Ironic E-mails From eGrabber
eGrabber sent me what looks like a bulk advertising solicitation this morning. It's pretty funny, as they are promoting a tool that grabs contact information from the web. I don't mind businesses sending me information - my role in the online recruiting community has been one of breaking news, evaluating products, and building buzz. It is strange when I get bad e-mails, though, and I post this only as an instructional lesson.
Hi, (Your formatting is off. The Hi is too far to the right- and don't you know my real name? If you're bragging about contact information, shouldn't you at least use my real name)
I am Smith, a Marketing Associate at eGrabber, Inc (www.egrabber.com <http://www.egrabber.com/> ). (Come on, we know this isn't your real name. Why go through the trouble of writing a name down if you're not going to be a live person?)
eGrabber is the leading Silicon Valley-based provider of data capture automation engines. eGrabber's tools quickly capture contact information found on web sites, emails and other places and transfer them to ACT!/GoldMine/Outlook for immediate follow-up. (I like that you call yourself the leading Silicon Valley provider. I wonder if there is a provider in Duluth, MN that is better for me?)
I am looking for Advertising/Partnership opportunities to promote our products (through banner advertisements/ stand alone email ads). (what is a partnership opportunity? Are you offering me a chance to buy into your company? And why use slashes instead of and/or, it's annoying/poorgrammar.)
We have a newsletter subscriber base of 55K, and our audience will be a good fit to promote your products.(You have an extra space after subscriber. And if you don't even know my name, how do you know what products I'm selling. How do you even know I'm selling products?)
Let me know if we could work out some sort of a barter deal (or) a co-registration deal. I am pretty sure that both our organizations can benefit immensely from a venture of this nature. Please feel free to reply to this email. I look forward to hearing from you.
Regards
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Smith - Marketing Associate - eGrabber Inc
Barter? Look buddy, I take cash, not chickens in payment for my services. I do agree you can benefit from my services, but maybe an editor or some live person checking your e-mail would be a better first step. For a company that says they are expert at finding contact information, you've just provided a very poor example of gathering contact information. I don't know what site or what company you're trying to pitch to, but a little homework upfront would have made a difference. I do have products to sell, but there's not a chance I'd let you in on it if you take so little care with your e-mail marketing.
Tell you what. Smith, if that's your real name, if you are reading this, contact me, and we'll talk about changing the piece. If you were serious about partnering, I would think you at least have an interest in reading the blog. If not, and Smith is an imaginary name, well, consider us to have an imaginary partnership, and I'll put up an imaginary banner ad for you.
