Re: Email Press Releases

From: Baker, Todd (Cahners) <tbaker_at_cahners.com>
Date: Fri 3 Dec 1999 10:31:40 -0500

KAREN DILLON WROTE:
> I'm a small business and I want to send e-mail press
> releases to relevant (and select) sites, ad agencies
> and industry pundits so that I can promote my
> site, our new features and (as appropriate) encourage
> ad sales. So how do I do this so that it's not spam?

WAYNE BROWNING WROTE:
> Build a site, make it worthy by adding
> value added content , list on the search engines barter
> with other sites but please stay out of my email
> folder!! You do not have the right, whether you like it
> personally or not. Do it to the wrong party and you
> mind as well kiss your site, business good bye.

ADRIAN COOPER WROTE:
>Yes - that is absolutely right!

>The anti-spam community are an *extremely* powerful
>group of people consisting of many well known and
>influential network and Internet service and resource
>providers and facilitators, and anything goes in the
>fight against unsolicited email of all types. If you
>want a high profile example - look what happened to
>Sanford Wallace and Cyberpromotions.


And Adrian, please don't pretend that you are the
arbitrator of acceptable and ethical.

What Karen wants to do is perfectly acceptable if it is
done properly. If the sites that are targeted use
press releases for content and Karen's site is relevant
to the targeted sites content, that is exactly what she
should be doing. Of course, if she tries to disguise a
sales pitch as a press release it will go directly to
the recycle bin and it will have been a waste of time.
But if it informative, relevant and well constructed
many editors will welcome it. The editors will not be
offended if it is part of a "mass mailing"- that is how
these things are done in the real (paper) world.

Ask most any editor if unsolicited press releases are
an important part of the information gathering process
and they will tell you it is one of the key components.
I resent the "cyber-terrorist" threats of Adrian and
Wayne who are attempting to force everyone to conform
to their definitions of spam. Their thinly veiled
threats are interfering with my right to conduct
business as I choose by trying to intimidate people
like Karen, keeping her from using perfectly acceptable
business practices. We publish over a 140 magazines
and over 150 web sites so I think I speak with a little
authority on this particular subject.

Of course, if Karen sends a pseudo-press release to
hundreds of(or even a few) sites that aren't relevant
and that don't use that type of information then she is
guilty of spam. Should she be subjected to self
appointed cyber-vigilantes? No, but she should have
the common sense not to do it. Unless I misinterpreted
Karen's post, this type of spam isn't what she is
proposing.

And Adrian, not to start a war with you but...if the
anti-spam forces were really that powerful it wouldn't
be necessary to be having these discussions, would it?


Todd Baker
VP, New Business Development
Cahners Business Information
http://www.cahners.com
 





Received on Fri Dec 03 1999 - 09:31:40 CST