Five years ago promotions by E-mail was the great equalizer. Mega corporations, small business and single persons could send as much e-mail to anyone, at any time and as much e-mail as they could get out. Mega corporation have whole staffs that did nothing but collect names and send out sales letters. The little companies did not have "staff" to do this. By and by companies developed e-mail programs that would send out thousands of e-mails an hour. For a while these e-mail programs sold for as much as $5,000.00 each. Many shared copies of these programs and some where outright stolen and new programs were developed and sold. E-mail "client lists" were sold at a premium and soon nearly everyone on the Internet was on every promoters list. Sales for everything offered in e-mail was going wild.

As copies of these high power e-mailing programs and lists filtered down the Internet lines. The programs got into the hands of people that used no responsibility or discipline with this programs. E-mail boxes everywhere were filled to the brim with "promotional e-mail" some times hundreds a day. People could not get off the e-mail lists that were getting sold just as fast as they got off on list they popped up on another. This glut of unsolicited e-mail came to be called SPAM...meaning in the box (e-mail box) and NOT a real meat (personal letters). Out of this madness the SPAMMER was born. While spammers were as little as 10% of the e-mail public, the problems they caused were towering.

The e-mail traffic got so heavy that Internet servers would freeze up under the stain. (Imagine 50 people sending out 100,000 e-mails and hour!) Soon Internet servers and e-mail box holders alike began to fold under the glut. The major Internet servers drafted laws to make "Spam" illegal on their servers. Later, this anti-spam law was passed into US law.

WHAT IS A SPAMMER?

By today's definition, a spammer is anyone who's sends unsolicited e-mail to a stranger, be that one piece or a thousand. Today anyone caught sending out unsolicited e-mail can loose their e-mail box, their web site and their Internet server. Worse they can also be charged as much as $100.00 per e-mail by sending it across state lines. So how can one promote by e-mail?

CREATIVE WAYS TO ADVERTISE BY E-MAIL

ONE LETTER AT A TIME

One of the best ways is to include your business e-mail address below your name with each and every e-mail letter you send out. If you have a program like Eudora Light or Pro it has a place where your can add "signatures." You simply type in what you wish to say add your web site link and hit save. Each time you e-mail out a letter or quote for a job your message and Web Site link be attached at the bottom of each letter. If you have a server like AOL just save your web site in "favorites" by double clicking on the red heart and at the next screen hit OK. When you wish to send your web site link simply double click "favorites" (the yellow envelop with a red heart on it) go to the bottom and hit more. This will form a list to your left of your favorite sites. To send a HOT link of your site, just place your cursor over the heart before you site and while holding down the mouse bottom drag it onto the letter box. Make sure your cursor is blinking where you want your link to go.

SPAM RECYCLING

Anyone that sends you an unsolicited e-mail with a valid e-mail address is opening them up to return spam. Just type up your own promotion and save the file. When the spam hits your mail box
just hit rely and cut and past your ad into the e-mail box.

BUYING ADS

You can buy ads with other established e-mail newsletters or newsgroup. These ad can run as much as $10.00 a WORD on down to Free depending on the circulation of the newsletter or e-paper. There is quite a bit to this and I have covered it under a separate header.