If you’ve ever received any form of commercially oriented email that you did not specifically ask for, and do not necessarily want, then you have been ‘spammed.’ Other identifications and acronyms are Unsolicited Commercial Email (UCE) or Unsolicited Bulk Email (UBE).
It’s curious that people also, at least in a sense, get ‘spammed’ with commercial messages while watching television. But few if any TV viewers have ever risen up in hostility and defiance as have everyday email users against the originators of spam email.
We tend to be vehemently territorial, and rabidly defensive when it comes to the wanton invasion of our inboxes, and general disregard for our right to personal privacy. Besides, over the course of a year, one hapless email user can waste a LOT of time clicking the delete button.
Now, the typical mental concept of a spammer is that of a feckless and morally bankrupt grease-ball who hides behind layers of ISP cloaking and faked email addresses in order to dupe the uninformed and unsuspecting public out of their hard earned money. For the most part, that is an accurate depiction, at least in the opinion and observances of this writer.
But, did you know that some of the planet’s most wealthy and well known corporations are also guilty of sending untold millions of spam messages worldwide. It’s big business! Could this be at least part of the reason why we can’t get effective and enforceable spam laws enacted? Or has this writer seen Mel Gibson’s ‘Conspiracy Theory’ one too many times?
Regardless who the spam is coming from, we’ve all seen at least some of it. Typical spam email surrounds offers for ridiculous miracle cures and snake oils, pornography, chain letters, vague money making schemes, fake charities, garbage softwares and computer parts, real estate scams, ‘winning’ gambling systems, bulk emailing lists, ‘hot’ stock market picks . . . .
Note the similarities? The list could include just about anything that is too shoddy, crummy, or sleazey to be advertised above board by traditional methods.
So how does this hurt you?
First of all, if you’re a legitimate email marketer, spam email harms your ability to operate your business and earn your living. As a result of overwhelming amounts of spam email, the growing public consensus is that ALL email marketing smells less than ethical. This seriously harms your credibility, and presents a barrier that must be overcame in order to gain new customers.
Secondly, spam wastes time that you could otherwise use toward profitable pursuits. Consider spending only 10 minutes daily dealing with and deleting spam email from your inboxes. That seemingly insignificant amount of time suddenly adds up to five hours per month, or sixty hours per year. If you figure that your time is worth a bare minimum of $10 per hour, you’re likely to waste some $600 over the next year dealing with spam email.
In addition, dealing with and cleaning up spam email can manifest as an unplanned expense for your ISP. Now who do you think will foot the bill for the additional management and labor hours required to deal with spam issues? You will, of course.
The bottom line is that the spammer typically incurs little to no advertising cost, while you end up paying through the nose.
So, are you fed up yet? You should be. You’re being robbed through the back door!
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Dan B. Cauthron runs several websites and publishes his 100%
original and highly opinionated *Revenew QuikTips* online
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please visit: http://DanBCauthron.com Dan also operates:
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