How To Make Money From Spam

How to Make Money from Spam
By Paul Uhl

You can profit from spam. First, I want it to be clear,
however, I consider spam to be the lowest form of
marketing. It really isn't marketing at all actually,
because most people think of it as a nuisance and delete
it.

Much like the annoyance of mosquitoes on a summer
evening, spammers do get a LOT of attention, but
eventually get squished or sprayed.

How many of you get spammed? Raise your hands. Okay, don't
raise your hands - I already have a pretty good idea. If
you have a website with your email posted, if you advertise
in classified ads (free or paid), and yes, even if you
advertise in ezines, you are most likely receiving spam.

Personally, I receive hundreds of spam emails daily. How
do I deal with them? First, I look at it as the cost of
doing business. It's the cost of posting monthly to
thousands of free classifieds, and exposure of my website.
Second, I view spammers as totally amateur. Third, of
course I have a spam filter system. And lastly, I REPLY to
them as much as possible.

Assuming spammers to be amateurs opens up some avenues of
marketing. Because of the heavy penalties for spamming
(complaints, flaming, being blocked from ISPs, and even
losing ISP accounts, etc), it is hard for me to believe
they are anything but amateurs and not to be taken
seriously for anything about which they are promoting.

Responding to spam is a rather warped view of permission
marketing. But after all, they did send you email first.
Some of the offenders are perhaps now "cloaking" their true
identity or abusing some of the web-based services.
However, for those to whom you are able to respond, there
is some market potential and "free" leads.

Whenever you receive an email stating

- "I saw your ada, but you might be interested in thisa
blah blah blah", or
- "If you join my program, I'll join yours", or
- "According to spamming code BS 601 I can spam you once
as long as you reply with 'delete', etca,

you have a rather strong indicator you are dealing with an
amateur marketer. These amateur marketers are motivated,
although ignorant.

I believe that ignorance is treatable. Since my business
is training, I have found this source of free marketing
leads to be substantial. This has been a source for several
of my affiliate programs. With proper guidance and
training, former "spammers" can be effective recruiters.

Can spammers help your business? They may be misguided
amateurs, but they are also highly motivated. If you need
leads, try responding to spam in your mailbox. It could
surprise you.

(C)2002 Paul Uhl
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Paul Uhl is a training specialist for small business.
For more details about making nuisance email work for
you, send an email to: spam@...
Website: http://www.BusinessTrainingService.com
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