments for
new media leaders.....




Received on Fri Nov 05 1999 - 20:26:10 CST