[Gllug] OT: The case against spam

[Rev Simon Rumble]

Thanks for all the quick responses.  Hopefully we can nip this one in
the bud.  Our Marketing people are good but can be a bit
enthusiastic...

Here's the bit where I show you what I'm sending:

As you've already found out, I hate spam. I'm not the only one. Spam
is unsolicited bulk email. That means sending someone an email they
haven't specifically asked for.

Permission Email Marketing

There are ways to use email for marketing that are acceptable. When
people ask to be updated about our product, our company, we can
carefully use this information to attract business.

Permission Marketing
http://www.fastcompany.com/online/14/permission.html

Spam is Bad for Business

* Does <company> want to operate in the same space as "Make Money
  Fast" pyramid scams, "Hot Sluts Live" porno marketing and "Hot
  Russian Ladies Waiting for You" mail-order brides from Russian
  mafiosa?

* We sell a technology-based product, which means that the key
  decision makers are often technical people. Technical people are the
  people with the strongest negative reactions to spam. After dealing
  with spam from our company, how likely are they to give a
  recommendation to buy our product?

* By operating spam, <company>  could easily find itself in spam
  "black holes". This means that email originating from our servers
  will be rejected by large portions of the Internet. This vigilante
  action has become necessary due to the large volumes of spam around
  these days and is used as a punishment against spammers. Do we
  really want mail rejected by our legitimate customers or potential
  customers?

* The Acceptable Usage Policy of our upstream Internet Service
  Provider is likely to prohibit unsolicited bulk email. By spamming
  we could lose our Internet access.

Resources

Information for Businesses
http://www.caube.org.au/business.htm

Don't Spew: A Set of Guidelines for Mass Unsolicited Mailings and
Postings
http://www.faqs.org/rfc/rfc2635.txt

Spam Law for the Internet (European provisions)
http://elj.warwick.ac.uk/jilt/01-3/khong.html#5.1

Don't be a sneak: Make sure your email subscribers really want to hear
from you
http://www.btobonline.com/cgi-bin/article.pl?id=851

Sometimes the messenger Should be Shot: Building a Spam-Free Email
Marketing Program
http://www.messagemedia.com/rc/spam.PDF

The Controbersy Surrounding Negative Option Opt-Out
http://www.clickz.com/em_mkt/opt/article.php/934761

-- 
Rev Simon Rumble <simon at rumble.net>
www.rumble.net

HTML's a cheap whore. Treating her with respect is possible,
and even preferable, because once upon a time she was a
beautiful and virginal format, but you shouldn't expect too
much of her at this point."

- Mark "Kamikaze" Hughes

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