Pascal To my knowledge, the CAN-SPAM Act makes it rather clear that any commercial email should NOT be sent without the permission of the recipient. Now, this provision has been re-interpreted many times by different people. But the reality is that sending an email with advertising would be considered a commercial email. So unless the sender has the recipients permission to contact them via email, it could be considered as spam. The biggest danger that one would risk by doing so is tarnishing their reputation and relationships with the recipient/prospect themselves before they even get started into a relationship. You see, in the end, it is the customer who determines what is spam and what isn't.
Now, firstly, we'd need to understand where the email address was acquired. If they are harvested e-mail addresses, gathered without permission from the Internet, the mailing will most certainly be identified as spam. There is some difference between B2C and B2B regarding unsolicited contacts. If it is a rented list, and if the source of the rented list is trust-worthy, we might be able to assume that the contacts on that list gave permission (perhaps unknowingly) to the list provider to share their information with related providers. In this case, I would recommend that you identify early in your initial message where you got their email address from and remind them that they gave their permission to be contacted. In that case, you might send an initial email asking them to confirm (double opt-in) their desire to receive information (a monthly newsletter) from your company. In that email, you should communicate exactly what it is that you are asking them to subscribe to. What frequency it will arrive in the inbox and what the contents will be. This will give them the information they need to determine if your content and frequency is relevant to them. If it is an in-house list that you grew organically over time, we can assume that they provided their email address to you for a reason - to be contacted by you at some point. In this case, I would still recommend that you send an introductory email, explaining that they provided their email address to you at such and such a date, offer them the option to opt-in to your newsletter (describing again its contents and frequency). Also, you should certainly let them know that if they do not opt in, you will strike them from your list. This ensures that they must confirm their desire to be on the mailing list using double-opt in. Using double opt-in ensures that the people on your resulting list are those who are interested in your content. Lists with lower numbers but higher relevance are much more effective in terms of conversion. Each subsequent newsletter sent to your opt-in list should also contain an opt-out link, as we cannot assume that people interested now will be later. Each recipient of email has the right to request to opt-out. Anyone who uses email as a content delivery vehicle should make that easy for them to do. Here are some articles that I have put together on the GroupMail site that deal with email subscriptions, CAN-SPAM and permission email. How to Build Effective Email Subscription Lists BUILDING A SUBSCRIBER LIST IS IMPORTANT for anyone using email to communicate with customers. But compiling an effective list is even more important. Online consumers demand relevance, so list builders must focus on building large, highly-relevant lists rather than just gathering a bunch of email addresses. 3 Effective Ways to Establish Trusting Email Subscriber Relationships FACE IT - we live in a world full of information and growing distrust. Just take a look at the email publishing industry. There are several hundred thousand email newsletters. We are also aware of the problems with SPAM and Internet fraud. For these and many other reasons, people are reluctant to give their email address or personal information to publishers. Permission Email: 5 Key Requirements There is a lot of confusion about who we can send email to these days. Since the emergence of the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act of 2003 (CAN-SPAM), which became public law in December, 2003, the lines have only become more blurred. Increasing Newsletter Subscriptions: What’s in it for Them? Incentives and contests are a great way to get new members for your web site or email newsletter. Providing incentives and running contests are both effective ways to increase your subscription rate. Email Subscriptions: Your Website is Your Newsletters Best Friend Most people know that diamonds are girls best friend. Well, it is also true that websites are a newsletters best friend! You can’t have a great email newsletter without a great web site. At least it is very difficult. Now, should you report it? As far as profiting from nothing - you could technically say that most professional bloggers do this. In fact, if they are providing content that is relevant to someone, they are actually providing a service. Content creation and distribution is the new monetization strategy in this web 2.0 world. There's no such thing as money for nothing - isn't that what ZZ Top said? Sometimes, I think that we are a bit oversensitive about the whole SPAM