You can get a copy of the NEWBIES NIGHTMARE here ---> 
Decepticons of Internet Marketing
by Gary ~ August 15th, 2010
Hi,
I wasn’t even going to write this blog post but then it occurred to me…
… I haven’t had a good ole rant for a long time – like… almost a week! Plus, I’ve been holding off making a public statement and taking a stance on this issue for too long. And that just ain’t me. Nobody is ever gonna die wondering what I think about something I consider to be important. Those who know me well know that you can take that to the bank.
So, what am I cooking up today? Well, I just want to rave on about everyone’s favorite misery whinge at the moment and throw my 2 cents into the ring.
It seems as though Internet Marketers are forming up into TWO big opposing groups – those who wish to deceive and con versus those who don’t. I will call the former group the “Decepticons”, mainly because that is what they are mostly about – deceiving and conning.
Just in case you aren’t familiar with the concepts of the movie “Transformers”, here is the Wikipedia definition of a Decepticon:
“The Decepticons are usually depicted as the antagonists in the fictional universes of the Transformers toyline and related comics and cartoons, and the enemies of the Autobots.”
In other words they are the “bad guys.” So, moving along with this theme and relating it to Internet Marketing …
Decepticons will use false subject lines such as:
- “Notification of Payment Received”
That’s a real nasty because it tricks people – especially beginners – into thinking they have made a sale. So they eagerly open the email to see what the payment was for and then they get presented with some crap like: “Now that I have gained your attention…” Well, it sure gains mine – I start hunting for the UNSUBSCRIBE link straight away.
That deceptive subject line is bloody awful! I’ve even seen several experienced marketers use it. They should get a damn good kick up the a** for it.
Here’s another very “popular” misleading subject line:
- “RE: (and anything they type after that)”
This is designed to trick you into thinking that somebody is actually replying to you because that is the prefix given to ALL replies to emails that you send. Again, a trick – and a pretty moronic one at that. Why? Because the instant that you realize that the email isn’t personal you lose TOTAL interest and wonder who this putz is. Then you get annoyed that they would play such a trick on you and… UNSUBSCRIBE!
Here’s another commonly used Decepticon subject line:
- “Your Order Confirmation”
This is yet another trick to get you to open the email to see what the heck you are supposed to have ordered. When you realize that you have been conned yet again… yep… UNSUBSCRIBE!
Are you starting to see a pattern here? These Decepticons are SO bereft of talent that they have to resort to trickery and con-artistry to try to get you to open up their crap and then HOPE that because you did that you will either click on something that will take you to a sales page or an opt-in page to surrender your details for – wait for it – even MORE of their JUNK!
Now, here’s a particularly untalented Decepticon subject line that is doing the rounds FAR too often and is all the “rage” at the moment:
- “Your Order #RU256790843”
I can’t even believe how dopey this is and yet SO MANY would-be marketers are using it. Even worse there are so many fledgling marketers blindly copying this ridiculous ruse. It seems really strange to me that ALL of these deceptive subject lines all carry the prefix RU. Why not XT? Or ZBU? Nope. Monkey see, monkey do. (Give the chimp a peanut) They are ALL #RU. They might as well be #RU-anIDIOT. So, when somebody fools you in this way what do you do? Hint: Look above – it begins with U and ends with E!
There are several other “popular” Decepticon subject lines equally as misleading as these but I won’t bore you with any more. You have probably seen them anyway.
Do you like them?
I sure don’t. And it would seem that NOBODY else does either. But the dill-brains using them just continue to use them to build massive lists that are becoming MORE and MORE unresponsive by the day. Very soon anyone engaging in email marketing will have to have a list of 100,000 just to get 100 opens. And that 100 will be the greenest of green raw beginners on the planet. And when THEY wise-up they won’t be opening these emails either.
Rampant adswapping has caused this malaise. I’m not against adswapping. I think it has its place but so many people now are so feverish to build an enormous list that they will stoop to almost any level to fool people into handing over their name and/or email address. So, rather than be creative and tell the bloody truth, they resort to misleading people.
What the Decepticons clearly have NOT factored into their equation – quite apart from the rising percentage of people unsubscribing from virtually ANY email contact – is the MASS de-sensitisation of ALL those receiving these deceptive and highly misleading emails. Even after a relatively short period of time most people wise up and stop being fooled by them.
Like you, I am on 100’s of lists. I rarely unsubscribe – unless somebody sends me endless worthless junk that’s been around since the first moon landing OR they pound me mercilessly with far too many emails.
I was talking to a colleague the other day who found himself on a list where the owner began to barrage him with 4 emails per day and then ramped it up to 8. Yes! 8 emails per day – EVERY day! That is abusing the system if I have ever heard of it. What if everyone started doing that? No wonder autoresponders are becoming more expensive to use and are breaking down more often.
Some Decepticons also think they are pretty clever by hitting the space bar 20 or 30 times before they add the mandatory unsubscribe link too. Well, not only is that unethical and against the TOS of most autoresponders but also – how STUPID! Even a rank beginner can drag the scroll bar down to where it is hiding at the bottom of 10, 20 or even 50 folds of white space. Deceptive and… dumb!
When this is all said and done, there are still people out there in marketing cyberland who will send you GOOD information – not all of it demanding your name or email address on EVERY occasion. Some will point you to blog posts, some will just send free information and some… just a few, like me, will even send you the occasional NO opt-in pdf. But even when the honest and ethical people do these things the ignore rate and the unsubscribe rate is still very high because of what the Decepticons are doing.
It has almost reached epidemic proportions. In fact, I take that back. It has. It’s now a PANDEMIC. It hurts everyone, fills up everyone’s email account with tons and tons of useless junk and desensitizes everyone. And don’t expect it to stop any time soon. The ONLY time it will stop is when open rates are so LOW that the Decepticons finally realize that all they have been doing is sh*tting in their own nests OR stronger rules of the CAN-Spam Act are invoked.
What are your thoughts? What are the email subject lines and tactics that you detest the most? Have your say. In fact, RANT all you want. You can disagree with me if you want too. If you want to blast me, go ahead. Just be prepared for the return salvo. Seriously, say what you want. If you have a reasoned argument that disproves what I have said above then I will NOT censor you. I promise.
While I’m at it – here’s another PROMISE – I will NEVER send you a misleading or deceptive email subject line. I’d rather be creative than follow blindly the lead of the Decepticons. Plus I have too much pride in what I do to be so banal.
For me… I’ll be an “Autobot” any day of the week.
Are you sick of the same old results? Change your thinking and change your outcomes. To learn more click the banner below:
“You cannot teach a person anything, you can only help them find it within themself.” – Galileo (1564-1642).
Your JOURNEY to now has created the LIFE you are living.
Improving yourself will enable you to fulfill your DESTINY.
************************************************************************************
Related posts to Decepticons of Internet Marketing
No related posts
August 15th, 2010 at 1:19 pm
I totally agree Gary…
This is not a rant, but a stand!
