I recently read an article written by Todd Natenberg, who owns a company called TBN Sales Solutions. It was in the local Kansas City newspaper in the business section but what caught my eye was the article’s title “In Defense of E-mail Spam.” Having written a post recently about your online email reputation and how spam can all but destroy it, I naturally was very interested in what Todd had to say.
He believes that the concept of “opting-in” to receive future email solicitations is a flawed system as there are people that will opt-in who are not good candidates and there are those who do not opt-in that may very likely purchase your product in the future. Situations change and therefore the statement of not “opting-in” now may not be valid later. He says, “No business wants to merely send out an email. The goal is to have that email lead to action in the form of purchasing of services (or products).” He raises a valid point that small businesses, who are the foundation of our economy, cannot afford the massive advertising expense to get the word out that they exist, and if you have “no call” lists and anti-spam laws, that you have severely hindered small businesses’ capability to market themselves. They must have the ability to do economical email marketing.
Todd raises good points but here is where I believe his theory isn’t relevant anymore. The traditional forms of blasting out a message to the masses, regardless of whether it is radio, TV, magazines, or …email, is rapidly losing its effectiveness. Saying your message over and over, or louder and louder, hoping to find someone who might be interested only irritates and doesn’t promote the building of a relationship. Seth Godin talks of this in his blog entitled “Bullhorns are Overrated,” where he says it’s probably better to find many people who choose to listen. Asking someone whether they would like to hear from you via email and how often they would like information is one of the best ways of building goodwill and lasting loyalty. This is why the social media pilgrimage has built to such a crescendo.
One other thing I believe Todd omitted. I don’t think we can fully comprehend the physical load on email server hardware if we were to “open the faucet” to unabated email solicitations. The shear volume of “spam” could task these resources to their limit, forcing providers, companies, etc to make investments in additional hardware, the costs of which would ultimately be passed on to you and me as consumers.
What do you think?
Todd Natenberg here. Thanks very much for your comments. I do indeed appreciate them. As you can imagine, my article has certainly created a buzz. I can honestly say that of all the responses (yes, most against) yours is the first that is legitimate, practical and indeed food for thought.
Naturally, I do still respectfully stand by my views. However, your comments about “opening hte faucet” regarding e-mail server hardware is a very legitimate point.
In additin, I thank you for actually reading the article! Your insightful comments clearly indicate while we agree to disagree, you did at least read the article and quoted it factually!
It is very unfortunate that true SPAMMERS- pornography, purchased lists, and scams- get categorized in the same breath as legitimate e-mail marketing with unsubscribe buttons for legitimate prospects (where yes my 4,500 lists is very much people I have met, known, or corresponded with. Purchasing lists should be 100% illegal, I concur.)
We live in a democracy- last time I checked- and unfortunately like so many issues, people go from one extreme to the other. They never pay attention to the most important middle ground- that you and I both refer to.
Thanks again for your insightful comments. Well-appreciated.
Todd
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thx for all these useful info ,will be happy to read more about this soon !
Thats some good basics there, already knew some of that, but you can always learn more. I doubt a “kid” could put together such information as dolphin278 suggested. Maybe he’s just attempting to be “controversial? lol
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Thank you for the recommendation and for your kind words. David
Nice post. Have u heard about the iPad hack? Kinda random but lol why not.
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Thanks
I appreciate you forwarding my article. If there are some other subjects you’d like me to explore, let me know.
Thanks I appreciate the thumbs up.
Thanks for your comments. I use Constant Contact as my email engine and they provide very helpful information about avoiding the potential of being labeled a spammer.
Thanks for the heads up. I was not aware of an IPad hack.
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@Markus I get your drift on where you were going there. I often think of my past and use it as a means to analyze where I am and where I want to get to. Where I struggel is balancing it all out. How do you guys balance things out?
A thoughtful insight and ideas I will use on my blog. You’ve obviously spent a lot of time on this. Congratulations!
I can appreciate someone leaving a post on my blog to get a link or something but what gets to me the most is when what they say has absolutely nothing to do with my blog or the article they are posting on. At least challenge me to figure out if it is spam or not. Akismet does get rid of a lot of them though. I used to get at least 8-10 spam posts a day to the blogs I manage and now maybe one will slip through the cracks and that is one a week if that. Save yourself some time and hassle by using it. I guess my main question is… does it really help the google rankings? It is so unfair if it is where I am adding content to climb up rankings and some guy is spamming everyone to get ahead of me
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