Spam and other questionable practices

Using spam to market art is a laughable. One does not become rich or famous by sending a message promoting oneself to1 million people. Art carrers are built slowly and are heavily dependant on reputation (spamming others will destroy, not build your reputation).

Assuming you agree with the above conclusion, then you will give a high priority to avoiding unethical email practices. The information below details some email practices that are not well recieved by others. Do not make the assumption that only others send spam. If someone does not want to get your email, then it is spam.

Some practices to avoid:

• Harvesting email names from someone elses email

• Failing to remove someone who requests to be removed from your email list.

The first task one does after sending out an email announcement is to clean up one's mailing list. If someone asks to be taken off your list. Email them back and say you are taking them off your list and then do it. Poor record keeping practices or difficulty with the technology should not be an excuse. If you have trouble keeping records like this or the technology is beyond your capacity then your should consider other ways to spread your message as you can harm your reputation by not honoring such requests.

• Distributing email addresses without permission

If you distribute email addresses by trading, selling or giving your email list to others you are subjecting those people email they did not request. Do not take action that could cause someone else to receive unsolicited email.

Ligitimate email practices:

The cautions outlined above are not meant to frighten you away from using email, but to encourage you to give thought how you use email. To contrast what is described above, I have compiled a list of ligitimate email practices for the purpose of promoting one's art.

• The concerns about unsolicited emails are relevant to mailing email announcements, When conducting one to one corespondence spam is not an issue.
• Best practices for email announcements
  • Emails are sent to those who have requested to get information (See tips on gathering names)
  • Emails are timed to inform people about events they can participate in (i.e. a reception, workshop or studio tour)
  • Your Email is clear and to the point with no errors in spelling or fact. (See tips on how not to annoy with email)

Consequences for sending spam

The beauty of the internet is the freedom it allows for exchange of information and ideas. That freedom is an opening for spammers, but there are ways to track spam to its source and shut it down. Therefore if you do send spam it is almost certian that your server will shut down your email accounts, and they are quite likely to shut down any websites that were promoted in the spam. So sending spam is likely to cut off your ablilty to send email and have a website.

If this is the case you may ask why you continue to get spam. The reason here is that the really sophisticated spammers are a little more computer savy and a lot nastier in thier tactics of sending spam.