Standing against bad practices in any profession is a MUST coming from the people who would really want to make a living from that profession.
Would say… accountants for example, accept ‘newcomers’ to their profession use deceptive methods to ‘trick’ potential customers join their client base? The answer is of course, no – surely they have their own rules against that.
Would even say… car dealers, accept new members to their ranks who would use the same ill-famed techniques as above? Nowadays, I’d say they would NOT, anymore {Steve begins to develop a small smile on his face while writing this…}
I will NOT say anything about lawyers here, as they are granted the right to do this by the law (LOL) and as such, we all expect them to abide by it {Steve’s smile just became a HUGE grin on his face now…}
However, IM (standing for Internet Marketing) and especially Email Marketing have rules and even laws that are abused all the time with almost no punishment.
I bet IF some of these ‘Decepticons’ as you so brilliantly conned a name for… would be fined with a CAN-SPAM fine… they would STOP, don’t you think?
I am a Romanian Email Professional and as such I am not forced to abide by the above said law… still, out of respect for people on my lists I do so, almost religiously!
Yet the Decepticons are NOT! It is both SAD as well as worrying me:
“This seems to be only the beginning!”
Let’s not allow this to grow more than it is now. Let’s make a stand and try to stop it NOW!
I have also taken a similar stand on my own blog dedicated to a similar topic, but from a slightly different point of view.
Instead of revealing the deceptive, I am trying to show people How To Write Highly Effective Email Subject Lines for good opening stats, without being deceptive.
Take a look and even make a stand there too, if you like. Your opinion would be highly appreciated, as well as any of your subscribers’ and blog visitors…
Steve Lorenzo SEOVirtuoso
5 Tips To Writing Catchy Email Subject Headlines
August 15th, 2010 at 1:21 pm
Write on Gary,
You have hit the nail write on the head. This is the trouble with email marketing today. I remember hearing people who pioneered internet marketing stating that email marketing is evergreen, tried and true. And while other marketing fads may come and go with time, email marketing will always be a reliable method.
Now it seems there are some people bound and determined to prove those words wrong. As long as there are new people coming into the market these people will milk them for what they can and give the whole internet marketing biz a bad name.
Regarding the practice of hiding the unsubscribe link below the fold, have they ever considered that people might just click the SPAM button instead? One of the key reasons I will click the SPAM button is if there is no unsubscribe link.
The CAN-SPAM act clearly states that commercial emails MUST have an unsubscribe link. This indicates to me that any commercial email that does not have an unsub link must be SPAM.
Many marketers have already had their accounts closed by Aweber for the practice of “hiding” the unsubscribe link. It’s a shame that some newbies chances may be DESTROYed by GURUS who recommend this practice.
August 15th, 2010 at 2:57 pm
@ Steve – Of course they would stop if there were a real penalty. In fact, some people have had their entire lists shut down – which leads me to another suspicion…
… I think that some of the proponents of this garbage have several lists. They abuse the daylights out of their C, D and E lists but treat their A and B lists in the manner that they SHOULD be treated. I’m thinking of the term “cannon fodder” here. But… they are teaching others to treat their ENTIRE lists in this deceptive manner.
What these abusers FAIL to see is that there are REAL people on the other end of their abuse – NOT just an email address.
@ Allen – Milk them. Yep. That is a very apt term for what these people do.
I think that a lot of new people don’t know about hitting the spam button and some people even do it out of spite or in error.
Yep. You have a pretty good way of defining spam. I get tons of it and it often takes me ages to sort through it. Plus… some drongos are asking me to confirm if I have received their damn spam! This is becoming more and more prevalent and it takes longer to delete them.
I mentioned to Steve above that quite a few “marketers” have had their lists banned by their AR’s. I know he knows that but I mentioned it for the sake of others following this discussion.
Thanks for your comments Steve and Allen.
Gary
August 15th, 2010 at 2:58 pm
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Gary Simpson, Gary Simpson and Gary Simpson, Gary Simpson. Gary Simpson said: Sick of email deception? BLOG POST: http://motivationselfesteem.com/talk/1820/decepticons-of-internet-marketing.htm [...]
August 15th, 2010 at 6:38 pm
Hi Gary,
It’s funny you should write this post now, I have spent the last couple of days unsubscribing to all these so called marketers.
How do they think people will respond to countless BS Emails. Simple, like you say scroll down 100 times and click that link.
Another thing that I have noticed happening is the amount of name sharing that is going on. I have received several mails recently from people that I have never heard of let alone subscribed to.
Sadly these are some very big and respected marketers.
What does it say underneath on the opt-in. “we will never share your email”
Yeh right.
Pete
August 15th, 2010 at 9:33 pm
Gary,
I CAN’T STAND DECEPTICONS!
Particularly for newbies who may not see commission emails very often, to see an email titled: “YOU JUST MADE ANOTHER SALE!”, only to find out that it’s a deceptive email… gets the individual to open the email, but the bad vibes and disappointment it creates almost guarantees that the individual will NOT purchase from the email marketer who inflicted them with this false sense of hope and momentary elation!
IT’S A VERY BAD PRACTICE.
Thanks for calling it out. Kick their butts, Gary!
August 15th, 2010 at 10:03 pm
Hey Gary,
I have just come from my checking my emails where I find the first email I saw had a subject line of “(private) You’ve been selected.”
Wow how private can an affiliate link inside an email be,
I also have an “Re: james Your Order Is Complete – (Instant *Fr*ee* Access)” email. The thing about that one is, what is the point in telling me my order is complete and then tell me it’s free, I think that one has not only tried to be deceptive but also just plain dumb.
I have been unsubscribing from a lot of lists of late and I feel it is a shame as I have been on some of these peoples lists for years and not had a problem with them but as you say monkey see monkey do and they have jumped on the stupid train after hearing how many opens these sort of subject lines get.
This is going to kill a lot of lists and I already get emails to say thanks but they are going to unsubscribe as they are on too many lists and get too many emails, one said around 400 a day and I can belive it these days.
Well thats my rant over.
Thanks,
James
August 16th, 2010 at 1:19 am
@ Pete – I think a LOT of people are just mass unsubbing.
I agree. I know my name and email address has been shared. Names are being passed all over the place – DESPITE the fact that most people say they will never do it. I even know people who build lists just to sell them off.
@ Bolagi – That’s probably one of the WORST false email lines of the lot – because it is just so deflating for the recipient to open it only to find they have been conned and disappointed.
I make regular sales and I usually glance at what people are buying from me. But I’ve been caught out on that line too – AND from big marketers who should know and behave FAR better than this. It just makes me wonder why they are so desperate.
@ James – I believe that the ones teaching this sort of stuff aren’t even being truthful with their so-called “students.” I think it’s a lot more sinister than just deceptive subject lines.
Thanks for adding to the
rantdiscussion here guys.Gary
August 16th, 2010 at 1:27 am
Hi Gary:
Ah, the wonderful world of Internet Marketing…where dreams take flight or or melt away in the warm rays of the morning sun…
Let us not forget a few things-
IM by nature, is inherently sleazy. You are selling information. It’s the Wild West of the 21st century – Virtually no rules, no one is barred, you don’t have to be qualified and, by God, there’s gold in them thar hill ‘a names!
