This considered as SPAM?

[Mike]

Hi all,

If I emailed a webmaster asking him/her if they would like me to redesign their site, would it be considered as spam?

Taking the above as a typical example.

Thanks,
Mike

[Chris]

Strictly speaking -- unless they solicit feedback on their website (as simple as a feedback email link or form) then yes.

For instance if you just got the email address from whois info then it is technically spam.

If they solicit it, even if they do not realizing that they are, its not spam.

You can also make it seem less spammy by personalizing it some.

[Mike]

So say if they have a contact us link, would that be ok?

Thanks,
Mike

[Chris]

yes

[Mike]

Thanks:)

[incka]

I don't think its SPAM if you send a different email to each one.

[Mike]

Well if you send something like the junk you get through your inbox, but with little additions and changes - it would still be spam I think.

[snoopers]

I consider spam to be mass unsolicited email.

If you spent two minutes personalizing the email though, I wouldn't consider it spam.

[lo0ol]

Not that this is still relevant 3 months later, but I would take it as an insult to my design. :\

[Mike]

Originally posted by lo0ol
Not that this is still relevant 3 months later, but I would take it as an insult to my design. :\

As I said, taking that as an example.

[loads of money]

As a webmaster who continually receives emails from web designers offering their services I have to consider this as spam.

In fact my anti spam programme is set to refuse emails that
contain 'Flash, Logo Design, Website design etc.

Technically you might not be sending spam, but morally I think
you are.

I would not mind if you took a real good look at my site first
and offered your advice if you saw a problem. But are you
doing that ?

My bet is you just send your emails to any site you can find ?

Sorry kid, but find another business plan.

[Mike]

I haven't even sent an email yet loads of money, and also I said as a typical example.

Your bet is totally wrong.

[chromate]

Originally posted by loads of money
My bet is you just send your emails to any site you can find ?

Sorry kid, but find another business plan.

If Mike was sending emails to any old site, then I doubt he would have started this thread in the first place.

Anyway, who're you calling kid, Junior?

[Mike]

Thanks Chromate:)

I actually asked this because (I think) TemplateMonster redesigned websites in return of a link to them on every page. I wondered weather this was ok, and if I could do it (say give a free template away or something).

So there, Junior:p

[loads of money]

I apologise if I have insulted you, but postings can be misunderstood.

But you can see from the venom in my posting that people
are sick to the teeth with spam and anything that even
resembles spam.

Unfortunately even genuine attempts to market by email
are now getting labelled as spam.

Unsolicited emails now need to be targeted very, very
carefully.

By the way the wonderful new anti spam laws in the UK
allow anyone to spam a UK business, but not a
private individual.

Thank you very much the UK government, a complete
bunch of wombats.

Well dun the Yanks for getting tough on spam.

Spam is the genuine webmasters biggest enemy. It puts
off our clients from using the internet.

[MarkB]

I would suggest, instead of emailing the webmaster, email the actual business owner of a site. Even just send them a free report asking them if their site is the best it can be, pinpointing 'common shortfalls' - some of which their site has ;)

[darkane]

Technically, if somebody runs a website for business purposes, any personal e-mails sent to them offering your own services cannot be considered spam. The same applies to cold-calls. Businesses do not fall under the do-not-call registry, or under the various state-issued spam acts, unless the spam or calls costs them excessive amounts of money (depending on local laws, the minimum ranges from $500 to $3,000 before you can even file a complaint against someone).

[incka]

I think it's OK unless you fax them without consent. I hate spam faxes...

[cpnmm]

I get a lot of emails from people offering logo/web design services. I'm pretty sure that most of these are spam - i.e. some firm goes round emailing every website with a contact us button or get's my contact details from a database of website owners.

I can't see how an email could be worded that would not look like spam to be honest.

I think that spam is in the eye of the beholder. If you got a couple of emails a day offering to redesign your logo you would consider these spam (I don't have a particularly bad logo - I think it's quite nice ;) )

I guess that cold-calling of any kind could be considered spam these days. I would recommend using guru.com or elance.com to find work instead - maybe do some work for free or at a low price to build up your portfolio and then hope for recommendation, repeat orders, links back from websites you've designed, etc.

[MarkB]

Send them a letter, and follow it up after a couple of weeks with a phone call.

[incka]

Just don't send spam faxes... I hate them so much... The amount I get for football matches which have black backgrounds... Must cost us £50 a year in ink...