mers work with huge lists and incredibly low response rates, but the key here, the thing that keeps spammers going is they do have a response rate. They may send out ten million emails and only get 10 people visit their sales page. Of those 10 people only one may buy whatever rubbish they are selling. But if that happens, Spam is a nickname applied to unsolicited mail, usually of a corporate nature. It gets it's name from a famous Monty Python sketch in which the word spam is used more than all others words combined. Monty Python was funny, spam is not. The unsolicited part is important because there are plenty of people who legitimately build e-mail lists and market their products online. These people are NOT spammers. Legitimate internet marketers will build their list through opt-in, or double opt in. Opt in means your address was entered in a form on a webpage somewhere. Double opt in means your email was entered in a webform somewhere and you were sent an e-mail asking you to confirm you want to receive the marketers mailings. These are usually of an informational nature, supported with a small ad or link to an advertising webpage. Legitimate internet marketers will always remove you from their list if you ask them, because it is damaging to their reputation to be labelled a spammer.

And that word 'reputation' is a key distinction between legitimate online marketers and spammers. A legitimate online marketer has, and usually fiercely protects, an online reputation, while a spammer has no concern about reputation, and is often not even contactable without a huge amount of effort. Spammers work with huge lists and incredibly low response rates, but the key here, the thing that keeps spammers going is they do have a response rate. They may send out ten million emails and only get 10 people visit their sales page. Of those 10 people only one may buy whatever rubbish they are selling. But if that happens, i

ild e-mail lists and market their products online. These people are NOT spammers. Legitimate internet marketers will build their list through opt-in, or double opt in. Opt in means your address was entered in a form on a webpage somewhere. Double opt in means your email was entered in a webform somewhere and you were sent an e-mail asking you to confirm you want to receive the marketers mailings. These are usually of an informational nature, supported with a small ad or link to an advertising webpage. Legitimate internet marketers will always remove you from their list if you ask them, because it is damaging to their reputation to be labelled a spammer.

And that word 'reputation' is a key distinction between legitimate online marketers and spammers. A legitimate online marketer has, and usually fiercely protects, an online reputation, while a spammer has no concern about reputation, and is often not even contactable without a huge amount of effort. Spammers work with huge lists and incredibly low response rates, but the key here, the thing that keeps spammers going is they do have a response rate. They may send out ten million emails and only get 10 people visit their sales page. Of those 10 people only one may buy whatever rubbish they are selling. But if that happens,

an e-mail asking you to confirm you want to receive the marketers mailings. These are usually of an informational nature, supported with a small ad or link to an advertising webpage. Legitimate internet marketers will always remove you from their list if you ask them, because it is damaging to their reputation to be labelled a spammer.

And that word 'reputation' is a key distinction between legitimate online marketers and spammers. A legitimate online marketer has, and usually fiercely protects, an online reputation, while a spammer has no concern about reputation, and is often not even contactable without a huge amount of effort. Spammers work with huge lists and incredibly low response rates, but the key here, the thing that keeps spammers going is they do have a response rate. They may send out ten million emails and only get 10 people visit their sales page. Of those 10 people only one may buy whatever rubbish they are selling. But if that happens,

ed a spammer.

And that word 'reputation' is a key distinction between legitimate online marketers and spammers. A legitimate online marketer has, and usually fiercely protects, an online reputation, while a spammer has no concern about reputation, and is often not even contactable without a huge amount of effort. Spammers work with huge lists and incredibly low response rates, but the key here, the thing that keeps spammers going is they do have a response rate. They may send out ten million emails and only get 10 people visit their sales page. Of those 10 people only one may buy whatever rubbish they are selling. But if that happens,

mers work with huge lists and incredibly low response rates, but the key here, the thing that keeps spammers going is they do have a response rate. They may send out ten million emails and only get 10 people visit their sales page. Of those 10 people only one may buy whatever rubbish they are selling. But if that happens, if that one person buys, then it has been worth it for the spammer. They have made money, and thus will continue to spam. 1 response out of 10 million? A normal marketing company would shut down the campaign right away, but for the spammer the 1 response makes it worthwhile to inconvenience 9.99999 million people who don't respond.

Three things make spam possible and profitable:

1. Email is free - If you had to pay for email, even a tiny ammount like $0.0001/email, spamming would have a financial consequence and would be less effective, probably to the point of being redundant.

2. It's as easy to send 10 million emails as 1 - This is really the key, for a spammer one click sends all 10 million messages. If he had to send them all one by one spamming would be impossible.

3. A very small minority of people respond to the messages. And while it is a tiny minority, it is enough. If just 1 person follows a link in a spammers message - the spam will continue. If you take nothing else away from this site - take this piece of information: If you follow a spammers link you are encouraging them and supporting spam. As I discuss below, sometimes you don't even need to follow the link. I never signed up for this junk!