Email marketing is only one leg of IM. We all know that. But email marketing is really bent and slanted to the newbie. The hype, the promises, the lure of instant riches. We, as marketers, should be above and over all that crap, and should be more focused in running our own businesses instead of opening each and every email from who knows who.
We should all have a business email address for our closest JV partners, associates or marketers for whom we wish to remain in touch. The rest of ‘em can get lost. Why would you want to remain subscribed to a hundred different marketers? There is no radical thought, out of this world new product or new sensation that you really need to know about – or would not hear about that would alter the way in which you do business. Or at least found out about it in an email.
As soon as any marketer adswaps me, BAM, they’re gone. Don’t share my name, and if I don’t know you-BAM-you’re gone. I don’t need much of anything that is offered to the masses out there in IM land. I “outsource” my email and information gathering. What I mean is this: In my chosen field of IM, there are only two sources that I turn to and trust. If they don’t know about it, then it isn’t worth knowing about. I let them do what they do best – keep abreast of what is happening in that particular field of IM. I open only a handful of select marketers because I’m a marketer myself, and no longer drool over the everyday hype of the next “big thing”.
To me, 90% (91%?) (92%?) (93%?)of all email marketing isn’t even worth my time to look at and gets deleted, regardless of the headline. So for me, no, it doesn’t matter what the headline reads… They’re all just rotting, stinking, bloated whale carcasses washed up on the shore of my inbox…
But hey, have a nice day,
Denis
August 16th, 2010 at 2:03 am
@ Denis – OMG! I found this very funny…
I think that pretty much sums up your attitude on this. BTW, I have actually smelled one of those and lemme tell you – there ain’t NOTHING like it! Instant headache. And the stench stays with you long after you leave the beach. Pe-euwww!
Gary
August 16th, 2010 at 7:56 am
Well, Gary, I’m right there with you!
Being a “newbie” I did sign up to some lists but recently my inbox has EXPLODED with duplicate offers – and they share the same subject line – so someone is sending out ready-made e-mail copy and everyone else is doing just that – copying!
I am busily unsubscribing – sadly sometimes from marketers I’d been lead to believe were reputable.
I didn’t think of the “spam” button! I’ll maybe go down that route for a while as it’s quicker than all this double opt-out that is happening now too and will save me scrolling down MANY pages to find the unsubscribe text in teeny weeny writing at the very bottom.
Thanks for the RANT – maybe – hopefully – someone will listen. But then again, more likely not
Jennifer
August 16th, 2010 at 8:03 am
@ Jennifer – Like I said… monkey-see-monkey-do.
I doubt whether what I say here alone will sway too many of the non-thinkers but there are now so MANY people railing about these deceptive practices that the message will eventually get through. Then, alas, some nong-brain will come up with a new “TACTIC” to try to fool people. It’s got me beat why people just can’t be honest about what they do.
Thanks Jennifer.
Gary
August 16th, 2010 at 2:08 pm
Absolutely spot-on, Gary! I’m so sick of the Deceptions that I want to puke. I’m not so sure that a decent list can even be built in this day and age. It appears as though the model is going to have to change. I don’t how that should happen or what direction it should take, but I’m not giving up until I figure it out–or find a niche where people actually look forward to my emails.
Anyway, I’m with you all the way–I’ve been unsubscribing like mad.
Keep up the great work.
August 16th, 2010 at 4:40 pm
Hey Gary,
I don’t know how many of those destructive type emails I get on a daily basis. I can tell you this…I’m tired of getting them.
I’m with you and I too don’t believe it’s a rant as much as it is a stand. A stand that we all should be part of to maybe form a movement of our own.
Thanks for posting what most of us feel.
Take care,
Mike
August 16th, 2010 at 8:01 pm
Hi Gary
Obviously we have had this conversation already and you are right to highlight on your blog as I have done.
One problem I think is that it has become so easy to build lists now with the Ad Swapping channels that when something gets easy and people see way of driving quick traffic and making a quick buck it is human nature to overdo it and the thing becomes a victim of its own success.
So moving on from that some people as you say will start using the moronic subject lines, they find it works and the followers will just start doing the same.
As you say the end result is too many emails with hugely reduced open rates which is going to kill email marketing.
That said I have been kind of concerned about this for some time so I am going to let IM tick over for a while and go and do some other Niche Marketing in smaller niches without the poison, hype and crap!
thanks for the post
Pete
August 16th, 2010 at 10:43 pm
@ Ken – Unfortunately ALL niches are going to be affected by this because all niches are “served” by email. The volume of those emails has risen to such a stratospheric level and the value of them is so poor now that people just highlight and delete dozens of emails en-masse. As usual, a select group of abusers have started to ruin this for everybody. But here’s the kick…
… there are still some people whose emails I will open to read. Who are they? They are people who I KNOW will talk sense or offer me something of value NOT just whack me onto yet another list where that person will attempt to do the same. So… name and reputation is EVERYTHING. They don’t know it yet but all of these decepticons are building huge lists that will be worthless because their name will have no trust associated with it. Unfortunately, the COLLATERAL damage they do to the rest of us who WANT to do the right thing is also a concern.
@ Mike – a lot of people like me have made this stand against the relentless and irritating emails. I see Peter’s comment below. He’s another.
@ Peter – it’s true that you can build a list very fast with adswapping but there has to be some sort of control. People are offering and swapping such junk. A lot of the swappers are just using useless junk. I’ve opted in to them myself and some of it is so poorly written that i can’t even understand it. What use is that? Worse – when you swap with somebody offering such worthless trash YOU are the one seen as the perpetrator.
It begs the question WHY would you swap with somebody offering junk? It all boils down to trusting people. You trust them to send something of value. And there’s a lesson in itself – CHECK everything. If you send people garbage they will unsubscribe immediately and rightly so.
Thanks for adding to the discussion here Ken, Mike and Peter.
Gary
August 17th, 2010 at 8:43 pm
Hiya Gary,
I have had at least one of each of the subject lines you mention. But there is one particular line that really gets my goat.
‘David, frankly I’m shocked at you!!!’
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
What a subject line. I didn’t click the link and now I’m getting into trouble for it! I hate that line! Who thought it would spur me into action?
I even took the time to reply to the marketer just before I unsubscribed.
Oh, just looked through my email inbox for anything else to moan about and found…
‘RE: Support Response #18846′
The message then encouraged me to watch a sales video.
I repeat: AAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!
Getting stuff of my chest feels good. Thanks for that.
All the best,
Dave
August 18th, 2010 at 12:56 am
@ Dave – isn’t it funny how we all react differently to what we believe is the WORST of the WORST. That one just makes me roll my eyes and think: “Can’t you do any BETTER than THAT?!”
