poll What is your stand on outbound?

[Arpit131]

If you opt for a different opinion, mention it in comments

 

[Domains - Wanted]

It's not so black and white as your poll makes it out to be

Short and dirty: not spam, if done right. Or spam, if done badly!

 

[johnnie018]

Short and dirty: not spam, if done right. Or spam, if done badly!

Sounds a bit like trademark names, it’s only bad if you get caught!

 

[johnnie018]

I’d vote spam but I can’t b/coz of restricted account, so please add one vote.

 

[domains21]

Short and dirty: not spam, if done right. Or spam, if done badly!

One and done! I suppose this could fall under the Grey Area option in the poll...

 

[NYJimbo]

I do outbound, but its usually with domains that make sense for a few companies, not hundreds. I just sold a GEO domain to an auto repair shop for $150 ($1 netsol buy). Only sent 10 emails to shops that had bad domains unrelated to their location, but web sites that were regularly updated. So I saw it as those targets could use a better domain name that was specific to their GEO. One of the ten thought it was. So $150 for a $1 investment and only held domain for 2 months.

Outbound really is an art and I am learning more about it every day.

 

[Bob Hawkes]

I certainly view it as spam if it is a broad generic email sent to many companies or organizations only casually searched (or using a generated list).

I don't regard it as spam if you are giving notice of an opportunity to a few companies or organizations of an acquisition possibility that a reasonable person would conclude is potentially of clear value to them and your message to them is clearly not just a copy of a message you did, or would, send to another company.

Also, to not be spam it must be done in a non-intrusive, polite, concise and professional manner. It must also not make questionable claims.

By non-intrusive I totally rule out any form of cold call. I know not all would agree. I believe I am quoting Kate's keynote from NamesCon accurately "The time of cold calling is long past."

To me that first contact should be a simple professional (and short!) email, or if you are linked via LinkedIn, Twitter, etc. perhaps reaching out there, or if it is someone local perhaps through other means.

If there is no reply, in my opinion I would never contact a second time.

I know that many feel differently on this topic, and I totally accept their right to think differently.

Bob

(by the way I voted different opinion)

 

[NYJimbo]

If there is no reply, in my opinion I would never contact a second time.

Agreed, but there are some cases where I MUST do it. Sometimes the domain is either an exact match to their company or organization name OR something about the domain just screams "WHY DONT YOU ALREADY OWN THIS ?", in which case I do a gentle reminder.

Right now I have a medical company that sells a certain product and the domain is their company name, but in .COM and am gently trying to tell them "WHY DONT YOU ALREADY OWN THIS ?" but have not contacted the right people yet, I assume....

 

[Fidon]

Getting no response from outbound??

 

[FolioTeam]

Here is why I voted SPAM

spam
Dictionary result for spam
/spam/
Learn to pronounce
noun

1. 1.
   irrelevant or unsolicited messages sent over the Internet, typically to a large number of users, for the purposes of advertising, phishing, spreading malware, etc.
2. 2.
   TRADEMARK
   a tinned meat product made mainly from ham.

verb

1. 1.
   send the same message indiscriminately to (a large number of Internet users).

Nothing in the definition says anything about good intentions or good fit or how professional you are.

So is outbound unsolicited, sent to several end users and is its purpose to advertise your domain name for sale? If yes, then it's SPAM

 

[JB Lions]

Grey area, it's how you do it.

I'm fine with it, I myself have probably done outbound less than 10 times total, always saying I will do more.

An example of 1 that worked. I had a generic 2 word .com. This one site would get a new domain every year wordword2014.com, wordword2015.com etc. I owned the wordword.com. I told them you could just own the wordword.com instead of getting a new domain every year, just update the title/meta tags.

Mine are all .com, anybody I've ever emailed, it would be an actual upgrade for them. It's not some blanket mailing, also I'm sure to follow the CAN-SPAM guidelines.

