Spam or How To Piss Off Potential Customers
Whoever likes spam raise your hand. I'm not talking about the potted meat product that Monty Python sung about, I'm talking about unsolicited email. Nobody likes it. Don't send it, it won't get you customers but it will get you enemies. If you sent it without an unsubscribe option you are breaking the law and it may get you a fine or worse.
At a show a while back a chiropractor grabbed my business card on her way quickly past my booth. She mentioned who she was but never broke stride to even pretend she was interested in pottery. Then the emails started. To my way of thinking I had paid for her to spam me because I had paid for the business card. I was not happy and will never use her services.
A friend of a friend wanted a web site built and came to me because I was referred by our mutual friend. We chatted for over an hour with a promise of the job. Then nothing. When we met again just recently she said she was having trouble with her email and couldn't contact me anymore (she had before our meeting and she did have my phone number) but another friend is getting into the business of building website and was going to do it for free. Now I'm getting spam from her, she fixed the problem in order to get spam to me about an event she is having and wants me to attend for a fee. Again, no unsubscribe button.
I met a woman at a show I was doing, she was very interested in my work and we started talking. She owns a chocolate shop, I love chocolate so we exchanged email addresses. I got an email from her the other day, she's opening a new shop and wanted to share the news with her network. She did not have an unsubscribe button but told her readers how they could unsubscribe if they no longer wanted to receive email from her. I'll be visiting her shop.
Use Mail Chimp or Constant Contact or some service like that, use a subscribe button and/or a guest book. Let people ask for email from you, they will be your customers.
Check out the gallery page - Future Relics Gallery
At a show a while back a chiropractor grabbed my business card on her way quickly past my booth. She mentioned who she was but never broke stride to even pretend she was interested in pottery. Then the emails started. To my way of thinking I had paid for her to spam me because I had paid for the business card. I was not happy and will never use her services.
A friend of a friend wanted a web site built and came to me because I was referred by our mutual friend. We chatted for over an hour with a promise of the job. Then nothing. When we met again just recently she said she was having trouble with her email and couldn't contact me anymore (she had before our meeting and she did have my phone number) but another friend is getting into the business of building website and was going to do it for free. Now I'm getting spam from her, she fixed the problem in order to get spam to me about an event she is having and wants me to attend for a fee. Again, no unsubscribe button.
I met a woman at a show I was doing, she was very interested in my work and we started talking. She owns a chocolate shop, I love chocolate so we exchanged email addresses. I got an email from her the other day, she's opening a new shop and wanted to share the news with her network. She did not have an unsubscribe button but told her readers how they could unsubscribe if they no longer wanted to receive email from her. I'll be visiting her shop.
Use Mail Chimp or Constant Contact or some service like that, use a subscribe button and/or a guest book. Let people ask for email from you, they will be your customers.
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| From http://mysocialwizard.com/2011/08/are-you-spamming-your-customers/spam-in-heaven/ |
Check out the gallery page - Future Relics Gallery
I forgot to mention that today is the birthday of Spam the potted meat product.
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday Spam.
What a pain in the neck, I do like opt out and unsubscribe buttons, if they don't provide one I reply with the word REMOVE in the subject line and nothing else, usually that works.
ReplyDeleteLately I have been getting newsletters from bloggers who are asking me to sign up to follow them on another services because blogger isn't going to have friend connect tomorrow and I won't be able to follow them that way. I guess our emails are available via blogger. I don't know much about computer stuff so I wonder what all that is about.
I didn't know that friend connect was going away. You can ad blogs you follow to a blog roll or set up google reader. I use both but it seems the blogs in my blog roll get more attention.
DeleteIf you click on the person's name in the comments it takes you to a place where you can get to their blog, so if you lose someone you can find them again via comments.
this is a really good point. I just sent out a group email about the Mudfire show. These are people that have signed a guest book, but you are so right, they should have the option to tell me if they don't want to get my emails. I didn't think about that since they signed the book. Good reminder!
ReplyDeleteHi Tracey,
DeleteI use mail chimp to send out group emails. Even though everyone has asked to receive email from me, and I don't send out frequent emails, some people do unsubscribe. They should be given that option.
Thanks
Good post!!!- as of late I am being added to yahoo group that I don't know how or where they got my okay- seems if you reply to be removed they just put you on more list- I am now blocking them or going on the server to delete and block.
ReplyDeleteThey are worse than the robo calls....
I feel about spam as I do about spam...can live with out it.
Hey Meredith, I've had that happen to me with my yahoo account. You can report the group that added you without your permission and yahoo will handle it.
Deletehmmmph, no kidding! I see a lot of marketers targeting some of my old blog posts because of key words, sheesh!
ReplyDelete