What REALLY, REALLY aggravates me is the amount of hideous sp@m (I can’t even mention the word here coz it just attracts so much more garbage) that asks me to ACKNOWLEDGE receiving it. Jeez! Blacklist immediately. Then they send the same crap via a 2nd, 3rd, 4th email address. Block. Block. Block. They JUST DON’T GET IT, DO THEY?
These people are the desperadoes of Internet Marketing. If you have to use tricks and tactics like this then IMO you are just NO BLOODY GOOD at what you are doing! (Not you Dave – LOL)
Thanks Dave. And thanks for the (whispering) Lion Bar.
Gary
August 18th, 2010 at 8:46 am
Hey Gazzman
You alright mate long time no speak,
Great post and so so true, I have to say I am guilty of using some of these subject lines.. and I am ashamed to admit it.
I was not comfortable using them at all, but in my quest for a big list and to keep growing my income, I went with it as I see other big marketers doing it.
I have wanted to totally cut back on adswaps or stop altogether but got caught in a trap as it has been my only working business model.
I know I know im stupid I should be doing my own thing, but its easy to get caught up in it all.
I have been pissed of with the way adswaps have been going for a long time now, I noticed guys were using these shite subject lines and I hated it but got caught up in it.
Not quite as bad as some of them though…
Why could everyone just not be honest then adswaps might not be in this mess.
Currently I am still using my old list to drive traffic to a couple of continuity programs, and I have now decided to take new action and build a whole new list using different methods. Just gotta find these new methods though LOL.
Also I find the IM niche so competitive, and getting fed up with people selling the same rehashed crap that does not work.
Its time for a re- think
I am gonna look at other niches outside of IM and alternative ways to make money online.
Hope you are ok pal.
Speak soon
Marcus
PS Go easy on me ……
August 18th, 2010 at 9:37 am
Pass! How are you my man? Have you fully recovered from Vegas yet? That day we went to the shooting range, hmm… I thought we were gonna need to call the ambo for you. LOL!
Anyway, Pass, at least you have the courage to own up to making a mistake and the good sense to make the decision not to repeat it.
You are 100% correct – naive people get caught up in the spiral of building a big list fast. Unfortunately, as you have identified, they get trapped in a merry-go-round. They see the SIZE of the list growing but what they don’t realize is that the responsiveness is so LOW.
You asked:
I CONTINUALLY ask the exact same question. There is a real HERD mentality in IM. So many of them are like a flock of pidgeons or sheep. They seem to have no ideas or mind of their own. It’s laughable really.
Good idea building the new list Marcus. The IM niche is massively over-crowded with people hawking so much crap. It’s so insidiously nepotistic.
Was that easy enough mate? LOL. Pass, you do make me laugh at times.
Gary
August 18th, 2010 at 2:10 pm
You and your damn Lion Bars!
Anyway, a look in my deleted folder from today’s emails reveals these magnificently poor subject lines:
- Nikki – it’s like printing money! (free for you)
- RE: my previous email…
- RE: Congratulations…Access has been approved
- Hi Nikki (personal invite)
- Are we ready to meet?
- Are you ready to make THE DECISION? (today)
- Nikki inundated because…
- Download Request: AXN23N567G – Please retain
- This is RIDICULOUS….You have to see it to believe it!!
Yeah, I’m bored with going through my deleted items now.
But why would any of these subject lines make me want to open the email? If I don’t recognise the name of the sender, then I know it’s just a load of spammy nonsense.
Even if I do recognise the name of the sender, then it’s still a load of spammy nonsense. Hence why it’s currently festering in my deleted items folder.
PMW
August 19th, 2010 at 10:09 am
@ Nix – “Are we ready to meet?” WHAT? TGM has NEVER had one of those! I feel insulted!
“Magnificently poor.” Oh dear. I am laughing at your sarcasm. Also laughing at your reference to “festering.” I get a visual on that and it ain’t nice. LOL!
TTYL Nix. How’s the caricature coming? Like the 2nd coming of Christ?
TGM.
August 19th, 2010 at 4:57 pm
I don’t know who’s coming or not to be honest, but funnily enough I was in contact about my PMW-alike earlier today. So unlike other predictions, this one will actually be surfacing at some point. Admittedly about 5 years into the making, but still…
PMW
August 19th, 2010 at 7:12 pm
nice 1 gazzman
so so spot on…
my biggest gripe is the bs sales letters..
i go the full hog and actually purchase the crap on
offer knowing full well that the download will never live up to
the sales letter..
i just like to check it out then get a refund asap just to give the reason for the refund that they are ripping people off..
i love studying all the scams out there so that when i finally
do start to market my first product then i know exactly what
people do not want..
im hoping this is a good way to start, maybe this subject should be my first e-book attempt???
thanks for all the info, great stuff..
peace, nicky
August 20th, 2010 at 8:08 pm
Hi Gazzman,
I’m SO glad to be seeing a backlash to this type of bloody awful
email marketing.
For exactly the reasons that you are talking about in your post I stopped ad-swapping about 3-4 months ago and started up a bi-weekly newsletter instead just trying to give back a little, often just with some hints and tips and always up front and honest.
I could have continued battering out email after email, watched the response rates drop and drop and just said hey, so what? It works and I make money.
Instead I stopped it dead and like the passman says, it’s difficult as your only working business model is gone but it does get you thinking about ways to get traffic and opt-ins in a more genuine way.
I can only hope that long term the “Decepticons” will suffer for their lack of imagination but I don’t believe it will happen. I believe that we will all suffer long-term and for many of us that will be a real pity.
So power to your pen Gazzman and lets stamp this crap out.
One thing I really miss about the adswappin though is the real connections I made with some of the guys including yourself and hope that I can be part of the solution and no longer the problem.
Regards
Andy
August 21st, 2010 at 2:02 pm
Decepticons…sounds like a Transformer or something! Did you see that movie?
Gary, I feel bad for the people who are looking to build their list and get on those chat rooms and are told to do the adswaps and the swappee sends them the email copy and the newbie swapper believes them and sends out those decepticons and loses subscribers.
Then the newbie swapper blames the subscribers for being a jerk, but in reality the swappee should have never steered the n00b to the wrong direction!
Poor N00bs. How do I know? Been there (although I haven’t sent out the decepticons because I read about it being crappy before that happened!)
But I would have! If someone I thought was a successful marketer sent me that copy and told me to mail it, and I believed in him, I would have sent it!
Marcus did it and he lived to tell about it. (I don’t EVER unsubscribe from Marcus, cause he’s my friend) because that’s what people told him to do! And he wants to be successful! kinda sucks that it was bad advice!
I would never send a sp*m complaint about another marketer, either. I would just unsubscribe if it bothered me that much. Some people just don’t know better. But I don’t want to get someone in trouble for something because of their ignorance, bad karma.
Thanks for bringing this up, maybe those poor uneducated marketers will read it.
Oh and thanks for the Journey, Life, Destiny.
You ROCK!!
Lisa~
August 22nd, 2010 at 11:42 am
Bhaaah!
