Here it is, rip em apart.

Hello,

My name is Alvin Slocombe with a hosting directory called ReviewHost.com. I
am excited to announce to you the re-launch of our hosting directory
Reviewhost.com. Our directory was first launched approximately 3 years ago,
and was an effective resource for finding hosting companies on the internet.
This email is to inform you of our re-launch and to extend the opportunity
to your web hosting firm to receive a free listing in our directory. Our
basic listing is free of charge as stated, and will allow you to have your
site showcased to the thousands of viewers who will be viewing
ReviewHost.com on a daily basis.

Paid advertising in the form of banners and buttons are also available. We
also offer premium search placement within our listings. If you are ever
interested in advertising with us, please don't hesitate to contact us at
advertising@reviewhost.com. We can develop custom campaigns based upon your
needs, or you can simply choose from the advertising options we have
available at http://reviewhost.com/advertising.php

To have your company listed please visit http://www.reviewhost.com

Once again, we appreciate your support, and wish you much success with your
hosting firm.

ReviewHost.com offers the following advertising packages:

Showcase Listing($100/month)

We only offer 10 Spots under each category. The categories are:

E-Commerce Hosts
Cold Fusion Hosting
Windows 2000/NT Hosts
Co-Located Hosting
Unix/Linux Hosting
Dedicated Hosting
Reseller Hosting

The links to the showcases are seen on every page of the site for maximum

exposure.

In addition, Showcase Listings also receive a free 120x60 Top of Site Banner
to

promote their web hosting offerings.

Top Five Search Listing($100/month)
Be in the top five search results for all searches that your listing comes
up

under. We only accept five hosts each month.

Sponsored Links ($250/month)
We only offer two spots each month. The Links are seen on every page in the
site.

Top of Site Banner (468x60) - $150/month
Have your banner show at the top of every page in the site for one full
month.

Top of Site Banner(120x60) - $100/month
Have your banner show near the top of every page in the site for one full
month.

Bottom of Site Banner (110x110) - $75/month
Have your banner show at the bottom of every page in the site for one full
month.

Bottom of Site Banner (88x31) - $50/month
Have your banner show at the bottom of every page in the site for one full
month.

Best Regards,

Alvin Slocombe
Reviewhost.com
http://www.reviewhost.com

I think there's a big difference between spam and direct marketing.

If you were not a host; I would call it spam. Or, if you received it again, I would call it spam. But, just looking at that, it looks more like cold call selling.

I agree...this isn't necessarily spam. The site may be mass mailing people, but targetted and perhaps even hand picked as potential advertisers. I don't see anything wrong with that.

For some reason I don't thikn I would have got a good response if I sent our media kit to the 1000s of hosts listed on our directory.

Sending a short offer is one thing - but sending the entire media kit just doesn't seem right..

Maybe it's just me...

true,

direct marketing should be concise.. or in different parts..
the first piece should be to see if the person responds..

if they do, then the other parts follow..

Wow,

I am sorry that you considered this to be "SPAM". All we did was emails hosts that we found, and sent them the opportunity to add a fre ad on the site, or a paid ad on the site.

I thought by mentioning my real name and only sending it to hosts whose sites I actually visted that it would be ok to email them. I started this directory, because I saw there was a need for much cheaper advertising for smaller hosts, and for large hosts as well, and I only emailed like 20 or so people total. I work for a web hosting company myself, and we host the site, and I get like 20 emails each day from other web hosts who are offering me hosting, now that I would consider spam, but a one time email offering you a free listing on my site really should not be considered spam.

I really do apologize if this is considered "SPAM" and assure you that you will never get another email from me again.

Regards

It is spam. What is spam? Unsolicited Commercial Email.

Ok, if for one minute I thought this would have been considered "SPAM", I would not have sent the email. I went to the sites of hosts that seemed to be reasonable hosts, with good prices, and were not Dell, and Verio and so on, who seem to have bottomless pockets, and I thought that offering a free listing on the site, as well as the opportunity to put an ad on the site if they wanted was a good idea.

Our web hosting company frowns on SPAM, and there really is a difference between someone sending out massive amounts of email to random people, than a person taking the time to go through sites and see if the person would be interested in the offer.

Here is what I see this as in a real life situation.

SPAM would be coming to your office building and finding flyers from someone offering you something on your door, and every other door in the whole office complex. As compared to someone doing some research finding out you are a web hosts that has good deals, and coming to your office personally and asking you if you were interested in the offer.

It is all a moot point now anway, and I will certainly stay away from ever emailing anyone on this board any offers I may have ever again. This is not me being sarcastic, but me being sincere about this. I really hate SPAM, I get at least 200 unsolicited emails each day, and it sucks having to go through deleting them each day. And I assure you if for one moment, I thought someone would get pissed off about me sending them an email that I also sent to 20 or so other people, then I would not have sent it, and I really do mean that.

Regards.

Some Sites do that for their advertising ... maybe that is not spamming.

spam is spam is spam

now some hard core direct marketers (not email marketers) will agree with direct email marketers that email is a good delivery tool for targeted advertising.

costs: $0

Its hard to determine if this is a SPAM... But Alvin maybe you could keep your letter a bit shorter. IMHO simply asking them to get listed on your hosting directory will not cross the SPAM line, and I think most host would be happy to do so. Including your rate card is not necessary.

Just my 2 cents.

Not too many people will read an email that long - better to make a short one with a link to more info. More effective & also less likely to be seen as SPAM

I don't think unsolicited emails immediately equates to spamming. Otherwise no one would ever be able to send out "proposals", or initiate any kind of contact with strangers. Spam in my book is faceless mass mailing done using harvested mails. In this case, I don't think it's fair to label the email spam.

Originally posted by SoftWareRevue
I think there's a big difference between spam and direct marketing.

If you were not a host; I would call it spam. Or, if you received it again, I would call it spam. But, just looking at that, it looks more like cold call selling.
which is technically spam. It's an unsolicted sales email. How about I "cold call" folks with a website for our hosting services?

It's all grey here folks and folks who "cold call" like that, better get ready for some kind of backlash.

BTW, I think contacting someone like that is ok, but I wouldn't do it. I didn't make the rules. :rolleyes: ;)

I guess it's alright for Network Solutions to email all those people using competing registrars to move to netsol too then right? It is targetted too after all.