So how could this happen? A couple of insights:

Technology is making it so cheap to interrupt someone that even the holy can be tempted by the lure of immediate results such that even an organization that should be absolutely opposed to this kind of technology not only embraced it, but were boasting of their efforts on Twitter. That is until the entire marketing community overwhelmed them with a major spanking in public. Now the “convo” that they wanted to keep rolling has taken a life of it’s own and is undoubtedly something WOMMA would do anything to stop. Right now they are reaching for their “disaster recover” binders and Googling “Tylenol.”

This leads to another insight – playing with fire can get you burned. By participating in social media there is an inherent contract that you are no longer in control of your message. It’s a very powerful tool with very sharp edges that cuts both ways. A quick search of @WOMMA on twitter shows an overwhelmingly negative response to their tactics. This should be a warning to anyone that they need to be squeaky clean in this era of instant news cycles where everyone is a publisher. And when Seth Godin takes the time to call you and tell “You’re doing it wrong” you shut the F up and listen.

Another problem is that regulators are asleep at the switch. I don’t expect government to be everywhere in our lives, but this is a prime example of the FCC being woefully out of date with technology. If you don’t need a brain to use ROBO calling, perhaps you should at least have to get a license or answer some questions like “Have you been drinking today?” We made fun of the lack of prosecution of spammers (it’s pathetic) last summer during a stunt that we videotaped.

You might be thinking this point that perhaps it was a highly considered ploy to drive PR – but I guarantee you that is not the case no matter how they will try to spin it. At best they were moronic, at worst they were desperate. You may create some PR for yourselves, but when it diametrically opposes your message – your going to be a punch line on the Tonight Show. Your name recognition will certainly go up – but be careful what you wish for. Ask Steve Bartman if that is a good thing after he ruined the Cubs 2003 world series run. In a mindless grab of selfishness, because it was easy, he derailed his favorite team’s hopes for victory. He and the organization may never be the same, and I’m afraid this may be the case here.

Related posts:

1. Government Turning a Blind Eye to the High Cost of SPAM?

A recent study by The New York Times reported that up to 94% of all email traffic is SPAM. That’s hundreds of millions of emails clogging one of our most important communication channels and it’s getting worse. Though each of us may only spend a few minutes a day dealing with it, the collective drag on productivity is astounding. The National Technology Readiness Survey says it costs us 21.58 Billion per year. That’s $131 per year for every Internet user in the US.

As ISP’s have become more capable at filtering SPAM, and an entire hardware industry has been created to fight the problem, it seems that our government has taken a back seat in its enforcement.

Robert Solovay, aka the “Spam King” was finally convicted last year by the state and sent to prison for a mere 4 years. Microsoft successfully sued Solovay as far back as 2003 and his exploits were widely known according to SpamHaus. Why has it taken the state 6 years to track down such an obvious offender even with him mocking the legal system? Before this conviction, the state’s last legal victory, according to the Attorney General’s website appears to be in 1998. So for 10 years our state has not been able to prosecute a spammer even though the problem has grown exponentially?

Similarly, the Federal Government’s record is not much better. While they did just receive a guilty plea from a 5-man SPAM operation lead by Alan Ralsky and his son the penalties seem to be quite light. While the spam induced pump-and-dump stock scam they ran reportedly raked in millions, the sentences sought are only “up to” 24 to 84 months, and the corresponding fines from only $30,000 up to 1 million dollars. Sentencing occurs Oct. 29, 2009.  The CAN-SPAM act says that offenses are supposed to be subject to $11,000 fine per email incident. At billions of emails sent by this ring, the math simply doesn’t add up. And that ignores the wire fraud, mail fraud, money laundering, and lying to the FBI charges that are included in the guilty plea.

While any conviction is laudable, is this the best we can do? For a major player in the 21 Billion dollar problem (not counting victims ripped off by scams) we get a couple of years behind bars, and a penalty less than the amount swindled? That might even be palatable if these convictions occurred regularly, but it is years between major convictions. It seems that the government (we the people) are not angry enough about the problem, or are not directing our ire in the proper direction.