The boring thing is that much of that crud
finds its way into my Inbox, and some
real stuff ends up in my SPAM box.
Sometimes the stuff in the SAMbox is
more interesting than the stuff in the
Inbox!
Best just to unsubscribe from the crud
merchants.
No point in bleating on about them!
Stephen
August 22nd, 2010 at 11:56 pm
@ Nix – um… perhaps you should “pose” for the caricature. I’m sure that would speed up the process. Hmm… then again… maybe NOT.
@ Nicky – Yes, sales letters are also out-of-control. When I write my sales letters I try to tone them down but the whole thing is like a dog chasing its tail – people seem to EXPECT hype and over-the-top-claims. I try to be factual but add a “bit” of excitement. It’s a tough balance.
@ Andy – Losing touch with good people is pretty sad. I agree. I will still do the occasional adswap but ONLY if I think the adswap partner is being honest and not trying to deliberately or covertly mislead people. As usual, the reckless few have loused it all up for everybody.
@ Lisa – LOL. That was the whole point of the Decepticon/Autobot post – to try to draw a parallel with the Transformer. Yes, I have seen the movie.
There are certainly some very experienced marketers out there who are using new people for their own selfish purposes. They don’t care if they burn people – just so long as get more email addys on their list to send their equally questionable offers to. Some of them even regard it as giving the new people an “education.”
Marcus Passey – yeah, he’s a good fellow.
Agreed, I wouldn’t be vindictive and try to hurt somebody for making a mistake or a genuine error of judgement.
Hope you are getting good value out of the JLD Self Improvement Course.
@ Braysie – Good to hear from you. I miss our tete-a-tetes on Twitter. That crossover between sp*m and real emails that you want happens to me too. Sometimes you just wonder: “Why did that end up in there?”
You’re correct about not bleating (lol – I got it) on about the deceptive practices but somebody needs to make a stand. Actually, there are quite a few people doing this – trying to educate those who know no better. Thankfully. A lot of what we are saying will fall on deaf ears because of the false promises that have been made to those people – eventually they will learn.
Thanks for your comments Nix, Nicky, Andy, Lisa and Stephen.
Gary
August 23rd, 2010 at 8:16 am
Well I think one decptive practice is to target potential dupes with phrases like: “If like me you’ve been cheated by unscrupulous Internet Marketers and really want something today that really, really, works then look no further.
On the surface it looks good, but really the target market is those vulnerable to being cheated and who have bought dodgy products in the past, and probably won’t bother to seek a refund if cheated once again!
I avoid any product that relies on the:
‘if you’ve been cheated in the past’
‘if you’ve not made any money online you’ve been lied to’
etc.
Also I check out who is selling any IM product at:
IMReportCard.com and The Warrior Forum
Stephen
August 23rd, 2010 at 11:09 am
Hi Gary:
I just got one that I’ve never seen before-
It was from Elton John, (LOL) asking if I wanted to make thousands daily!!! Wow, Elton John wanted to talk to little ‘ole me? Awesome, I couldn’t wait to open that email-NOT!
Use the names of celebrities, what a concept! (Technically, the marketer never said that it was Sir Elton John).
The sleaze factor-gotta love it!
Denis
August 23rd, 2010 at 9:39 pm
Hey dude,
How are ya??
I have to admit, I have been slightly guilty of using some pretty bad subject lines in the past, but there are still some that I have NEVER used and NEVER will!
Things like “Notification of Payment Received” are the biggest ones that get me going. I always look for the unsub link on these, but 9 times out of 10 there isn’t one … aarrgg!!!
I do think that some of the subject lines used now are really giving adswapping a bad name.
I don’t swap as much as I was, but will always re-write anything that is deemed to be “spammy” as it does no one any favours.
I have also started a new list with Rob to do with another product we have released
Hope you’re ok, and business is good?
Talk soon,
Paul
August 24th, 2010 at 2:18 am
Hi Gary,
Great post! I couldn’t stop laughing as I read it. I feel exactly the same way. When I started seeing some of my adswap partners that have tens of thousands of optins using these ‘Decepticon’ tactics I thought to myself, “Should I be doing this also?” “Is that what you need to do to get a big list and a better email open rate?”
After thinking it through, I came to the same conclusions you have, i.e. yes, you might get a better initial open rate with such subject lines as “notification of payment received” but at the end of the day, your list members are going to despise you and unsubscribe from your list.
It’s definitely not a good long-term business strategy.
And isn’t that what list-building is all about? Building a long-term business model upon a foundation of trust?
When I consider adswapping with a potiential adswap partner I also look at their optin process. If it is too confusing or misleading I don’t agree to adswaps. I’ve found that I get lots of unsubscribes from list when I send them to a site that does such things as:
- After the optin, they’re directed straight to a sales page that doesn’t explain that the free gift is arriving in their inbox.
So many times my list members reply to me saying, “Hey, where’s the free gift that ‘so and so’ said that I would get!”
- The promised free gift is really just a sales video for a paid product.
This is the worst. The free gift is really just a teaser piece of info (that everyone already knows anyway) that leads them to have to buy a product.
At the end of the day, the Decepticons always lose
All the best,
John
August 24th, 2010 at 12:30 pm
@ Stephen – Agreed. I hate that tactic too. Sort of like “I’m the good guy. Trust me.” And then WHAM. [Having said that I will make a statement below that will amaze/amuse/appal you. I'm still trying to figure it out]
@ D-man – WOW! That IS low… not to mention ridiculous. I see now that Twitter is “certifying” celebrity sites so that the punters know it is the REAL celebrity. How bloody SAD are some people – impersonating others. What d*ckheads!
@ Paul – Yep, some false emails really get you annoyed and THAT is one of my pet hates too. I will also re-write emails I don’t like the tone or wording of. One thing I ALWAYS remove is… “my good friend” and also “ONLY 37 copies left.” NOBODY with an IQ over 80 will believe that yet so many dummies are using it. Sheesh!
@ John – Some things just cross the bounds of general decency. I would feel like an idiot sending some of those subject lines, not to mention a creep. I agree John – this sort of thing is short-term thinking.
Yes, I get a LOT of subscribers sending abusive emails when they simply don’t understand the OTO sales page technique. That’s because the marketer hasn’t explained it UP-FRONT. Then again, some subscribers don’t read things properly and jump to conclusions far to fast. When you get a combination of those two – EXPLOSION!
A gift should be just that – a stand-alone gift – NOT a teaser for some paid product. All of my gifts are stand-alones. I feel quite proud to offer something worth $27 for nothing. But I am modifying my procedures now so that people actually realize that. I’m sure that most of my stuff just sits on hard-drives and gets forgotten. But at least I have given good value.
The other thing that annoys me is the number of adswappers who get some cruddy LOW-value, pidgeon English, junky report that is full of spelling mistakes and is a general piece of dubious writing at best that tells people FA. They seem to think that rubbish like this will be highly prized and greatly received. Swapping cr*p like that just gets a massive unsub rate.
Thanks guys.
