When was the last time you went to a gathering of business people and walked around meeting people, handing out business cards, shaking hands and having an overall pleasant time only to realize after returning home that your email had been placed on another business person’s email list, and they never even bothered to ask you about it? Not only is it annoying to you, it is an illegal practice. The same goes with unwanted Facebook messages or any other form of electronic newsletters or advertising. If you didn’t ask for it and you ended up with it, it is known as spam.
Some businesses and individuals look at spamming as a harmless practice, but know that it can actually do your business irreparable harm. It can give your business a bad reputation as one that has bad business practices, and if enough people report your business as one who spams others, your email provider has the duty to stop your emails to other potential clients regardless of whether those others are genuinely interested in your emails or not. A lot of spam can also trigger certain algorithms to cut off the emails you are sending out without your knowing about it. To put it succinctly, it is not worth spamming your neighbors. All it does is get people mad, and it can lead to a lot more harm than good.
A lot of small businesses have little or no advertising budget, so, how can you get the word out about your products and services without spamming? The answer is simple: ask people if you can add them to your email list and if they say no, abide by their wishes. Another way, if you have a lot of readers, is to turn your email into a blog. That way, they can come to you and, in most cases, they can subscribe to your blog. In this way, they will be notified via email when you’ve published another blog so they will not miss you but they will not receive it if they do not want it. It will be entirely their choice.
So, you don’t like unwanted emails in your inbox? Guess what? Your business associates and possible clients don’t either. Don’t spam them and all will breathe easier, and you may even get a client or two out of it since you won’t be annoying the pants out of them!
Socialwrites, LLC 