Contacting End Users - Isn't It Considered Spam?

[Expron]

Hey everyone,

I am working on a new tool that finds well qualified end users. I want to offer to sell them my domains. In the past, I have never gone out of my way to contact a domain owner. I usually just hang on to my inventory of domains & I wait for a potential reseller / end user to contact me with the question "Are you selling" or "How much for aaaaa.com?".

This new tool I am making does a great job of finding end users. It lines up well qualified buyers for the domains I want to sell. The problem I am having is that I am feeling like this is illegal or spam. It's obviously not wrong, especially after reading up on various posts here at NP. Some spend all day emailing & cold calling potential end users. I would only be shooting off 10 - 25 emails daily.

After reading up on this further & reading my ISP's TOS, it is clearly stated that spam is considered the sending of any type of unsolicited email. I went into detail into what I am trying to do & I guess if my ISP were to get a significant number of complaints, they would need to investigate & suspend or close my account.

I'm just curious to find the best way to do this. It would be great if I can contact these potential buyers & make a sale. I just want to cover myself, especially if I release this service to the public. I can imagine 25 users, sending off 25 emails each which would equal 625 emails.

How many emails do you send out on average? Per day? Per week? Per month? Have you ever been labeled a spammer for trying to reach out to potential end users? Is there something I am missing here? I would of course add an "opt out" / unsubscribe link & my emails contain my physical address & full name & title.

Looking forward to your feedback.

 

[shane mac]

If you could get a dedicated client base it would work well.I would ask if they wanted to join,with the benefit that you would send only quality domains they could be interested in.You mails would not class as spam then.If it works it will be a great business.

I don't think you need to worry about being a spammer or any thing like that.It's not illegal.

 

[DotWeekly]

Spammers send emails by the Millions and ask you to click this link or here is a free prepaid CC if you do this etc.

I think simply sending an email with the offer of a domain name they potentially would purchase... it wouldn't even come across their mind that it is "spam". I think a contact like a domain offer, is legit but needs to be worded nicely and hold a professional look while displaying full contact details.

 

[deleted984054565403]

If it's personalized and not some copy/paste/change the name job, I wouldn't consider it spam.

There's a pretty fine line when it comes to this.

 

[BizBot]

If it's personalized and not some copy/paste/change the name job, I wouldn't consider it spam.

There's a pretty fine line when it comes to this.

I agree. If you personalize the email and do some research on the end user's business or website it will not be considered spam.

Keep your email short, simple and to the point and include your contact information.

Elliot's Blog posted a good sample email to send. You can read it here.

There is also a "Sticky" at the top of this thread called "How to Find Potential End Users" that has a lot of useful information.

 

[garptrader]

CANSPAM act per WIKI...

CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[dnpimping.com]

CANSPAM act per WIKI...

CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Great reference!

As to shed a little light on this topic. It really depends on how you go about developing your potential leads and how you decide to contact them. If you are cold calling a potential domain lead, you can get in a great deal of trouble here in the United States. You need to make sure that the call itself is not a home phone number, especially one which is on the do not call list. As far as emailing is concerned, if you do the proper diligence you shouldn't have any problem with people reporting your messages as SPAM to your ISP. Due diligence revolves around reaching the potential lead, finding out if they have a website presence already and maybe getting a name from a fellow co-worker the potential lead works with. The more information you are able to compile before sending an email, the better. Even then you will still get a number of "end-users" who will mark your email as SPAM.

 

[Expron]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. This is very encouraging news.

I know it's not illegal to email potential end users, but something inside makes it feel wrong (like I'm spamming). Your comments are encouraging to seal some end user deals via emails! :tu:

 

[bmugford]

If you are sending a targeted business offer to a few relevant companies that is not spam as long as you provide accurate contact details.

Just have a well crafted email, and keep it short. The longer the email is, the more spammy it looks. I also prefer to send emails one at a time, as it is well worth the extra effort.

Brad

 

[B.C.]

EndUsers

EndUsers.us is a resource that was made to help beginning domainers understand the concept behind end users. In addition, there is some pretty great information from industry leaders.

How to Find End Users

 

[Premiere]

This is definitely not spam. I have been in the email industry for 15 years and the type of offers you will be sending might be considered annoying at worst.

However, you need to be aware that mail servers look for certain cues as to what might be spam, and one of those cues is sending from one domain (such as mobilemail.com) with a different sender domain (such as [email protected]). One of the ways you can get around this is to use a service like constantcontact.com, which works work ISPs to help prevent mail from being flagged as spam. It costs a small amount per thousand emails, but if you are offering a service you just build that cost into your product.