Gary
August 24th, 2010 at 12:42 pm
Remember where I said to Stephen above:
?
Well, this just blew me away…
… a couple of days ago, I sent an email out to one of my lists. I wanted to let the people know that I was only gonna do the “RIGHT THING” by them. The email was selling NOTHING. It was simply alerting the subbies to a site that I found very helpful. Here is the PS I appended to that email…
Now, I ask you – WHAT is wrong with THAT?
Obviously there was SOMETHING wrong with it because it generated the HIGHEST complaint rate that I have EVER had!
I mean, I was just saying, in a NICE way, you can leave if you don’t like what I am sending you. Well, the unsub rate was fairly low but those who did unsub felt the need to “punish” me by registering complaints. WTF? WHY? Why couldn’t they just unsub?
This leads me to believe that:
(a) Some people are serial pests and will get annoyed at ANYTHING or
(b) Some other so-called marketers who were lurking on my list didn’t like my honesty. Maybe it made them feel bad so they wanted to “teach” me a lesson.
Anyway, this just proves to me that there are stupid people on both sides of the fence – marketers AND subscribers. Then again, maybe I am not understanding it. What do you think?
Gary
August 24th, 2010 at 3:07 pm
Hi Gary
I agree totally with your comments on email titles. Some of these emails come from so called “Gurus” who should know better. Unfortunately their subscribers copy these tactics believing that this is the right way to go.
When I get emails with this sort of crappy headline I usually just unsubscribe.
The other thing that PI%%es me off is getting 3 or 4 emails form the same marketer with exactly the same headline aand message within a couple of hours.
Every time you subscribe to get one of their products you are put on a different list and they then send the same email to all their lists without checking that your email address is not duplicated.
I know if you have a large list this is maybe not as easy to do as someone who only has a small list. One way I am trying to ensure that I do not send duplicate emails to the same person is by subscribing all my optins to a master list and then, if it is a general email, sending it to that list only. If I am sending a specific email which is relevent to one optin list only then it goes to that list only. I do this by using the automation rules section of my autoresponder.
Richard
August 24th, 2010 at 11:48 pm
@ Richard – Like I said: “Monkee see, monkey do.” Yes, it seems that whenever somebody has an idea – whether it be good, bad or even ATROCIOUS – all the copy-cat marketers duplicate it word-for-word. Don’t these people have a mind of their own? Duh!
That’s a GOOD IDEA about the master list. I need to investigate that myself because I have TONS of duplicates. I don’t want to annoy people either but – as my comment above proves – some people will complain about ANYTHING. I’ve even had unsubs from sending out a NO-OPT-IN pdf.
I guess it takes all types. As I refer to often – Jesus Christ was crucified, Mother Teresa was hated by some and Princess Di was criticised and tormented when her persona entered the public arena. We have suicide bombers, terrorists and idiots who attempt to destroy everything that others hold dear. I guess we must expect a percentage of NUTTERS on email marketing lists.
Thanks Richard.
Gary
August 25th, 2010 at 12:19 pm
Hi Gary
The automation rules only apply once you have set them up. They do not apply to any existing email addresses but only to new signups from when you set them up.
As such they may not be as useful to someone who already has a number of large lists with different list titles, otherwise they work very well.
Richard
August 25th, 2010 at 5:28 pm
Hi Gary:
In truly uncharacteristic form (for me), this time around I’ll side with the righteous Internet Marketers, like yourself. I remember a long (long) time ago you wrote a post about freebie seeking monkeys and bananas? (don’t want to give too much away or screw it up). Perhaps it is time to resurrect that post once again…
Perhaps under a new post, “Subscribers Suck Too”…
Coming off a recent giveaway event, I’ll even throw in my two cents worth…
Denis
August 26th, 2010 at 12:50 am
@ Richard – Thanks mate. I figured that would be the case.
@ Denis – Yep. That post was called “Free Banana Monkeys” – actually, I think it was published in Garry Parkes’ “Profit Pulling Platform” newsletter.
I have tried several different ideas of late – to TRY to appease angry subscribers but, to be honest, they are still angry and still vindictive. Not all of them, of course, but there are enough IDIOTS on lists to cause mayhem.
A friend of mine (Randy Koehler) even received a DEATH THREAT. It was very explicit and detailed about the attack that was going to be made against him.
I’ve supplied high quality e-books to subscribers who immediately unsubscribe after getting them – that’s a NICE thing to do. NOT! They have even come to this blog, downloaded everything they can for free then unsubscribed. That’s REALLY nice. So, I’m about to change their ability to do that. In fact, I’ve already started the process.
I have even sent NO opt-in pdfs to my lists and received complaints and abuse about those too. WTF? I spend a LOT of time and effort bringing this information to people.
So, it is very OBVIOUS that there is a hard-core set of people on BOTH sides (ie marketers and subscribers) who are frustrated, nasty, mean and vindictive. They will NEVER be happy no matter what you do for them.
One other thing that is pretty frustrating is the speed of engagement that some people will launch an attack at you. I have lost count of the number of people who fire off an IMMEDIATE email in all capitals, in red 16 point, underlined font: “WHERE IS MY FREE GIFT? YOU SAID IT WAS FREE. IT’S NOT FREE. YOU DON’T EVEN SEND IT. YOU SUCK!”
Sometimes it takes a few minutes for the email containing the free offer to arrive. So, rather than wait they will send an aggressive email straight away. It really shows their mindset when they resort to name-calling too. I had one person unsubscribe with the parting comment: “Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck youuuuuuuuuuuuuuu.” Nice huh?
Also, quite a few people simply CANNOT follow simple instructions. They either don’t read or misunderstand or can’t be bothered following the delivery system. Again, they are very fast to become abusive and critical. Many of these types are very accusatory and even when you answer them politely to teach them what to do they still refuse to believe you OR want to argue their pathetic case. Sadly, they are clouded by so much anger and frustration that they have NO HOPE of success even if they get what they want for nothing.
I find it amusing that when you send out, say, 10,000 emails that you will ALWAYS get 3 or 4 mis-guided people who will argue black and blue that YOU are WRONG and that YOU are a scumbag scammer when everybody else gets their freebie without an issue. Dealing with these people can take hours and, even when they get what they want there is rarely an apology. I’ve just about reached the point where I can no longer be bothered dealing with these types. They are very rarely grateful for what you do for them.
So, sadly, it is the HARD CORE group of people who totally SCREW it up for everybody. I guess it’s just a reflection of where their lives are at. They will remain angry and abusive until they realize that such behaviour is leading them to a completely dead end.
Whew! Almost a rantish post all of its own Denis. Feel free to share your observations and experiences.
Gary
August 26th, 2010 at 10:31 am
Hi Gary
Couldn’t agree more… I am totally fed up with these emails…
Why use subject lines like that?
Yes it will probably increase the Open Rate on that email but it can’t be doing the Internet Marketers Reputation any good.
If the newbie IM follows the link then they will soon figure out what the ploy was…
And for the rest of us it’s just Annoying….
