Is sending one commercial email spam?

[thefonz]

Here are some questions I have been wondering lately...

* Is sending 1 commercial personalised email to a business considered spam?


* Is sending personalised commercial email messages 1 at a time to a group businesses considered spam?


* Is sending a non-commercial personalised email to a group of businesses considered spam?


Looking forward to your thoughts and opinions.

 

[veselimis]

In a nuthsell, sending mails to any address that didn't OPT-IN can be considered as SPAM.
If anyone of there recipients report you for unwanted mail, it will be considered as spam, and most hosting companies will have to react on that.

 

[thefonz]

Really?
Even a personal non-commercial email?

 

[Scylin]

Really?
Even a personal non-commercial email?

I don't think that'd be considered spam, I'm not a lawyer or something though so don't take my word for it. But I were a business and I got an email from someone I don't know that isn't commercial, why in gods name would I report it as spam, if I'm not interested in answering I could just as well ignore it.

If a company reported a personal non-commercial email as spam with your host I'd ask myself if I wanted to work with such a company.

 

[moondoggy]

It needs to comply with the CAN-SPAM Act. Any commercial emails that don't comply are technically spam. See business.ftc.gov/documents/bus61-can-spam-act-compliance-guide-business - worth reading & understanding.

Note there's no requirement that they opt in, just that it's obvious how to opt out. It doesn't matter if you send them in bulk or one at a time.

Also, it doesn't cover personal, non-commercial emails.

 

[thefonz]

Thanks Moondoggy, heres an interesting thought.
If I sent a personal message to somebody I didnt know and they replied then does that give me consent to send them a commercial message?

 

[cloakme]

Right to the source. Thanks

 

[cloakme]

Sorry duplicate Right to the source... Thanks

It needs to comply with the CAN-SPAM Act. Any commercial emails that don't comply are technically spam. See business.ftc.gov/documents/bus61-can-spam-act-compliance-guide-business - worth reading & understanding.

Note there's no requirement that they opt in, just that it's obvious how to opt out. It doesn't matter if you send them in bulk or one at a time.

Also, it doesn't cover personal, non-commercial emails.

 

[ScrapeBoss]

Sending regular mail to the business address of a company, commercial or not, is still better than sending emails. That makes you to escape being called a spammer

 

[ComputerEngineer]

In a nuthsell, sending mails to any address that didn't OPT-IN can be considered as SPAM.
If anyone of there recipients report you for unwanted mail, it will be considered as spam, and most hosting companies will have to react on that.

I think pretty correct.

 

[Techxan]

I can tell you what I have done and had no complaints so far, when I send a single e-mail to a business owner I want to contact.

In the e-mail, right off the bat, I tell them that this is a single piece of business communication, and they they are not on a mailing list, and that I will not be contacting them again, unless they respond to this e-mail.

Then I go into my pitch.

I have even had a few people mention that they appreciated me saying that right off the bat like that.

 

[flann]

Great useless answers, shame on you all with your crappy answers!

What is your country? If you are in the Netherlands your 3 options are NOT spam. Sending emails (optin or not) to businesses is NEVER spam (in the Netherlands)!
If you are not from a small or weird country, you can find the answer by yourself. Check your government website or something.

CAN-SPAM Act.

<---- US law i think? I, don't care.... i'm not from or in the US!

 

[gexxer6]

Unsolicited B2B emails occur every day, and as long as they aren't "spammy" in content or quantity then you're ok. Businesses assume a certain amount of solicitation emails will occur, just make sure your email is relevant and to the point. It is also a good idea to personalize the emails and, as the guy above said, let them know that you have no intention of spamming them.

Good luck

 

[monk13]

in the bottom of the email, just thank them for their time, let them know that they didn't get added to any list, they aren't going to hear from you again if they're not interested and you respect that they are busy and their time is valuable
legally it's considered an auto opt out
and professionally i'd wager it would garner a bit of respect

it keeps you in compliance with the can-spam act
and keeps the potential client from having to worry about recieving an assload of spam from you

and to the guy who said can-spam act doesn't apply to him.
if you live in a country where it's okay to flash your weiner to a 14year old girl, and flash your wiener over the internet at an american 14year old, you get dragged to american prison and tried under american law.
why?
because you committed a crime on american soil.
and your country has an extradition treaty with america
that is why kim dotcom is sitting in american prison right now
even though new zealand law has no problem with what he did
american law does, and his servers were sending copyrighted info to american users

with international communications, if a crime is committed on the recieving end of the communication (according to the country recieving the communication) it is still a crime in that country, may not be in the sender's country, but that just means they're only being tried in one nation (assuming of course that there is an extradition treaty between the two, if you're in america and commit a crime through communication to china, and the chinese authorities come after you, america will most likely give them the finger and tell them where to stick it)

this is not to be used as a substitute for real legal advice, i do not even play a lawyer on tv. want a real opinion pay a real attorney bla bla bla

 

[SethTurin]

Although some people did mention standard mail, I want to reiterate how much more effective it can be if you do it right.

Look here: http://www.blackhatworld.com/blackhat-seo/offline-marketing/354896-22-letters-17-000-profit-3-weeks.html

The key difference being that since the letters cost money, then you have to choose your targets carefully. This makes it mostly warm instead of cold calling, at least warmer. There are some great ideas in that thread as well about how to get them to take action.

Not to change the topic, email can obviously be great as well when done right. In your case, I think the answer to your question has already been given by a few others previously.

 

[kayzne]

Sending one email to one address once is not spam.

 

[jcraften]

If they didn't optin, it's spam, period.

 

[meatro]

Dear people who have replied so far: It works a lot better if you actually READ.

Thank you and remember, READ. Don't just spew.

http://www.btobonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080811/FREE/765691262/1124/BTOBCOLUMNS#seenit
http://help.trueinfluence.com/kb/best-practices-2/can-spam-for-b2b-marketers-the-opt-in-misunderstanding
http://www.rainmaker-partners.com/CanSpam.htm

CAN-SPAM is an opt-out law. That's right, it does not require a person to "Opt-in" to receive a mailing.

The most frequent misconception among B2B marketers is that CAN-SPAM requires that email recipients give permission (opt IN) before they may be sent unsolicited commercial email.
This is simply not the case - CAN-SPAM does not prohibit the sending of unsolicited email for commercial purposes - what it does require is that companies stop sending email to recipients who have said they no longer wish to receive it (opt OUT).

As members of American Business Media who receive (and read) my many emails on the subject know, the CAN-SPAM Act is essentially an opt-out law, not an opt-in law. Therefore, there is no risk associated with the inclusion on a distribution list of ?people who haven't given their express permission to be contacted.?

 

[MarketingFist]

If they opt in, subscribed to your emails its not.
Otherwise how did u claimed their email ? .
If you have a website they are registered to then change TOS and put into that by accepting it they agreed to receive emails from you.