Auto-Responding to SPAM

"This is the Song that Never Ends, 'Cause it goes On and On My Friends..." (Shari Lewis and Lambchop).

"Auto respond to SPAM!" he said, "Then all those spammers will be getting YOUR marketing message!" My jaw dropped, and my eyes bugged out in disbelief! This isn't just an ineffective idea, this is a potentially very harmful one.

First of all, if you autorespond to spam, you get accused of spamming, because the return email addresses in spam emails are never legit. They are frequently forged - this means that people you don't know, who never did you any harm, are now being flooded with YOUR spam! And YOU are legally liable for it!

Second, many spam return email addresses are simply fakes. So you get bounce messages - which come into your auto-responder, and stimulate ANOTHER autorespond message. Those continual messages will eventually tick somebody off in one or another ISP, and you'll be in the hot seat for sending unsolicited email.

Third, if they DID get to the intended recipient, do you really think it is worth your time to market to someone who is uninterested? Further, spammers are frequently dishonest, and this means that your business will now be the focus of people who would just love to find a weakness in your shopping cart to rip you off. Just the sort of person you want to attract as a customer, eh?

Can you say, REALLY BAD IDEA?

You are far better off concentrating your email campaigns on building an honest list, or marketing through someone else's established list, even if you have to pay for it.