I really see it no different than if you owned a box company and one of the types of boxes you made are pizza boxes. If you went into a store and told them your pizza boxes are cheaper, sturdier, will hold the heat much longer etc, that's an actual upgrade/benefit to them. Was it an unsolicited visit? Sure, but it was relevant and both would be happy.

 

[bmugford]

Yes, it depends. There is a big difference between sending out a handful of emails regarding what would clearly be a relevant domain upgrade, and just sending out thousands of spam emails in an untargeted manner offering some terrible domain.

The vast majority of outbound I have seen would classify as SPAM - bulk, unsolicited, untargeted.

Brad

 

[Josytal]

I do outbound but only to potential leads in my mailing list. Like say, someone purchased a domain from me in the past or inquired about some other domains, I often send to them my updated portfolio or bargain-priced domains I want to liquidate fast. My outbounds are replies to past emails. Unsolicited emails - NO.

Spam is Spam, regardless of the "noble" reasons and no matter how you sugar-coat the process.
Don't spam! Setup landers or marketplace instead.

 

[cabotower]

Agreed, but there are some cases where I MUST do it. Sometimes the domain is either an exact match to their company or organization name OR something about the domain just screams "WHY DONT YOU ALREADY OWN THIS ?", in which case I do a gentle reminder.

Right now I have a medical company that sells a certain product and the domain is their company name, but in .COM and am gently trying to tell them "WHY DONT YOU ALREADY OWN THIS ?" but have not contacted the right people yet, I assume....

i am in a similar situation with an I T name.a couple of co's are using optixxxxxx.com and grupoxxxxxx.com.they can each drop opti and grupo and use my exact name match.they don't have mgmt listed and there email is just gmail.nothing from first contact,very frustrating.

 

[JB Lions]

I do outbound but only to potential leads in my mailing list. Like say, someone purchased a domain from me in the past or inquired about some other domains, I often send to them my updated portfolio or bargain-priced domains I want to liquidate fast. My outbounds are replies to past emails. Unsolicited emails - NO.

Spam is Spam, regardless of the "noble" reasons and no matter how you sugar-coat the process.
Don't spam! Setup landers or marketplace instead.

Is there more to it? On the cover that actually seems worse than reaching out to potential buyers, what you consider SPAM.

I've had people email me about certain names, inbound. It could be very specific, let's say a jewelry name. But I would never email them again just because my portfolio updated or I have some names I want to unload. Because they didn't contact me for that, they contacted me for a specific name. Unless, as an example, we couldn't agree on a price and later I lowered the price, and I emailed them again about it.

That's why I was wondering if there was more to it. They opted in to continue to receive emails from you?

 

[Domains - Wanted]

Here is why I voted SPAM...

Here's why I voted "it depends"...

noun

1. 1.
   irrelevant or unsolicited messages sent over the Internet, typically to a large number of users, for the purposes of advertising, phishing, spreading malware, etc.

verb

1. 1.
   send the same message indiscriminately to (a large number of Internet users).

Most people misunderstand what spam is. They hate spam and their emotions get the better of them and they see and preach what they believe to be true. They only see "irrelevant" and "unsolicited", but have become color blind and are unable to see the rest of the sentence which doesn't sit too well with their beliefs. So they ignore it. Perfectly understandable. Especially since we never get to see outbound done right. We are all only too familiar with the spammy variety, offers of domains that make no sense whatsoever. Another words, outbound done really badly!

Here's a little food for thought to all those who voted categorically "Spam"...

I sit on thousands of domains, most of them not yet resolving to any landing page. Another words: no For Sale banners. In fact, most of my domains are slated for development rather than a quick sale. Naturally, from time to time, I get emails offering to acquire domains. More often than not, said emails come with lowball offers like $50 or $100... Irrelevant? Unsolicited? So... it's spam, right?

 

[Josytal]

Is there more to it? On the cover that actually seems worse than reaching out to potential buyers, what you consider SPAM.

