Bulk Email Advertising?

[onegrim1]

Has anyone used this as a method of generating traffic? I would like to hear positives and negatives? I signed up with a service and I question whether or not it is legit. All of the hits 300 out of 250,000 emails came within a 2 hour window...then nothing. Smell fishy! They came directed through their "tracking server"...Any help is appreciated!

[ronin]

[off topic]

[raja4]

Yes, I know someone who tried it. They sent almost 6 million emails in 45 days period and got less than 20 orders. Average order size was around $80.00. It was a big loss, web site was shut down and got involved in 1 legal issue.

Bulk emails don't work any more. But if you capture email address of your site visitors and then follow them up, they do wonders. We do it very successfuly.

[jomaxx]

LOL, who would have guessed that a spam operation could be fishy?

[loanuniverse]

I guess if you are willing to leave ethics at the door, it will work if those twenty orders have a large profit margin.

Expenses:

1 domain name = $10
1 month hosting = $10-$20
Time spent customizing the template and setting up the site = $200 {at $20 an hour}
Throw in another $20 spent sending the emails {time}

Total expenses = $250

You could make $300 to $500 using this throwaway domains, and have several rackets going at once. Of course this is probably ilegal in most places so you would have to do it from somewhere that isn't.

[bigjohnt]

Yep. Its the math that keeps spam going. The barriers of entry are so low, and sites are so portable, the spammers have a distinct advantage.

Bulk mail, IMHO is a poor method of generating leads. I'd go with renting space in someone's newsletter or ezine. You'll pay a bit more, but the "open rate" will be higher, more people will see your message rather than deleting it as bulk mail- when sent as a stand alone mail.