Surely these marketers would be better writing a unique Email that engages their subscribers and builds on their relationship.
Instead of sending some spammy Adswap email.
James
August 26th, 2010 at 11:40 am
@ James – it’s always the select minority group that stuffs it up for everybody. Same as offline – graffiti idiots, bashers, abusers, home invaders, thieves, vandals.
There’s people on BOTH sides of the equation that need to be gotten rid of – spammy marketers and abusive subscribers. Nobody needs either of them and all they do is make it so much harder for everybody else.
Thanks for visiting James.
Gary
August 26th, 2010 at 1:52 pm
GazzMan
I think on this one where we’re all just going to have to ride out the storm created by these d*ckheads, take whatever collateral damage comes our way on the chin and move on!
Yes they are bringing the industry into disrepute and sadly we’re all getting tarnished with the same brush. I had my first ‘unsubscribe reason message’ the other day which simply read:
“too many offers in too many emails sent too often. spammer.”
I have to be honest I was pretty p*ssed at this because I’ve only sent 3 messages in the last 6 weeks! Yep, 1 every 2 weeks (and 1 of those was notification about a new blog post) and I’m getting called a spammer!!
I don’t take it personally…he could be an abusive subscriber if so ‘good luck in life with that attitude Jack’…heck it could even be that this guy is OK and was just doing a mass unsubscribe and sending the same message to all…not that it matters because that’s not the point…
The point is: it’s happening but it won’t last forever. The model that the Decepticons are using just can’t last:
Decepticon: “I’ve got a list of over 20, 000 & swap 3 times a day. I’ll have over 30,000 by the end of they year. I’m an awesome marketer!”
Autobot: “Yeah and how many people actually open your messages”
Decepticon: “Hang on I’ll just check…right…200 opens and 80 clicks!”
Autobot: “Numbnuts!”
…They’re just going to end up with MASSIVE DEAD LISTS!!! & The only winner there is Aweber
There’ll always be abusive subscribers and there’ll always be scammers…not a lot we can do about that…
but I think the number of copycats will greatly reduce as it dawns on them that they’ve spent all that time effort and money building a big list of cr*p!!
It might get worse before it gets better but the Autobots can weather through this affiliate clone war and still be standing when the dust settles!
Hope all is good down your way mate!
Rob
(** RJB **)
September 6th, 2010 at 11:06 am
Gary!! Brilliant, brilliant post!! And Commentators: brilliant, brilliant Replies!
I am SO FED UP with all the rubbish, knickers and CARP that I’m doing a mass unsubscribe. Everyone. Now. Gone.
BUT… and this is very important… the good ones — the ones that have something interesting to say and an ethical way of saying it — I’m following through blog, Twitter, Facebook instead.
So, yes, Gary, I’ve unsubscribed from your mailings BUT YOUR BLOG IS TOP OF MY IM BLOG LIST!
And through that I’ve discovered more about you, what you do and what you think — and I like it! And I’ve discovered sensible like-minded people who are happy to say what they think. People worth following.
Word to the Wise: don’t sign up for things / buy things / join things / commit to regular payments when you’re not well! I can tell you from experience that the minute you’re feeling better (and thinking a bit more clearly) most of it will come as a shock. I’ve now got a load of things to cancel and work out what on earth I was thinking about when I signed up.
Sigh.
Jane
September 6th, 2010 at 11:08 am
Darn it! Didn’t click the ‘Gary, email me when someone comments!’ thingy. Too carried away replying.
Jane
September 7th, 2010 at 3:31 pm
totally agree.
i daily received many emails like this. with RE:——, Your free gift, Your last chance
they just want to deceive peoples and this is really annoying. the first thing i do to find a unsubscribe link..
but the thing i hate is simple minded peoples. who become target very easily with those subject lines.
September 12th, 2010 at 12:30 am
TGM,
And so it continues – I delete so many emails without reading them – I really should set aside an hour or so to remove myself from lists that aren’t of value to me. On the flipside, it isn’t fair on the marketer if I sit on their subscriber list but never open their emails. So I feel a good old rummage and a sort out is long overdue (still talking about emails!).
I agree with something mentioned above that’s particularly insulting – when a group of marketers all get together to pimp their latest product to the masses so we all get about 7-10 emails with the same title, same content, just a different affiliate link & from a different name. You can’t tell me they’ve looked at their lists & gone “oh, this is a product on Twitter, so I think my Social Networking groups will benefit from this” – no, they just send it out to everyone on their list. That’s probably another reason that I don’t find a lot of their offers either appealing or relevant.
With a nod to Stephen (Bray) above, I’m not a sheep or a clone. Therefore I don’t appreciate being treated as such by some of these people. Do they think we don’t notice that we’re getting lots of emails with the same text?!
This is going into soapbox territory so I’m going to fly off on the broomstick and get a cup of tea before I get too cross!
PMW
September 14th, 2010 at 5:39 pm
Wow! What a passionate rant and the comments are rockin’ too! I’ve subscribed to a lot of these email lists just to glean a little bit of information to get me started. I don’t have the budget to buy much of what’s being offered out there. I know there is some quality stuff that is just waiting for me to have a bit of income before I can get to it.
But I must see a couple hundred emails a day. Most just get straight to the trash folder. I’ll usually get 5 or 6 copies of the same email (don’t they realize a SWIPE file is a TEMPLATE for them to change?) from different lists when there’s a launch coming up.
But the basic problem is that this stuff works up to a point. There’s little or no cost to send out thousands of emails and the return is great if you get 1 sale. ROI is pretty high when you look at it that way.
The secret is to find a way to reduce the ROI on these techniques to 0 (or even take it negative). As long as there are newbies coming into the arena then the sales will be there. As the saying goes “There’s one born every minute.”
That leaves increased cost as the way to reduce the ROI and that just hurts everyone.
I think we need to have some way to increase the ROI for honest marketing techniques by supporting one another. Maybe we need some sort of “Internet Marketer’s Creed” with accountability somehow — like a Better Business Bureau.
October 1st, 2010 at 1:12 pm
Hey Gary,
I thought today, I would visit your blog and as always – you’ve provided the highlight of my day (It’s been raining here for the past few days with a light break yesterday before it continued to precipitate heavily for the past few hours today) with your most wonderful and excellent posts.
As many have already said – it is disgusting to see and hear that so many email marketers have resorted to such a desperate low tactic of faking and cloning genuine email lines just to get subscribers and people to view their emails.
One does start to wonder what they subscribers attrition rate would be upon sending such types of email – and like many of other commentators have also replied – it surely ain’t doing their reputation any good (that is ofcourse they are hiding behind fake aliases/pseudonyms. Such as a shame that the internet marketing, in particular the email marketing side has turned so bitter sweet/ sour. Not only that, it certainly has ruined what was once a genuine viable form of business opertaing model for the rest us who want to genuine offer decent and helpful content via email that would benefit others.
Oh well – anyway take care and all the best.
Nigel
PS: Keep up the fantastic work and posts!
