Mass emailing

[steve o]

Afternoon all, this is my first question on the site so here goes!:|

I have a website being built, thats just about at testing stage. I believe we have hit on a great idea that should prove very popular.

As the website is really an extension of my hobby, i have a massive data base of contacts/emails of people that would really be interested in the site(I know im being vague but im keeping my cards close to my chest at present as we have a couple of ''internet firsts'' ready for the launch).

However im not sure how i stand legally on this. Can i blanket email all these people? If so is there any software you would recommend that we can use to mass email?

I think that word of mouth will play a big part in the success of the site, however, there are businesses that will benefit from the site that we would like to get on board sooner rather than later.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Steve

 

[Ashley_Price]

Have they agreed to receive your sales email? If not then you could be on tricky ground.

A lot of ISPs now have software that filters out emails that are being sent to lots of people (I have trouble with BT when I am sending my fellow Rotarians their monthly Bulletin - and that's only 20-odd).

You will also likely find that you will get more negative "feedback" and comments than actual sales.

Would it not be better to actually contact these people by phone, etc., say you want to email them and see what happens?

Alternatively, talk to someone who deals with online marketing. I know there are some on here or you can have a look at: http://www.eggboxmarketing.co.uk/

 

[Trainer Bubble]

If they have expressed an interest previously, you should be ok.

There is a piece of software called 'Send Personally' that should fit your needs. It's simple and cheap. Just type send personally into google and it comes up first place.

 

[steve o]

Thanks Ashley, ive just realised i should have posted the question in the Online Marketing Section!!

You hit the nail on the head there as in these people dont know about us yet, however im talking 1000,s of contacts that will genuinley be interested in the site. There really are more than can be contacted by phone etc.

One question though, if someone/a business leaves a contact email in an advert/ magazine article etc, are we breaking some unwritten rule that says you cant use this info for advertising your wares??

 

[ServWise]

If the answer to any of the following is NO then your SPAMMING for sure.

1. do the contacts have personal email addresses? (I.E not business emails) and if personal emails have the contacts given permission for you to send them promotional emails?
2. If only business emails then is their businesses related in some way to the product / service you are selling.

Personally I wouldn't worry to much about the legal aspect, I don't know of one person in the UK who has ever been prosecuted for sending spam however what you should seriously consider is that your ISP will probably have strict terms and conditions about the types of emails that you send out using their servers or even just using domains that you host on there server.

Spamming is likely to get your account terminated and can be detrimental to your domain name if you get labelled as a Spammers.

Ideally if you really want to send out promotional emails to your contacts then contact a professional bulk email sending company and get them to do it for you, they will know how to best send out the email so as to not get blacklisted.

 

[steve o]

Thanks Servwise, what you say makes sense. I thnk the business side of things wont be an issue.

If i said the people we are targeting are bands, who's email's we have collated from music magazines, where they have left their details, do you think that we should be ok to contact them?

 

[JKF]

I wouldn't worry about the spanning aspect, so long as you give the users the opportunity to unsubscribe on each email you shouldn't have a problem.

 

[ServWise]

I wouldn't worry about the spanning aspect, so long as you give the users the opportunity to unsubscribe on each email you shouldn't have a problem.

As a web host who has active checks for users sending spam via our servers I would say DO worry if you don't want to get into trouble with your host / ISP. Don't think their not watching.....

 

[PayVector]

Do a test shot to say 50 people. Ask in the email if they found it offensive and or opted out.

50 wont get you banned or labeled a spammer and will let you know what your potential clients actually think about your new fangled service.

 

[Dwebs-Ltd]

Make sure there is an unsubscribe link and you have things like Mail Server RDNS, SPF and DomainKeys in place it will help with hotmail, yahoo and gmail!