Green Eggs and Spam-6 Things NOT to Do Rant
I Do Not Like Them, Sam I Am!! No, I’m not experiencing a second childhood, or anything remotely close to that. Although, I know a few people who would say I never gave up my first childhood! Anyway… let’s talk about Spam, and I don’t mean the product from Hormel. I mean the e-mails you receive on a daily basis about male enhancement, botox, increased memory, and Hungarian mail order wives. Yeah right, I’m not the only one who receives the Hungarian mail order wives messages……am I?
A few days ago, I was included on a Facebook message from another internet marketer to several people on his list. While the message was fairly harmless in nature, and I have no doubt this marketer was doing his best to add value, the first Not To Do (NTD) comes up rather quickly:
1 -Don’t send out e-mail messages to lists of people where EVERYONE ELSE can see who is on the message. This goes for Facebook and any other social media outlet with e-mail like capabilities. Until Facebook comes up with a BCC option for sending out messages, this should not be a weapon in your arsenal.
When a person receives a message like this, automatically they are thinking one thing: SPAM.
Argue this point if you want, but the truth of the matter is, we judge ourselves by our actions, and others by their actions. This message was viewed as spam by many of the recipients, even though that was clearly not the sender’s intention.
After this confusion was cleared up, some small talk was traded on the now growing thread, and someone asked the original sender how he was doing with his business. The person clearly had more than a passing relationship with the OS (Original Spammer), as he called out his business by name, even though it had never been mentioned in the thread by name or description.
A very innocent, genuine question, but this was the land mine that triggered an explosion the likes of which haven’t been seen since the first Gulf War. Ok, it really wasn’t all that serious, but this is my story, so if I want to embellish, you just have to go along with it 
The next thing I know, I’m reading a message from another person on the e-mail chain, essentially bashing the OS’s primary company, in a very polite manner, and promoting her opportunity, which we’ll refer to as 
Now, I don’t know if the information spammer #2 provided is accurate, or if it isn’t. That doesn’t make a bit of difference, because the points here are:
2 -In any conversation-forum, e-mail chain, discussion board, or even offline-add relevant value to the conversation. Other than asking how spammer #1 was doing in his business, there was absolutely NOTHING about the thread relating to anyone’s primary business.
Question: if you are on a forum, and there’s a thread about cookies, and somewhere in that thread the word powder appears, would it be appropriate to then post about the benefits of using talcum powder in everyday life? Of course not, and it wasn’t appropriate here, either.
What this shows to me, in my humble but accurate opinion, is a person desperate to market their business at all costs. Without getting into the full psychology behind it, a person with a lack mentality does not know where there next lead is coming from, doesn’t believe they will ever get another lead, and is willing to do just about anything to get their message in front of anyone.
On the other hand, a person with an abundance mentality knows for certain that they will have ample opportunity to share their business opportunity with the right people, which the people on this list were clearly not. So point #3 is:
3 -Lack mentality Leads to Spam.
But there’s another point tied directly into point #3 that I don’t want to miss, and it’s this:
4-Being included on an e-mail, forum, etc.. with other people’s addresses visible does not give you permission to solicit them. If you want to spam your own list, that’s your choice. But go build your own list first. If spammer #1 wants to destroy his own credibility with marketing tactics that irritate his list, as painful as it can be to watch, he built the list, so he’s earned that right. Spammer #2? Stop being a lamprey 
, and go build your own stinkin’ list. Then irritate your list to your heart’s content, LOL.
Closely tied to these two points as well is point #5, which is:
5-Bashing another person’s company=deaf ears to everything you say, regardless of how true your statements are. Really? Do I really need to address this one? SMH….I feel like Kindergarten Cop right now. Who responds well to being told that anything they’re associated with sucks, no matter how nicely you but it? “Hey Mom, this dinner tastes like cow manure, can you add some Old Bay next time?” Try that tomorrow night and see what happens. This is about as bad as harassing the same 5 family members who didn’t want to get in your business last week about getting in it this week. Oh wait, that’s another post for another day.
6-People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. I’ll be 100% honest. I know people right now who are involved with business opportunities that suck. Like, really suck. I mean, just awful, borderline FTC violating, substandard marketing system suck. I could list out reason after reason why their soul should feel heavy for being associated with a business like theirs. BUT UNTIL I HAVE EARNED the type of trust that allows you to be that honest with a person, I keep my mouth shut. How do you earn trust? Easy-add value with no expectation of return. YES, I said no return. Give someone an apple, not because you want to hold it over their head someday that you gave them an apple, but because they’re HUNGRY.
Please post a comment, and let me know your take on this!
