Why Internet Spam is Bad for Business

First let us establish firmly why spam is bad for you and your online business. If you habitually spam, here are some of the numerous risks you are taking:

-    You risk a ban in some sites.
-    Some individuals can stop following you.
-    Some will even block you from commenting.
-    You can be blocked from entire ISPs.
-    You risk getting “unfriended” on social media.
-    You can be included on spam lists that prevent your e-mail from getting through to most e-mail servers.
-    In some jurisdictions, you risk even monetary fines.
-    In some others, you can receive criminal sentences for breaking the laws prohibiting spam.


 
When many online marketers open their e-mail boxes daily and see numerous unsolicited commercial advertisements therein, very many usually get pissed off as a result. Even though they are aware that the Internet is largely free for all and its use is widespread, spamming on it is some form of abuse. The real reason why spam is repulsive to many! Right now, there is no total restriction on commercial use of the Internet but there still exists some form of restrictions on unsolicited commercial electronic messages. Unsolicited commercial electronic messages constitute spam which in many climes is regulated by law.

Let’s face it, unsolicited commercial e-mail or other communication in any form is always very annoying. Inspite of the restrictions, it is still going on regardless. Now, what if there are no restrictions at all? That scenario can best be imagined. Here is what is likely though. Without restriction, spam mails could come in such huge numbers as to render your other communication completely useless as to be capable of shutting down your e-mail or forum server altogether. If you work online, that scenario can put you out of business completely, albeit temporarily.

Even with all the negative consequences, surprisingly many Internet users still routinely spam.  You then wonder whether such people are not aware that spam manages to get many Internet users mad most of the time. Here are the consequences/ course of action immediately available to those who get mad because of spam. When people get mad, there is always a quick resort to reporting such spammers to their ISPs or other organizations or to the government authorities. That done, what follows may be as bad as losing Internet service or even facing civil and criminal penalties depending on the laws/regulations and the climes. That no doubt is really bad news for any Internet Business. 


 

Negative Consequences of Internet Spam

 Spamming being unsolicited communication on the Internet apart from being an irritant can precipitate many and varied consequences for spammers. No serious business person likes to sperm or be spammed. This is because the consequences of spam can extend much farther than losing the attention of some customers or even prospects. You can expect to get into a profitable business relationship with anyone by starting as an irritant or at worst a nuisance. Businesses don’t thrive on nuisance values so you’ve got to be very careful what messages you put out on the Internet and the results you expect from such messages. Negative results from spam messages can in certain circumstances be very bad for business. Spamming can really be a much more serious matter over and above the adverse effect it has on your marketing efforts. Below are some of the negative consequences you risk with spam messages on the Internet.

-    You risk a ban in some sites.
-    Some individuals can stop following you.
-    Some will even block you from commenting.
-    You can be blocked from entire ISPs.
-    You risk getting “unfriended” on social media.
-    You can be included on spam lists that prevent your e-mail from getting through to most e-mail servers.
-    In some jurisdictions, you risk even monetary fines.
-    In some others, you can receive criminal sentences for breaking the laws prohibiting spam.

Experienced marketers have since discovered that spam can have many adverse consequences in varying degrees. Short of being banned from a particular site altogether, spammy comments may cause particular individuals to despise intensely. A consequence of which some will stop following you or even block your comments altogether! How do you expect to acquire customers and retain them if avoidable and careless spam messages from you manage to piss them off most of the time? The people you piss off with your spam might actually be people who may be quite eager to know more about your business and may even be willing to do business with you down the road. One inappropriate spam message can block any such opportunities for ever. Can you now see why posting a spammy comment or sending a spammy message can be a real handicap for your marketing efforts? For serious minded marketers, spamming is a real business risk not worth taking.

Even with all the negative consequences, many Internet users still routinely spam. Why must this be so? The reason lies with the diversity of use and the coverage. We know that the Internet covers the entire world. That on its own comes with so many diverse rules and regulations on the subject matter. In reality particularly in many advanced countries, each state or province within each country can have different laws. That creates a scenario of potentially many different laws in many different jurisdictions pertaining to spam. Depending on the service contract, there are conditions when you may even lose your Internet service or having your domain blocked due to spam. That kind of scenario if it happens is really bad news for any Internet Business. Why then do people still risk with spams if it can be that bad for business?

 

Do You Know What Internet Spam Is?

Everyone gets to hear the word spam on the Internet but not everyone really knows what spam is. Even though there appears to be many definitions of spam, simply put, spam is uninvited and unwanted electronic communication on others. Many internet users once believed that spam related primarily to e-mail communications only. That thinking has changed with time. Because the Internet has evolved many new and practical ways to communicate effectively, so also have spam rules evolved in tandem to cover these many new situations as they evolve. One very clear thinking in Internet business right now is that spam is not a good thing. To many marketers and even consumers, spam is simply bad news.

Many online marketing experts generally agree that there are many ways to spam. They say that you can spam not only by sending unsolicited commercial e-mail but by posting unwanted comments on blogs or social media postings. Really? Many of us do these things very casually on social media without giving any conscious thought to the consequences. That by sending even unsolicited text (SMS) messages to others, we are actually spamming. Even in huge, well-established and very popular marketing/trading sites like Ebay, Amazon and TripleClicks, people spam even in their forums while providing reviews of products on the sites.

With e-mail, spam and spamming are fairly easy and straightforward to explain even to a newbie. It is generally accepted about e-mails that spam occurs when someone receives annoying and generally irritating mails they did not ask for. This is more so when such mails emanate from people or organizations that they neither know nor have requested to do business with. More often than not, many of such mails are usually from people or organizations trying to sell them stuff that they neither need nor want. Extending that thought to social media, blogs, and virtually any other opportunity one has to type content seen by the public, spam clearly presents as something that is designed to sell something or promote something that is a distraction to the intended subject of the conversation. Simple! No serious business person cherishes any form of distractions particularly online.