If you are, or plan on doing, any sort on email marketing you
need to read this article. I know, you’re sick and tired of hearing about unsolicited email,
filters, and all of it, but guess what?It’s a problem that’s NOT going away.
I’m sick of it, too. Believe me, I’d love to be writing about something that’s going to make us all richer, happier, and better off. First, however, we need to deal with securing OUR online freedom. Oh, come on, you say, it’s not all that. Things will work themselves out for the best eventually. Yes, things will work themselves out, I agree, but do you know who it’s going to work out the best for? Those that stand up and make their positions KNOWN!!!
Some of you hate unsolicited email. Fine, I understand. I make fun of some of the stupid emails I get from time to time as well. I hear that ISPs often get used by bulk mailers without their permission, too. I hear that this unregulated bulk mail makes up a large portion of the total volume ISPs handle and that it causes problems. But guess what? If the ISPs can’t control this problem, they will start putting the burden on those of us they can control. That’s where you and I will pay. Up until now the Internet has been a free media. Email has not been restricted. However, if ISPs cannot handle the burden due to unlawful use of their servers, they will be forced to regulate that use by instituting some kind of ‘pay-per-email’ system. We’ve already seen the first of this with the Habeas company. ( Learn more about Habeas in these two articles from the I-cop Whistle Blower http://www.i-cop.org/habeas/part1.htm http://www.i-cop.org/habeas/part2.htm, )
Now, I’m not here to put down Habeas. I don’t like their idea, but they are free to market a product just as anyone else is. However, if we as independent business owners expect to compete in the email marketing arena, even permission based, we are going to have to stand up and be heard. None of the larger corporations, more successful Internet entrepreneurs, or so called ‘big boys’ are going to care about any of this either. All a ‘pay-per-email’ system will do for them, since they can afford it, is shut out their smaller competitors and free more of the market for themselves. Read that again if you didn’t get it.
But hold on, this is NOT an evil plan. This is business in a competitive market, plain and simple. Think back on history. Farms used to be 40 acres and run by families. Now their corporations spanning miles of fields. Individual miners used to make small claims. Now, large companies, resulting from conglomerations of previous owners, are all that are left. As industries grow, individuals go out of business and the big money takes over. That’s just the way competitive markets run. So, if you have any hopes left of getting a chunk of that BIG money, you’ve got to protect the freedom you need in order to have the opportunity. Let’s forget legal action. Let’s forget feuds between individuals. Let’s concentrate on the ONLY force that REALLY can make a difference. The law of supply and demand in an open market. We CAN control unsolicited email through market forces.
1. Do NOT send any unsolicited email yourself.
2. Under NO circumstances will you buy or even investigate any product, opportunity, or service that you learned about from an unsolicited email.
3. Do NOT whine to larger powers or vigilante groups about unsolicited emails you receive. This only fuels the growth of filters and ‘pay-per-email’ systems. Besides there will always be a way around filters, licensed headers, and the like if there is a profit in bulk email advertising. Take away their profit, though, and the bulk mailings will stop.
4. Consider it an obligation to educate others on following the previous three rules.
Simple solution: If there’s no profit in bulk email advertising, people will quit doing it.
Everyone HATES having their email harvested by automated software and placed on some list. But guess what? You can still purchase email harvesting software, bulk email programs, and even sign on with certain ISPs that will gladly let you do it. Why? If everyone hates this so bad, why are these things still for sale? Because there is still a market for it! Heck, there are still some Internet marketing programs that teach this method of marketing. As long as a market is there, products will be sold. So what do we do about it? I’ll say it again. Kill the profits, and you kill the system. In terms of email filters, we also need to sway the market. Companies market what they believe will earn them the best profit. Therefore, if ISPs are advertising email filtering, it’s because they believe it’s what will make them the most profits. If we prove them wrong by verbally demanding an unrestricted email system, they will have to listen.
1. If your ISP filters your email, let them know you do not want that done. Tell them you are capable of handling it yourself and would prefer freedom of choice.
2. Remind them of how faulty their filtering really is. We all get emails we want filtered out or labeled as junk and have seen unsolicited email get through untouched time and time again. It’s just like radar detectors and radar guns. Each time the cops get new radar guns, we’re offered new radar detectors to combat them. It’s a never ending process. Email filters will turn out the same way — only the honest, independent, small businessman will be left holding the bill.
We don’t have the legal means to fight either bulk mailers or filtering software, and to be quite honest, there’s no ruling legislative body that can cover the entire Internet anyway! We do, however, have the means to protect our freedoms through the simplest, yet most powerful force ever known to mankind — the law of supply and demand. As permission based email marketers, we are stuck in the middle of a nasty situation. Bulk mailers on one side and ‘pay- per-email’ systems and filters on the other. In both cases, however, the same simple truth shines through. Kill the market, and you kill the system. This is honestly what I believe. If you agree, get this article out to everyone you know. Spread the word and let’s turn the market to our favor. Kill the market, and you kill the system. There is NO better way we can come together to solve these two growing problems.
If you want email to remain a free media, whether you market through it or not, you’ve got to stand up and be heard. It doesn’t take a shouting voice, just consistent action that tells everyone on BOTH sides of the problem one simple thing… Enough. Don’t disrespect my privacy and don’t take away my freedom of choice. If we don’t stand up now, though, we’ll soon find ourselves without either. It’s time to make a choice and make a stand. Raging debates aside, your vote will be tallied according to what you DO.
And it’s time to do it NOW.
Written by Joe Bingham of the NetPlay Marketer
Joe has written many articles, both informational and humorous,
with the intent of helping others gain a better understanding of
Internet marketing concepts. His ‘tell it like it is’ approach has
many offering the NetPlay Marketer as one of their most favorite
ezines. See for yourself at: http://www.netplaynewsletters.com/