I've had people email me about certain names, inbound. It could be very specific, let's say a jewelry name. But I would never email them again just because my portfolio updated or I have some names I want to unload. Because they didn't contact me for that, they contacted me for a specific name. Unless, as an example, we couldn't agree on a price and later I lowered the price, and I emailed them again about it.

That's why I was wondering if there was more to it. They opted in to continue to receive emails from you?

They are all registered on the platform (my marketplace - see signature below), with built-in personalized bulk mailing system and users can always opt-out from receiving future emails or delete their accounts So far, none has.

 

[BrandEntrance.com]

Here is why I voted SPAM

spam
Dictionary result for spam
/spam/
Learn to pronounce
noun

1. 1.
   irrelevant or unsolicited messages sent over the Internet, typically to a large number of users, for the purposes of advertising, phishing, spreading malware, etc.
2. 2.
   TRADEMARK
   a tinned meat product made mainly from ham.

verb

1. 1.
   send the same message indiscriminately to (a large number of Internet users).

Nothing in the definition says anything about good intentions or good fit or how professional you are.

So is outbound unsolicited, sent to several end users and is its purpose to advertise your domain name for sale? If yes, then it's SPAM

Ergo... If you don't mailChimp it to 100's of companies it is NOT spam as long as you send a directed personal message from one professional to another about a mutually beneficial opportunity.

That's the essence of what business is.

 

[BrandEntrance.com]

Sounds a bit like trademark names, it’s only bad if you get caught!

What are you on about @johnnie018?

 

[Domains - Wanted]

I’d vote spam but I can’t b/coz of restricted account....

Thanks be to God, that is NP mods!

 

[equity78]

The Definition of Spam according to SpamHaus

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.

• 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)

Technical Definition of Spam

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.

https://www.spamhaus.org/consumer/definition/

My take has always been: You should be targeting a prospect one at a time so that way it's on message and you have a legitimate right to contact them. A lot of people think anyone emailing them is spam and they are wrong. If it is just to them it's not spam, you should not send multiple emails in my opinion. If someone does not reply move on, always make sure there is proper info that meets the Can Spam Act.


Cold Calling is not dead, some love to profess that but it's not.

Good article here:

Is cold calling dead?

Not really. Cold calling is a traditional sales technique that involves calling people with whom you have no existing relationship. It's still part of the modern salesperson's workflow, but there are better ways to conduct this outreach.

In the words of Mark Twain, rumors of cold calling's death have been greatly exaggerated. Instead, you need to update and finesse your cold calling strategy so you're using all of the resources available to you to build rapport and make a connection. Let's run through the differences between warm calling and cold calling:

https://blog.hubspot.com/sales/lead-generation-alternatives-to-cold-calling

 

[domains21]

users can always opt-out from receiving future emails or delete their accounts So far, none has.

A lot of people now see the Unsubscribe option as merely being a way that tells spammers that the email is active rather than will actually remove them from any further communications. To combat this, it's more common to just mark these emails as spam so that the provider or client deals with it in future.

 

[johnnie018]

A lot of people now see the Unsubscribe option as merely being a way that tells spammers that the email is active rather than will actually remove them from any further communications. To combat this, it's more common to just mark these emails as spam so that the provider or client deals with it in future.

The ones send domain emails with an opt out link is about the most obvious that there is issues, that sender knows it is spam and is trying to cover ass. Opt out of something that the person never opted in for?

 

[DOMAIN ILLUMINATI]

This thread will hopefully open the eyes of those who are fast in accusing others of spamming.
You always have to differentiate in life.
Also in the virtual one.

Then you will have no difficulties to understand that spam is spam and that outbound is outbound because you will be able to see the difference between both.

If outbound would be spam (?!), then spam would be outbound (!?).
But outbound is not spam (?) because it is outbound (!).
And spam is not outbound (?) because it is spam (!).

Therefore, domainers, don't spam!!!
But do outbound!!!

 

[Bob Hawkes]

It is interesting the large majority see it as a grey area or it depends, kind of similar.

You started the thread @Arpit131 - I would welcome hearing what you think personally.

Bob