It seems like some domain investors continue to see outbound marketing as spam. It's a complicated topic: Outbound marketing needs to be done properly, making sure it does not violate the […]
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Even on NamePros, i got warning from Mods
i just sent pm to another member about my domain is for sale, and he report me.
even though I only do outbound, the knowledge I got from here
The Definition of Spam
Associated Documents
Consumer Protection
Email Marketing FAQs
Mailers -v- Spammers
Glossary
The word "Spam" as applied to Email means "Unsolicited Bulk Email".
Unsolicited means that the Recipient has not granted verifiable permission for the message to be sent. Bulk means that the message is sent as part of a larger collection of messages, all having substantively identical content.
A message is Spam only if it is both Unsolicited and Bulk.
Technical Definition of Spam
- Unsolicited Email is normal email
(examples: first contact enquiries, job enquiries, sales enquiries)
- Bulk Email is normal email
(examples: subscriber newsletters, customer communications, discussion lists)
An electronic message is "spam" if (A) the recipient's personal identity and context are irrelevant because the message is equally applicable to many other potential recipients; AND (B) the recipient has not verifiably granted deliberate, explicit, and still-revocable permission for it to be sent.
Understanding the Spam Issue
Spam is an issue about consent, not content. Whether the Unsolicited Bulk Email ("UBE") message is an advert, a scam, porn, a begging letter or an offer of a free lunch, the content is irrelevant - if the message was sent unsolicited and in bulk then the message is spam.
Spam is not a sub-set of UBE, it is not "UBE that is also a scam or that doesn't contain an unsubscribe link". All email sent unsolicited and in bulk is Spam.
This distinction is important because legislators spend inordinate amounts of time attempting to regulate the content of spam messages, and in doing so come up against free speech issues, without realizing that the spam issue is solely about consent.
Various jurisdictions have implemented legislation to control what they call "spam". One particular example is US S.877 (CAN-SPAM Act 2004). Each law addresses "spam" in different ways, and as a consequence, often has different definitions of what they cover, whether they call it "spam" or not. Spamhaus uses the industry standard definition "Unsolicited Bulk Email" which underlines that "it's not about content, it's about consent". As such, arguments as to whether Unsolicited Bulk Email messages are covered under CAN-SPAM or are compliant with CAN-SPAM, are entirely irrelevant.
Important facts about Unsolicited Bulk Email:
(1) The sending of Unsolicited Bulk Email ("UBE") is banned by all Internet service providers worldwide.
(2) Spamhaus's anti-spam blocklist, the SBL, used by more than 3 Billion Internet users, is based on the internationally-accepted definition of Spam as "Unsolicited Bulk Email". Therefore anyone sending UBE on the Internet, regardless of whether the content is commercial or not, illegal or not, is a sender of spam - and thus a spammer. All senders of UBE need to be fully aware that (A) they are breaking their ISP's Terms of Business contracts and they will lose their Internet accounts and access if they send UBE and (B) they will be placed on the Spamhaus Block List (SBL) if they send UBE.
https://www.spamhaus.org/consumer/definition/
Unsolicited means that the Recipient has not granted verifiable permission for the message to be sent.
So yeah. That puts 99,99% of domainers involved in outbound in the spammmer category.
Good writeup on your site though. One thing you didn't cover is regarding this:
How to overcome this? It's hardly ( n )ever being discussed. There are ways. Ways to make it work and follow the definition of solicited email.
It's doable to do outbound following the rules/law. It's easier neglecting the quote mentioned, way easier actually. You will sell. You will be fine 99% of the time. But... You will still be spamming.
Thanks for the reply, I think with the SpamHaus definition it says it also must be bulk.
So if you owned and operated on NameDeck.net and I acquired the .com. I would only send an email to you if I did outbound (I don't).
It would meet all the CAN-Spam requirements, and you may say screw off but I would not have spammed you. The law is what matters imo. People saying I did not want an email so it's spam is not true in the eyes of the law.
+1 It's a grey zone. Sometimes black, sometimes white. It's up to you to keep it white.It depends. There is certainly a point where outbound crosses over into blatant spamming.
When people are pitching endless garbage domains, in an indiscriminate manner, often sending many unsolicited follow-up emails to the same potential buyer....At some point it crosses from something reasonable to blatant spam.
Brad
It depends. There is certainly a point where outbound crosses over into blatant spamming.
When people are pitching endless garbage domains, in an indiscriminate manner, often sending many unsolicited follow-up emails to the same potential buyer, often with fake contact information from a disposable email address....At some point it crosses from something reasonable to blatant spam.
Brad
Hopefully those in domaining can do things the right way and are only offering truly quality names. I suspect currently many are not meeting the quality quota.
In other fields, there's is the notion that what you are offering is of some value, wasn't stolen or an outright scam. Not that people don't get swindled in those other industries.Why is it that people have a problem with outbound? I have been doing it in other fields for years and very very rarely get an F off or any aggressive replies.....even when I dabbled at it with domains this was the case
Most people really must be sending out awful emails, crap domains and just hoping for the best......
If done right the worst you should get is being ignored or a reply saying remove me from your mailing list, maybe a polite no thanks and if your lucky a reply asking how much or the jackpot is them hitting the BIN on your lander........
If your getting really bad response you need to take at long hard look at how your going about things......
I get emails from people trying to sell me their domains and they are using a personal email address - I mean WTF - how is anyone going to take you seriously if you do this?
Also there is no social proof - no professional signature with a LinkedIn profile, no contact phone number, a lot of the time not even their full name.....
The more information you provide that is verifiable, the more trustworthy you come across - especially when you are not speaking to that person and building a relationship with them
The tiny 1% can turn your business to a positive sign. Try to be honest, simple, polite and professional. Doing that immediately you avoid spam zone. Be careful about trademarks too.
Those who want to contact companies at volume and as quickly as possible are more likely to spam.
There is no central agency with the authority to act. So how can your idea be implemented?