Am I crazy or what? I love spam!
In the ancient, pre-Internet days, I used to get all kinds of mail in my US Postal Service mailbox. The mail had stamps on it; later on it had imprinted postmarks of one kind or another. I was in the direct-marketing and mail-order business, so I used my name and address as a quality-control measure, just to see how long the mail would take to actually arrive at my house.
As you can imagine, my name found its way to many different lists of one type or another, and I got lots of mail.
Depending on the perspective of the recipient, it was called "junk mail" or "file 13 candidates," or "recyclable materials." Individual pieces included catalogues of every type and description, magazine and book club offers, resort vacation packages and credit cards. Can you believe it? Offering me, an entrepreneur, a credit card? Had they lost their minds?
And I loved it.
I loved reading the offers; I learned things and I even bought some things. They say the easiest sale is to a salesperson, and maybe that's true. But I was a tough customer. I only bought what I needed, or in some cases what I wanted, because they convinced me with good copy, attractive product art and presentation, and with offers backed by a guarantee. They convinced me I had made a great decision. They were (and still are) reaching out to satisfy my needs as their research indicated.
Now, in addition to my mail at home and at the office, I get emails. Lots of emails. And for the most part, I love them. They tell me about things I'm interested in, such as services and products that might satisfy some of my needs. They provide information referrals, ideas and food for thought.
And emails are smart. They don't require a postcard or envelope with postage to get more information--you just click "reply." Or in many cases, click on the "hot link" direct to the emailer's Web site.
Look, here's the deal.
Spam is the "junk mail" of a few years ago. There is still "junk" mail, although I prefer to think of it as marketing mail--searching for new customers and reinvigorating established clients. My spam is important to me. In this new age of the Internet, I need the information and opportunities that email marketing provides. The Internet is a new marketing channel, an information research assistant, and a replacement for some of those mail-order catalogues I used to request. And man, the response time!
The courts and the Federal Trade Commission long ago thrashed out the framework for people taking their name off mailing lists by using the Direct Marketing Association-maintained "opt out" list. Mailers run their list through the DMA and matches are culled for each person from that list.
People don't get what they don't want. But did you know that many of the people on the DMA file have requested catalogues or information by direct mail within a few months of their "opt out?"
Why?
Because we have grown used to getting information this way. If we need to, we can do the same thing using the DMA, or the Internet Advertising Bureau, or another industry trade group.
So, what's the big deal about spam? I think a few well-meaning but uninformed politicians and advocacy groups have decided what's good for us, and in their zeal, they are trying to establish a new and unwarranted benchmark for the marketing channel we call the Internet, and for one of its components: email.
We really have to fight this intrusion. Email is no less commercial speech than other forms of communication; email is a new and--in some cases--a better way of quickly identifying, qualifying and servicing customers. Large catalogue marketers are pleased with the growing percentage of Internet-driven business, and they use email to offer specials and other information potentially valuable to their customers, at less expense than mail-only contact programs.
Not everybody has an email address or access to the Internet: Approximately 70 million US households have computers, out of 120 million total, but not all of the 70 million have access to the internet or email. Most businesses do have Internet and email. There are some emails I get that I don't want or appreciate: pornography, two credit card offers every day (give me a break!), and some others. But you know what I do?
Hit delete.
I hit delete, and I'm free. As for the rest of my spam: Keep it coming!
The difference between spam and conventional snail-mail marketing is that postage stamp the author has discussed. Spammers STEAL network resources (bandwidth, mail server disk space, CPU cycles etc) to distribute their garbage, whereas previously the traditional direct marketer had to pay for postage, and the cost to the recipient was nill.