There is a war raging upon the Internet between those who support free enterprise and those who do not want to get unsolicited commercial email (UCE) aka spam. The problem is that all unsolicited email is not spam. This is because people often post their email addresses upon the Internet and hence solicit replies, business correspondence, inquiry or replies from the general public.
Certainly unsolicited email is a problem from those promoting sexually explicit, adult sites or fraudulent schemes or scams related to identity theft, pyramid scheme type businesses or mass marketers using automated systems to send out millions upon millions of bothersome emails. But there are plenty of legitimate businesses upon the Internet run by honest people just trying to make money legally. Unfortunately spammers have spoiled the broth and made it difficult for honest business men and women to use the Internet to help generate an income.
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion with regard to unsolicited commercial email and free enterprise. Now Big Brother has stepped in and made it illegal to send spam. But the problem is that all email is not spam. Just because an email is commercial in nature does not make it spam. By definition spam is a form of bulk commercial email that is so massive, so voluminous in its dissemination, that it drowns out all other email and so clogs the system.
The home business entrepreneur must be allowed to legally contact other people about products or services in order to conduct business. How than can this be done without such offers being confused as spam?
First of all it is necessary to distinguish between spam, or unsolicited commercial email, and email which people op in to be received. The later type of email is in reply to offers for a product or service. If someone replies to an offer, survey, or other form of solicitation, and agrees that they may be sent information about a product or service, then email sent to them is certainly not unsolicited; rather, it is requested information. Therefore the first requirement in marketing using email is to always make an offer or advertisement in a public forum which permits advertising, and send email replies only to those individuals who request additional information.
What about visiting commercial web sites and collecting email addresses, then sending commercial offers? Well, strictly speaking this is not spam because when someone post an email address they are requesting to be contacted. However, you never know how people are going to react to a particular solicitation and some people may consider any commercial email spam, even though they post their email address upon the Internet and so solicit email replies.
Therefore it is a good idea, and perhaps in keeping with the law, to always include an reply address that people can use to opt out of receiving commercial offers. In this way you politely enable everyone to request that they do not receive material that does not interest them. Thus everyone is kept happy.
Recently I sent out emails about various promotions. This was at the time Pope John Paul II died. One of my promotions included positive focus designs related to the Pope's death and encouraged people to love the Pope (See I (Heart) The Pope and God Bless The Pope) and another related to promotion of $$$THE MALL$$$ and included an offer for promotional material. See below:
Well, as it turned out emails about $$$THE MALL$$$ were sent to religious leaders when they were meant to be sent promotions related to the Pope. Of course someone complained to their service provider and they in turn sent complaints of getting spammed, blocked my domain and probably took other action to avoid being spammed in the future. Not realizing what had happened I fired back a protest calling for free enterprise and freedom of speech on the net, thinking someone was critical of my sympathy for the Pope.
Obviously such disputes over spam are a waste of time and energy and do not help market one's products or services. To avoid such conflicts and disputes in the future, I recommend always being sure to include a short op-out note at the end of all emails which relate marketing a product or service upon the Internet. In fact this is also a recommendation of the FTC to avoid sending unsolicited email.
What has apparently happened is that when BIG BROTHER passed an anti spam law to stop the profusion of spam by the mega spammers, everyone is now hollering fowl play when any private individual sends even a few emails related to free enterprise or marketing upon the net. In the mean time, the mega spammers have simply ignored Uncle Sam, given they operate off shore and are not obliged to respect the laws of the United States. Consequently regulations meant to help reduce spam have only hurt small business entrepreneurs.
This all relates to how $$$THE MALL$$$ came into being in the first place. $$$THE MALL$$$ is a virtual shopping extravaganza, a place people can go to shop at over 260 affiliate corporations. By usage of search engines and op-in type advertising where people request to get email regarding products and services, $$$THE MALL$$$ is a spam free enterprise zone. Hence the design "Support Free Enterprise Just Say No To Spam" was an outgrowth of and accidental email sent to the wrong people.
This demonstrates how to turn mistakes into profit. As a long time advocate of free enterprise and one who does not like spam anymore than the next person, now I am leading a campaign to support free enterprise while at the same time promoting the slogan "Just say no to spam!"
I hope others will join me in this effort to $$$THE MALL$$$ a no spam zone and extend that zone over the Internet through "Just Say No To Spam!" promotional design items.
Thank you for taking the time to learn how to avoid spam. Please help support free enterprise upon the Internet!
TAL
Founder of MHBNet
Creator of THINK POSITIVE! and The Money Tree
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