 

[Michael]

I've worked with Constant Contact extensively, they are extremely, extremely strict about who they let you send emails to. During the probation period they call you and grill you for 10 minutes every time you add new contacts to your email list, asking how you got their emails, how they opted in, what kind of emails they are expecting to receive from you, etc. If you used Constant Contact for this project, your account would never get past their probation period, I guarantee it. They do this to protect their relationships with various ISPs and email providers like GMail, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail, etc. so they can promise high deliverability rates.

iContact is a lot more lenient, but most of these companies have a threshold of 1 spam complaint per 1,000 emails sent, which is fairly hard to maintain even with an opt-in list. A lot of people just hit their "spam" button instead of going to the trouble of unsubscribing.

In response to the OPs question, I don't see it as spam as long as you're not sending a ton of emails, the emails are well-targeted, and you provide your full name and contact info. You're just sending them a legitimate business opportunity, not offers for Viagra. I'm actually working on a similar service.

 

[Charley]

I just want to cover myself, especially if I release this service to the public.

Is it a Free Tool ? :great:

 

[DnEbook]

i sometimes get emails with people offering domains simular to mine , and that's ok because i understand their motives , so if your domain you are selling has a good fit for the busness you are emailing ..... not a problem i feel

 

[DomainingCom]

Like it or no this is clearly unsolicited emails, but not bulk as 25/day is a reasonable amount.
If emails are very targeted, not repetitive and don't sent at the same time then you should not get anyone complaining and maybe generate some interesting returns if the domains were of interest to the recipient and reasonably priced.

Where you makes me afraid is when you talk about selling your tool to others.
Everryone is not as reasonable you look likes to be TODAY.
I say TODAY because by experience when one get a positive result with 25 mails/days then he start thinking and why not double the volume to try to make more sales, and x3, ...
And quickly you notice you are spamming thousands emails daily with all the risks this may given including colateral damages for the domain industry (and more if you are selling your tool).

So allways have this in mind, limit you, and don't distribute a tool that could not be used reasonably in all hands.

 

[thejamez]

... it wouldn't even come across their mind that it is "spam".

You obviously don't know what kind of nutjobs there are on the internet. Consider this....

1. You have a website that sells xyz widgets.
2. I have a website with information on xyz widgets.
3. You have a "links" page with links on it to xyz widgets sites.
4. I email you asking to trade links.

You reply with alot of curse words calling me a dirty spammer.

Happens everyday...

 

[Tim Schoon]

lol ive just been called a cybersquatter by an enduser, I offered them an LLLL.com of which their company uses the same acronym with 'The' in front of it.

bah sometimes people are idiots

 

[nielsencl]

If you are sending a targeted business offer to a few relevant companies that is not spam as long as you provide accurate contact details.

I disagree with this statement, but it doesn't really matter. What matters is if your ISP agrees with it or not. Most will not agree.

SPAM means different things to different people and different ISPs, but I think this is a good guideline that may help:

If you are sending the same sales/service message to more than one person, include little or nothing that is "personal", then you are sending UCE or unsolicited commercial email and CAN be considered a spammer.

If you are sending the email because you have some self-interest, then you may be a spammer. It doesn't matter if the person getting the spam may be interested, that what all spammers hope for.

I can tell you that I report a LOT of spam and get a LOT of spammer accounts closed, but really I can't close any accounts. It's the spammer's ISP that has the rules they break, and the ISP closes the accounts. CANSPAM is a joke and is NO PROTECTION if you break your ISP's rules. CHECK WITH YOUR ISP FIRST, and then if any complaints come in you should be ok because they already know. Don't surprise your ISP and you should be fine.

Now, for this application you are making (I am interested), I suggest that while it collects information, you also have it collect things like full address and maybe the contents of the "about" page and home page.

Then when the user is working with the program, you can let them customize the email in a way an automated system CANNOT do. This should help your emails get a better response and maybe more sales. Let me know when you start selling the program.

P.S. A while ago I looked up the meaning of "squatter" and it means someone that is doing something "unlawful". If you are not doing something illegal, like with a trademark domain, then the word that should be used is "investor" or "speculator" and not "squatter", no matter what someone thinks.

 

[HappyBunny]

I can imagine 25 users, sending off 25 emails each which would equal 625 emails.

Why don't you just give your users a list of those 25 email addresses? That way, no matter how many users you have, your server doesn't need to send any emails. Let your users personalize/send the email on their own.

 

[Expron]

Thanks for your replies everyone very useful.

Happy, I used that as an example. I would be better off giving the users emails. But the whole end user sale is way more than just harvesting email addresses. It requires a lot of research & fitting. To determine if the domain you are selling "qualifies" to be sold to your selected end users.

nielsencl - rep added for an awesome job in your post & taking the time to write it.

Michael - Yep, I use aweber and in one campaign, last week it reported I was flaged 9.86% that users hit the "spam" button. And this was an ongoing opt-in list.

Everyone else, thanks for your input. It has been very useful. I appreciate everyone's efforts in this thread.