I know I've written on this subject before, but it has got to be written about again. Especially since some gurus have written about it in the past, and don't seem to remember it. The subject... misleading subject lines in email.
I've read scads of free reports and ebooks on the dos and don'ts of email marketing, written by gurus of the day, and in those reports, they cover the use of misleading subject lines. You know the ones I'm talking about: Notification of Payment Received, and the like. The subject lines that are geared to get you to open the message, leading you to believe you've made some money, or won some great prize...
If you go to the following FTC web site, regarding The CAN-SPAM Act: Requirements for Commercial Emailers, you will find in bold letters, "It prohibits deceptive subject lines. The subject line cannot mislead the recipient about the contents or subject matter of the message."
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/buspubs/canspam.shtm
Recently though, I have been getting a flood of emails from gurus, with this subject line: NOTIFICATION OF PAYMENT. Now, when I read these emails all I was seeing was a sales pitch for a new product/service based affiliate program.
Here is one I received today:
From: Justin Blake
Hello Trina,
I suspect that subject line got your attention...
In fact, I know it got your attention!!
Because it gets mine AND puts a smile on my face each & every day when I receive them!
I'll show you how you can get those same notifications on a daily basis (it's VERY easy).
My good friend John Denton is opening up the doorway to the exact same, pr0ven marketing system that we are using to receive hundreds of those $10.00 notifications each month.
Go N0w: http://www.3loa.com/ij.htm
I am looking to help 100 people (one-on-one), explode their home based income through the roof!
If you're not generating at least $10k/month online already in this day and age, then you really have no reason not to read John's special report.
My goal is to have YOU generating a 'healthy residual inc0me' within the next 30days.
Go N0w: http://www.3loa.com/ij.htm
Best wishes, Justin Blake - CEO
P.S. I already have 64 of 100 of the positions filled..
Yes, they're going fast.
So I highly recommend that you take a serious look at this right now..
Go N0w: http://www.3loa.com/ij.htm
. . . . . . -- My Contact Info --
It doesn't matter if you are on a list, the law clearly states that you cannot use deceptive subject lines for the purpose of commercial email. And, by his own admission, Justin Blake used this subject line to get me to open this message. That's a BIG NO-NO!
So, how are people who are new to Internet marketing to protect themselves from becoming law breakers, when the very gurus they follow are doing this sort of thing? And Justin Blake is not the only one who is doing it either. His email is the only one I saved, for reference in this article.
Now, I don't believe in hitting the SPAM button for every email I didn't want to get, but gurus who use this deceptive and illegal practice to get attention should be reported for spam. Don't you think?
These are the same people who are getting filthy rich, selling you products on how to make money online. They're breaking the law as their raking in your cash. Are these the people you really want to learn from?
In my opinion, with very few exceptions, Internet marketing gurus are some of the biggest scammers out there. How many people have gotten filthy rich after buying and promoting their products, seminars, or what have you? I want to hear from those folks. If you've been able to quit your day job after buying their stuff and following their guidance, tell me about it! Because, I know a lot of people, and I have yet to meet one who has made a fortune online as the result of some guru's tutelage. Oh yeah, you see a bunch of testimonials all over the place, for this guru or that one, but I'll bet my last dollar that all of those people are joint venture partners who never paid for the product, probably never used it, but got their name and/or link on the guru's high traffic web site.
I'm not saying that every online guru is less than ethical. I've got a hard drive full of guru information myself. I will say that in all of that stuff, from all those different gurus, I have found only a small handful that I can honestly say I respect.
Here is a little story about the guru who couldn't be bothered to edit his own web site copy. I went to RB's web site, to check out his latest info product, and noticed several grammatical and spelling errors. Being that he is considered a guru, I wrote to him to let him know that his sales copy was in need of editing. First of all, I was ignored. After a week of not getting a response, I went back to the helpdesk and saw that my ticket had been closed. So, I wrote again, and asked why it was closed without response. When I was contacted, I was told that RB was too busy to edit his copy, and they couldn't justify the expense of hiring an editor/proof reader. WHAT?
This guy claims to be making millions of dollars, but he can't justify the expense of hiring a proof reader? This is a guy who is telling people how to make money online? I have to laugh. LOUDLY!
I do not make millions of dollars, but at least I do my best to make sure my web site content isn't sloppy, and if I miss an error, and someone brings it to my attention, I fix it. I certainly don't tell my subscribers that I can't be bothered with it.
It has also become evident to me that gurus do not take the time to be bothered with cleaning their email lists. A couple of years ago, I logged into a whole slew of affiliate programs I'd signed up for and changed my email address, and my surname, and I still get email to the old address and in my maiden name. Sloppy... that's all I can say. It's as if they don't delete the old information, they just add the new.
The thing that really gets my dander up is the fact that these guys are making buckets of money, selling you information on how and what to do, and they don't do business properly, or ethically themselves.
Be careful as to whom you follow.
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Contributor's Note
Copyright © 2007
The Trii-Zine Ezine
www.ezines1.com About the Author:
Trina L.C. Sonnenberg
Publisher - The Trii-Zine Ezine - Your Trusted Source for Internet Business and Marketing Information. Serving online professionals since 2001. ISSN# 1555-2276
http://www.ezines1.com/triizine
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