It’s time that we aggressively punish those that punish us with their time-wasting email. Prosecution needs to be extended to those selling email list and companies that are paying spammers to advertise their wares. Below is our list of things you can do to help can spam:

1. NEVER respond to a spam e-mail, or even “download images.”

2. Click the “This is Spam” button, if you have one. This alerts your ISP and allows them to refine their proprietary spam filter.

3. Forward all spam to the Federal Trade Commission at spam@uce.gov BUT:

4. If it’s an e-mail you signed up for, don’t use the spam button. Just click unsubscribe and you should be removed. Be fair!

5. Reply to legitimate “over-senders” and tell them to reduce their frequency. If they don’t, unsubscribe and warn your friends about them.

6. If you are not willing to take the time to read the sender’s privacy policy, don’t give your e-mail.  If it’s more than one paragraph, forget it.

7. Use two email addresses. If the content is good, use the “update profile” and give them your real email address.

8. Use your own e-mail filter. A free, personal version is available at cyberdefender.com, but there are others. Check frequently for false positives, especially when first installed. Your legitimate mail may be getting trapped.

9. Write to your Congressional representative, and insist that they introduce legislation intensifying pursuit and prosecution of spammers and their business partners.

10. Reward only email marketers who “Do Email Marketing Right” with your business.

Related posts:

1. Disasters Of Spam
2. Email Marketing Tips: #1 Get Permission

Spam. You get it, I get it, and we all hate it. Did you know that 94% of all email is spam (New York Times)? It’s insane how much of it is floating around in everyone’s inbox.

With so much spam around, here’s the most important thing you can do when setting up your email marketing campaign:

Get Permission

No one likes getting newsletters in their inbox that they don’t remember signing up for or agreeing to. These days, getting one of these unprecedented emails is enough to make readers immediately unsubscribe before reading what you have to say — or worse, flag you as spam.

Even if someone wrote down their email when buying a product or attending an event, if you didn’t mention that their email would be added to a newsletter list, then you don’t permission to add them to your email marketing list. You need to be explicit, not sneaky. Here are some of the things to avoid when developing an email marketing audience, and ways to grow your email marketing audience legitimately.

Bad Examples

• Buying your list off someone else
• Stealing or randomly generating a recipient list
• Adding everyone who has bought a product from you online or has given you their email for some purpose other than subscribing to your newsletter
• Automatically adding and check-marking the “subscribe” button on a sign-up form for something other than your newsletter

Good Examples

• Adding a newsletter subscription form to the front page of your website for visitors to use
• Adding an optional checkbox for newsletter subscription to info forms at events
• Using a double opt-in method, like a confirmation email with an opt-in link

Why We Recommend Getting Permission

Besides being annoying and very similar to spam mail, here is why some of the bad examples are particularly bad. They are against the CAN-SPAM Act requirements.

“The CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 (Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act) establishes requirements for those who send commercial email, spells out penalties for spammers and companies whose products are advertised in spam if they violate the law, and gives consumers the right to ask emailers to stop spamming them.”

CAN-SPAM prohibits:

• “Harvesting” email addresses from Web sites or Web services that have published a notice prohibiting the transfer of email addresses for the purpose of sending email
• Generating email addresses using a “dictionary attack” – combining names, letters, or numbers into multiple permutations
• Using scripts or other automated ways to register for multiple email or user accounts to send commercial email
• Relaying emails through a computer or network without permission – for example, by taking advantage of open relays or open proxies without authorization. (Federal Trade Commission)

Here’s the bottom line:

You want your readers to WANT to read your emails. Getting permission will insure you don’t annoy your readers or get marked as spam.

Plus, wouldn’t you rather have a smaller group of dedicated readers than a massive list of readers who don’t care and/or feel spammed by your email? We thought so.

Related posts:

1. Email Marketing Tips: #4 Relevance is Key
2. Email Marketing Tips: #2 Personalize
3. Email Marketing Tips: #3 Content is Vital