by blythepyrate

EarnMyDegree.com will never spam you. Sure, we send you emails containing information about online degrees, but those aren’t spam.

You: Hang on, isn’t spam any email I get from a company?
Me: No, actually.
You: Waaaaiiiiit a minute…
Me: Oh, just listen up and I’ll explain!

Jason, one of the guys in our media department, got a little upset the other day when I referred to the emails we send as spam. I didn’t get it. Why? Turns out I was quite ignorant about such distinctions and why they matter. So, Jason helpfully explained why the information EarnMyDegree.com sends is not truly spam. What follows is part of our conversation. (IM handles were changed to protect the innocent.)

(9:49:00 AM) JWiltonCS: what we send isn’t spam because:
(9:49:00 AM) JWiltonCS: 1.) You know where it came from and why you’re getting it
(9:49:09 AM) JWiltonCS: 2.) You can easily stop getting it at any time
(9:49:25 AM) JWiltonCS: 3.) You agreed to receive it by opting in with us
(9:49:32 AM) JWiltonCS: Spammers break these rules, by stealing (or buying) mailing lists, by failing to allow unsubscribes, and by hiding their sending names or being extremely unclear as to where the mail is coming from

How can I avoid Spam?
So how do spammers get your email address? There are a variety of ways—some of which you can limit. Common ploys include banner ads like ‘win a free iPod’ or ‘how smart are you?’ These online contests require you to provide your email address. Then they can turn around and sell it, so be cautious when filling out any online form. Make sure there are terms and conditions and read the fine print. Also, do not put your email address on a Web page. Automated email programs, or bots, known as scrapers or spiders can scan thousands of Web pages a minute searching for email addresses. If you must put your email address on a Web page, try spelling out “at” instead of using the “@” symbol, or use “dot com” instead of “.com”. Many—bots are programmed to look for “@” and “.com” to identify valid email addresses, so you can trick them using the spelling-out technique.

Will Spam Ever Stop?
It is unlikely that spam will ever be wiped out completely. Despite recent laws seeking to limit spammer’s efforts, like the rhinovirus they are likely to keep mutating ways to annoy anyone with an email address. At the end of the day, it’s dead cheap to send spam and the return on investment is usually great, so the motivation of unscrupulous businesses to send it remains strong.

Why EarnMyDegree.com is Different
For the reasons Jason listed, the emails EarnMyDegree.com send to you are not spam. We take our commitment to meeting industry standards for ethical email marketing seriously. We make it clear that we are the senders, and explain in the first mails why you are receiving the mail. If at any time you want to stop getting emails from EarnMyDegree.com, you can easily unsubscribe by clicking the unsubscribe link at the top of the email. See my previous blog post for a visual reference on how to unsubscribe.