Hi everyone, If that subject line had you wondering, don't worry. It had me fuming; then it had me thinking about it in a sad sort of way. I own several member sites with community forums, so of course, I have to deal with forum spamming. (If you think it's bad on Adlandpro, you just haven't been around much! Bogdan is doing a fine job.) However, spamming on forums, blogs, in email, etc., is a really bad way to do business and that's what I want to deal with. First of all, it seems that there's some confusion about what constitutes spam. Spam is also known as junk mail when it is sent as email. The primary word, which also applies on forums, in blog comments, and in PMs in communities, is the word, "junk." Junk is something that is useless. It takes up space, so it has to be dealt with or it will eventually overflow and squeeze out space that has been reserved for something that is valuable. It needs to be collected up and thrown out, which takes time and effort on the part of the person who has it in his or her possession. Since junk is useless, it has no value. It's not nice to throw junk on your neighbor's lawn; it's also not nice to send junk to people's inbox, to post it on their forums, blogs or any other place where they are going to have to make the effort to dig it out and throw it away. Some people believe that what they're tossing on their neighbor's lawn is actually valuable to their neighbor. The problem with that idea is that they never asked their neighbor if they wanted it. They made an assumption based on the value THEY put on the stuff, and then simply tossed it over the fence. In the online world, many people believe that because something will make them money if they can sell it, it's something of value that they can throw at everyone they are able to find a way of contacting. The problem with that idea is that it WON'T make any money and will do a lot of damage to a person's marketing image. That brings me to the title of my post. There's a person who continues to spam a community forum on one of my member sites. The post always begins with "Sorry I need money," then goes on to list all the stuff the person is trying to sell. You might laugh; it's SO ridiculous! You KNOW that person is never going to sell anything that way, and it certainly doesn't help their SEO. It creates extra work for me, the site owner, gets sneers from anyone who sees it, and shouts to the world that the "marketer" is absolutely desperate to make a sale. However, there's no difference between what this person is doing and anyone who sends or posts advertising for anything in a space that has not been opened for that purpose. Unless the information has been requested, the forum thread is explicitly for the purpose of posting ads (a very poor way to advertise, incidentally) or is a blog asking for advertisements, then it is spam , otherwise known as junk, and is creating a negative affect on the marketing campaign of the person doing it. Whenever I get an message on one of my forums, now, that is off topic, or an invitation from a community member that has an ad in it, or a PM from a member I hardly know that is one big ad, etc., I instantly think, "Sorry I need money!" Guess how long I've been involved in network marketing and guess how many members continuously send me ads or post in my forums or send me friend invitations offering to mentor me and/or show me how to market? If they knew ANYTHING about me, they'd think twice (unless they're really that unintelligent.) However, most, if not all spammers DON'T think about who they're sending to, nor do they really care. All they want to do is to make lots of sales, which, of course, they won't. God bless, Dave

Hi Dave,

This sounds like another rant?

I thought everyone loved  the meat variety I mean, I think the people you mention just will not learn as its hard to educate someone who is "A sandwich short of a picnic" or "A couple of cans short of a six pack" or "Their lights on but they are not at home" so here are a few badges you can use in your replies to them!

 

Best Wishes

John.

Hi Dave,

......Sorry I don't need money.......

But you have my thanks for yet another well written, and well thought out article.

I can relate to many points in this article.

Especially the part where some person who has never made a dime online wants to..............

"help me make money online" or "mentor me for free"

Um.....do these advertisers even look at who they send the ads to?

I may not have been online long or be a big online marekting name (I don't even want that) but I do already know how to make money online.

And it ain't by spamming!

You need a solid and valuable product,opportunity or service and you need to get targeted traffic to hit that site.

This could be your own site or an affiliate link, it makes no difference...if you can drive quality targeted traffic to your site.  

And to be truthful, when I started out I made some mistakes and posted off topic spam in some forums.

With a little education and ettiquette (and a few deleted posts) I  got back on track and made a lot more $ than ever before.