October 5th, 2010 at 9:38 am
Hi Gary,
As you are known for, this is a very strong rant. But it’s right on.
I’ve seen most of these con subject lines from con people. There’s one that I’ve seen more than once that you don’t mention which is “Your Password”.
How idiotic can these decepticons be? I guess they think that people will think they are clever because they made them open the email. It only leads to loss of any shadow of a trust and to the unsubscribe button.
Vance
October 6th, 2010 at 7:59 am
Christ Almighty – there are some real lowlives and d*ckheads and trailer-park-trash people dumping their spammy garbage on other people’s blogs. I just had to delete 100′s of moronic comments like: “Gee, I’ve been searching for this valuable information for weeks and I’ve just found it here.” Yeah? Is that so? Well, I’d like to send a cyber kick to the groin down the line to all those fools.
DUH! I didn’t come down in the last shower all you twits who keep hammering me with this CRAP.
Anyway, I’ve been meaning to update this post for quite a while and the amount of junk that I’ve been inundated with has seen me putting it off for far too long. My apologies to all you GOOD people who put GOOD comments here.
I’ll proceed to reply to you all, however briefly now because I have some new content for anybody who cares. JFYI, I’m changing tack a bit to get back on course with my primary concerns – motivation and self esteem issues.
Regards
Gary
October 6th, 2010 at 8:17 am
@ Rob – sorry mate. I should have answered you and EVERYBODY here way before this but I have been oh-so-busy online and offline PLUS having the unenviable task of wading through those 100′s of totally useless comments to pick out the ones that were useful. I had to search through them one at a time so i didn’t inadvertently delete somebody like your goodself.
Like I said – whenever ANY good idea comes along out comes the moron brigade to totally stuff it up. That’s why we have SO MANY LAWS in all our western countries now – trying to educate the dills. But, in effect, all it does is frustrate the decent people.
Rob, that comment you got was just a deperate plea from somebody who took it upon themself to punish somebody and you were it. I’ve copped it too. They get 100′s of these idiot emails (like what I was ranting about above) and then ONE more email just sends them into a fit of anger.
You are correct. So many of these copy-cat “marketers” are just going to end up with a massive list of completely unresponsive email addresses. They are deluding themselves. They just cannot see it yet. NEVER over-estimate human intelligence Rob OR common-sense. The person who created that word – COMMONsense sure did have a sense of humor! Coz it is ANYTHING but common.
@ Jane – Good to see you here. Ha ha! YOU choose where YOU go for info. Good idea. Well, watch this space coz I’m about to ramp up the usefulness of this blog. And if something really, really STUPID comes to my attention (which is pretty often) then I will go on an UNHOLY rant to expose it for what it is. The Gazzman has been known to go ballistic in the past and – NO DOUBT – it will happen in the future.
Because of all this IDIOTIC INBRED STUPIDITY being engaged by so many would-be-if-they-could-be-copy-cats I am going to start concentrating on some LIFE TIPS. People can take them, scorn at them or tell me I’m a d*ckhead. I don’t care. The info will be here very shortly starting with LIFE TIP #1.
Next two replies coming up…
Thanks Rob and Jane.
Gary
October 6th, 2010 at 8:31 am
@ Ali – DECEPTION is the KEY word with all this. If something is so bloody good then let it stand on its MERIT – without all the con-artistry. What’s so hard about that?
@ Nix - Fair? Look what they are doing to you? Granted not EVERYTHING I send out is gonna appeal to everybody but I NEVER deceive in subject lines and I NEVER deceive in the body of the emails either. If people want me to do that then I just tell them to forget it.
Pimping bad emails when a “launch” is on is yet another pet hate of mine. If I think something is good enough to tell people about then I ALWAYS write my own overview of it. Copying crappy subject lines and subject material is an insult to the person that it is being sent to. I absolutely REFUSE to do that. Besides, I can always write something far superior to the tacky junk that all the others send.
Nix, jump on that soapbox ANY time you want. I LIKE strong people with strong opinions here!
(Cup of tea – LOL! You and your tea!)
Thanks Ali and Nikki
Gary
PS: Nix, I really like your little witch on a broomstick caricature.
October 6th, 2010 at 8:47 am
@ Lone Wolf – You look more like Tazz the tasmanian devil – LOL! Nevertheless, what you are speaking of is laziness on the part of most people. And they are too dumb to realize that the person who wrote the email in the first place has written a STINKER. But they think if some “Guru” wrote it that it’s gonna “convert” for them. DUH! What’s so intelligent about copying the work of a sixth grader?
Your comment about the TEMPLATE is a good one. That is EXACTLY what I do. I copy the junky email into notepad then I extract all the facts and write my own email, then give it a decent subject line. It ain’t all that hard but it does require a small amount of time and work – something that the instant gratification hedonists are loathe to do.
@ Nigel – howdy. Highlight of the day? LOL! I think people who come here like a mixture of ranting, humor and what I consider to be the truth. And some seem to prefer it when I go thermo-nuclear on something.
As you have so correctly stated, one other thing that some people are doing is falsifying their real name in emails. They use a collection of names so that they can send even more spammy junk to their lists. Some people are sending 10-20 emails per day to their list under a bunch of FALSE NAMES. I reckon that is LOW! A very sad tactic indeed. And dumb. The CAN-SPAM Act will soon catch up with these types – IF their autoresponder service doesn’t disbar them first.
Thanks for your comments Lone Wolf and Nigel.
Gary
October 6th, 2010 at 9:39 am
@ Vance – Yes. What is the point of tricking people into opening an email? When the subject line is completely at odds with what is inside then I – like EVERYBODY else – get annoyed. Do you buy ANYTHING off ANYONE who annoys you? NO! It’s just so bloody stupid!
I DETEST emails like this:
“Notification of payment received”
And when you open it there is some LAME garbage about something TOTALLY IRRELEVANT. Trust = ZERO!
Thanks for commenting Vance.
Gary
October 6th, 2010 at 9:41 am
@Gary … You’re a breath of Fresh Air!! I so LOVE a real, passionate, intelligent rant.
Got so many irritating things to sort out today (like a website that’s died on me. Sigh) — Reading your replies has perked me up, no end. So thanks for that.
@Nix … I never go anywhere without my Portable Soapbox. You never know when you’re going to need it. And you can even lend it to friends
Jane
October 6th, 2010 at 9:47 am
@ Jane – I thought I was seeing things. LOL! You must have come back while I was answering everybody. I had to look twice.
Thanks for saying that.
Sorry to hear about your website.
I know Nikki well. I reckon you two would get on like a house on fire. Hop over to her blog and say howdy. I know Nix would appreciate that.
Thanks again Jane.
Gary
And now… to work on my new blog post. This will be something positive rather than crapping on about all this useless negative JUNK!
October 6th, 2010 at 8:06 pm
@Gary — I forgot to shave the day that picture was taken 8=)
I agree with you in your reply to @Vance. Why do these guys think that you’re going to buy anything from them (let alone stay on their list) after some of these annoying things?
Rant on brother!