Quote:
Originally Posted by avantman42
I'm not sure that doing it "on a pastor by pastor basis" will stop you being labelled a spammer. In the UK, the Information Commissioner's website says (my emphasis):
If you collect emails for people and then send them marketing, you'll fall foul of that rule, whether you send out a mass email or write each one by hand. My understanding is that the relevant law is determined by the location of the recipient, so if you send to someone in the UK you'll need to abide by UK law. I get the impression that you're planning to send to pastors in the US, so UK law won't be relevant, but I'd imagine the provisions will be similar.
Also, the law isn't the only issue (and it's arguably not even the biggest issue). The black lists have their own criteria, which aren't necessarily based on the law. If you behaviour looks like that of a spammer, whether it's legally defined as spam or not, you'll get listed, and once you're listed you'll find that many people won't receive your emails. As gmw said, the same applies to blogs, if you're identified as a blog spammer you'll find it difficult to comment on many blogs.
I'd strongly recommend you ditch your plan to email pastors. I think you'll find it extremely difficult to get a reasonable response rate while not being labelled a spammer. According to MailChimp, an average of 22-48% of emails sent through them are opened (it varies a lot by industry), and only about 1-5% of people click on links in those emails. These are emails sent to people who have specifically asked to receive those emails, so you can expect to get a much lower rate from emails sent "on spec". This page says that direct email marketing gets a 0.12% response rate - that's roughly one response for every 833 emails.
My own suggestion would be to participate on blogs and forums that pastors frequent. Don't just post links to your book, participate in the discussions normally. Include a link to your website in your signature, possibly include a note stating that free review copies are available. Maybe use your book cover as your avatar. |
I'm abandoning my career as an email spammer before it starts! lol I just checked out Mailchimp. Boy, it looks tailor-made for somebody like me. Thanks for recommending it. And the blogs and forums and signature and book cover avatar. All great advice.
Personally, I think I need to change my approach to this whole thing. Like everybody,I want fast results, but I've been so focused on marketing I haven't thought about (or done) writing in months. I'm going to be content with 'slow growth.' Just being myself in social forums. Marketing, sure, but not getting lopsided with it, and writing more books and getting them out there.
Thanks for all the great advice.