thing - you could simply filter the address on your own email client so that you don't receive future messages from that sender. If the same message continues to be sent via zombies, then it is more than likely a serious spamming campaign and you might consider reporting it to the 'authorities'. Hope this helps Tom Tom O'Leary Editor, The Messaging Times web: http://www.messagingtimes.com lens: http://www.squidoo.com/scribe ----- Original Message ----- From: Pascal Belloncle To: [email protected] Sent: Monday, April 24, 2006 4:52 AM Subject: [syndic8] Is there a definition for spam? The reason I ask is that I was randomly checking feeds to be approved and checked out http://www.syndic8.com/feedinfo.php?FeedID=467224. The site is not aggresive spam, it has what looks like genuine news about its subject, but gets highly priced adsense keywords and that someone would want to profit for nothing doesn't lool too good in my book. I'm tempted to mark it as spam, or let someone else decide. Any opinion? Thanks, Pascal. PS: Can one really approve his own feeds (467220, 467221, 467222)? I mean, the button is enabled for them. On Fri, 21 Apr 2006 02:10:48 +0100, "The Messaging Times" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Well PJ, I might have beat you to it - but as I'm moving over to the > Pacific > Northwest (US) next month, I put in the new location on the map > rather than > my current Sligo locale! By the way, I reviewed your feed and > believe that > it is now syndicated! Wouldn't mind a back scratch meself, although > I think > that I need a few more days before I'm eligible. I just added my > site > recently - not even sure what the feed number is, but if you can > search for > it, the site is www.messagingtimes.com, user name tomoleary > Good luck > Tom > Tom O'Leary > Editor, The Messaging Times > web: http://www.messagingtimes.com [1] > lens: http://www.squidoo.com/scribe [2] > ----- Original Message ----- > From: P.J. Murphy > To: [email protected] > Sent: Friday, April 21, 2006 12:40 AM > Subject: Re: [syndic8] Digest Number 1149 > Bill, > Thanks for the 'heads-up' - first Irish syndic8-er on the map! > Erm.... any chance of a review of Feed ID 284721 ..........?! > Thanks > PJ > ----- Original Message ----- > From: > To: > Sent: Thursday, April 20, 2006 11:53 PM > Subject: [syndic8] Digest Number 1149 > > There are 2 messages in this issue. > > > > Topics in this digest: > > > >����� 1. mapping fun > >���������� From: "Bill Kearney" > >����� 2. mapping fun > >���������� From: "Bill Kearney" > > > > > > > ________________________________________________________________________ > > > ________________________________________________________________________ > > > > Message: 1 > >�� Date: Thu, 20 Apr 2006 17:46:20 -0400 > >�� From: "Bill Kearney" > > Subject: mapping fun > > > > The folks at frappr have come up with a nice mapping > > feature. > > > > How about we all give it a try? > > > > Start by visiting the Syndic8 frappr map and getting > > yourself added to it. > > > > http://www.frappr.com/syndic8 [3] > > > > If for no other reason that to try something new. > > > > Thanks, > > > > -Bill Kearney > > Syndic8.com > > > > > > > > > ________________________________________________________________________ > > > ________________________________________________________________________ > > > > Message: 2 > >�� Date: Thu, 20 Apr 2006 17:46:20 -0400 > >�� From: "Bill Kearney" > > Subject: mapping fun > > > > The folks at frappr have come up with a nice mapping > > feature. > > > > How about we all give it a try? > > > > Start by visiting the Syndic8 frappr map and getting > > yourself added to it. > > > > http://www.frappr.com/syndic8 [3] > > > > If for no other reason that to try something new. > > > > Thanks, > > > > -Bill Kearney > > Syndic8.com > > > > > > > > > ________________________________________________________________________ > > > ________________________________________________________________________ > > > > > > If you're getting "too much mail" then send a message to: > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > (this will tell it to stop sending you mail) > > > > To change your membership use THIS WEB PAGE: > > http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/syndic8/join [4] > > (here you can set your mail to digest, no mail or LEAVE the > > list) > > > > To find more info about Syndicated XML newsfeeds visit > > http://www.syndic8.com/ [5] > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > > > > > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > > > > > > > > > > If you're getting "too much mail" then send a message to: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > (this will tell it to stop sending you mail) > To change your membership use THIS WEB PAGE: > http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/syndic8/join [4] > (here you can set your mail to digest, no mail or LEAVE the list) > To find more info about Syndicated XML newsfeeds visit > http://www.syndic8.com/ [5] > YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS > Visit your group "syndic8" on the web. > To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! 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