Thursday, February 27, 2003

Gonzo Lawn Ornaments

Frank, Marek, Denise, Micheal, Tom and I received an odd spam about buying lawn ornaments online. Marek found some more to his taste elsewhere. I looked a bit closer and discovered someone in need of a clue:
We aren't in business without your help!
We need and appriciate your feedback and and comments; Ideas for improvement are always welcome. So, please feel free to contact us by mail, phone or e-mail:
*AAA* Gift Idea
1723 E Mallon
Spokane, WA 99202
1-509-534-5243
e-mail: harshfree@msn.com


I passed this on to the cluetrain mailing list, soliciting marketing clues,and copying the address above. I got a reply at once:

On Wednesday, February 26, 2003, at 09:50 PM, JENNIFER HARSHMAN wrote:
Kevin,

I just received your email. Did I request this information from you? I do like the idea. I have no clue if you are a marketing company or what. I'm sorry I don't recall your name, I spent a lot of time trying to advertise my company. So let me know what's up with this.


So I responded:
Jennifer, you (or someone else employed by you) sent unsolicited commercial email to myself and some colleagues of mine.

This is very rude. Not only that, it is illegal under Washington State law:

http://www.wa.gov/ago/junkemail

But most of all it is not going to help you promote your business, as it just makes people cross with you.

If you are seriously interested in advertising your company on the net, you should do the following:

Sign up for the cluetrain mailing list

send a blank email to: cluetrain-subscribe@topica.com

Read Gonzo Marketing:

http://www.gonzomarkets.com/

And start a weblog:

http://blogger.com

I'll keep you in touch wiht furtehr developments.

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