Spam free, I might ad.

And much of the business came from Adlandpro where I had been told "no one spends money here" many times.

I now delete all off topic posts from my forums, with a pre written explanation why, to save time.

Hopefully with more discussion and solid pointers to we can help many new marketers do things the "right" way and actually make some $ online.

Thanks again Dave!

Jason Lamure / www.my-easy-promoter.com

  

 

Hi David:

First, thank you for your observations.

Next, as a radio station offering our services here on line, it is imperative that we ' get the word out " about who we are and what we do. All media outlets are in fact, advertising and marketing houses. It is what we do and how we generate cash flow.

Accordingly, ADLANDPRO, and other sites like it are seen by those of us in the media as giant shopping malls. Those here at ALP, for the most part, are operating some kind of business and or service. Because of this fact, they send out their ads to others here inside ALP to alert them to what they are offering as good and or services. Think of their messages ( email) as being inter-office memos, those that let you know what's going on within the company and when to expect the next communciation over the intended subject matter.

About spam, safe lists (agreed to spam ) and the rest, I don't see where anyone here inside ALP can offer a vaild complaint over these messasges.

Let me explain that comment.

For the most part, this is a business community. One needs to consider this when signing on and becoming a member. They should also realize that since this is a business community, many here will reach out to them for many reasons and to promote their business; it is the nature of the beast, so to speak.

On a more positive side, one can review the messages being sent and use them as study guides as to how, or as you suggest, how not to promote their product and or services. All communications sent to TGAMM FM are reviewed, studied by our staff for content and the many ways the orginating source communciates what they need us to know. In doing this, we are excluding the fluff and are able enhance and expand on what we can offer our clients in the way of producing their ad copy. 

Many times in the course of a week, I open no less than 50 US postal envelopes from a bulk mailing that speaks of one more way to lower my house payment. I also get as many email about the next new and exciting on line MLM money maker and with just a minimal investment of $5 to $15 dollars, one can get rich quick. Now, I don't want to take your words out of context David, however, I would like to use one phrase to explain these kinds of programs and those that fall for them:

" ...they're really that unintelligent. "

Since coming on board with TGAMM FM, I took the time to review what goes on here inside ALP and other sites like it. I see both you and other members making attempts to fine tune the machine. Granted, this is admirable. However, one needs to keep in mind that theirs' is not the only business operating within the scope of the entire coporate structure. No one markets the same way ( we are all learning everyday) and certianly, no business is without a bit of socializing; one more way to introduce many to your particular product line. I can't tell you how many social gatherings I have attended where talking shop does not happen and where that next big account falls into place.

I would also offer you the following that was shared with me over a decade ago by my close friend and mentor; a man who took an idea he jotted down on a paper napkin and turned it into that which is now a house hold word.

A BUSINESS WITHOUT A SIGN IS A SIGN OF NO BUSINESS

To close, and if I may be so bold, I would invite those who reply here to tune into our radio station. I also look forward to hearing from them as to how we can better serve their business to achive optimum responce.

Again, thank you for your observations.

Sincerely,

John Carey / General Sales Manager ( tgamm@comcast.net )

TGAMM FM RADIO

 

 

 

Dave, You have done exactly what I want to speak to. Mis-leading titles. When I saw the title I really thought you needed money and was reaching into my purse for the checkbook. Now I see your information is about spamming. It's out of hand, obnoxious and all we can do is educate new people with kindness. However, I do want to return to my first statement....deceiving titles and yes I have been guilty. I had one "I apologize" just after being in a heap big bunch of controversary. The number of visits to the thread were unusually high and I relealized that I had deceived many. It's ok, they had fun blowing bubbles. Recently one was titled "I resign"( Not mine) and everyone just had to open and they posted that they came out of curiousity. "I need money" would only have brought me into this forum because of the forum owner name. It would not cause me to open out of curiosity for anyone else. It is difficult to come up with titles that will cause people to open our threads. Sad but true....titles do draw a crowd.