Responsible Email Marketing?
Phoney Baloney Subjects
Trina L.C. Sonnenberg
Let's call a spade a spade here, shall we? I've written about misleading subject lines in email solicitations before. However, I don't think that the word, 'misleading' does this sleazy marketing tactic justice. I've made a reputation for calling 'em as I see 'em, so I'm going to call them what they really are... PHONEY, BOGUS, I WANT TO GET YOUR MONEY, subject lines. Not to mention illegal as the day is long.
The CAN-SPAM ACT (Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act) states:
"..It prohibits deceptive subject lines. The subject line cannot mislead the recipient about the contents or subject matter of the message.
...Your message must contain clear and conspicuous notice that the message is an advertisement or solicitation and that the recipient can opt out of receiving more commercial email from you. It also must include your valid physical postal address."
Today I opened an email from, the Responsible Marketer, or so he calls himself, that had the subject line, " Notification of Payment - You just earned $1,000.00." Mind you, I only opened it to see who it was from, and what they were pushing, as that is what I do... investigate things.
The sender's tag line is, "The Responsible Marketer." So, when I skimmed through the email and saw what I was being spammed for, I decided to check out the person who sent it. After all, "The Responsible Marketer" is breaking the law here.
Rather than turn him in, and get him into a whole lot of trouble, I decided to use him as a prime example of how not to market using email. Although, I don't know him, and he could be a very nice guy, he is not responsible in his marketing tactics.
His name is Kevin McNabb, and he uses the veretekk autoresponder to send his SPAM. (Veretekk is another article all together.)
What is he pushing? LawnChair Millionaire, of all things.
Now, I don't know if this is his creation, or a pre-written solicitation, but here's the opening line:
"First join, then read my e-mail. TIMING IS CRITICAL!!" Yeah Right! I really like that; email messages have been flooding my inboxes, coming from everywhere, promoting this program. How the heck can timing be critical? Is it on the verge of saturation, so get in quick, so you can lose your money right away? Give me a break!
(I didn't bother reading the rest of it.)
I wonder what he'd do if I responded by giving him my PayPal email, and telling him he can put my $1000 there? He did state that I earned $1000. Then he should send it to me... right?
Perhaps the CAN-SPAM ACT should be modified a little to allow people to collect on such bogus subject lines. If you promise money, you gotta pay it, regardless of whether or not the receiver joins your program. Something like that would probably make spammers sit up and take notice. Perhaps it would also make irresponsible marketers more responsible. In a perfect world... maybe.
If there is anyone out there who has not taken the time to learn the laws of email marketing, please do so NOW. Losing what you've got right now, just to grab a few dollars in affiliate income is not worth it. And a single violation could cost you your child's college education, your car, or even your home.
And Kevin, if you read this... get with the program!
Copyright © 2008
The Trii-Zine Ezine
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About the Author:
Trina L.C. Sonnenberg
Publisher - The Trii-Zine Ezine - Your Trusted Source for Internet Business and Marketing Information. Serving online professionals since 2001. ISSN# 1555-2276
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Author of: My Journey A Lifetime of Verse http://stores.lulu.com/triizine
Internet Marketing Mavens
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Keywords: email marketing, spam, CAN-SPAM ACT, Internet marketing
Dear Trina,
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