Part 1 of our long awaited "SPAM Series" is a horror story (just in time for the start of October...we're all excited about Halloween over here). Jeffry Pilcher, E-I-C of the blog The Financial Brand, sent me a story (and seven or eight actual examples) of e-mail gone wrong.
What follows is the story of..."THE MAIL THAT WOULDN'T DIE!"
I never signed up for email notifications from Jupiter Images, a stock photo supplier. Nevertheless, I started getting email from them. Too much, too little relevance. So...
April 29 – I try using the unsubscribe option in the email. It bounces back.
April 30 – I send an email directly to the sender of the spam (rare that there was an actual, real reply-to address). I told him I no longer was in a position to buy stock photos, so “please remove me from your mailing list.”
May 22 – I’m still getting spam, so I try the unsubscribe option again. No dice.
May 22 – I send this message to sales@jupiterimages.com: “I should be able to unsubscribe. I believe Jupiter's non-functioning unsubscribe email address is in violation of the anti-spam laws. Please fix this. Thanks.”
May 29 – The sales rep sending out spam says he’s trying to take care of this for me. He wants to know if I want to be completely removed from every email list they have. I tell him "yes."
June 3 – Still getting spam. Try unsubscribing again. Nope. Send emails begging: "Unsubscribe me pleassseeeee."
June 5 – More spam. I’m f**king pissed now. Blood boiling. I go online and Google as many Jupiter email addresses I can find, then send the following message to 26 employees of the company: "Sorry, I don’t want to be a jerk, but nothing else has worked and I’m out of options... I’ve tried THREE TIMES to unsubscribe from your mailing list, but YOUR UNSUBSCRIBE EMAIL ADDRESS HAS BEEN DISABLED, which, by the way, IS ILLEGAL. ILLEGAL! My patience has expired. An "unsubscribe" process that should have taken 3 seconds has now taken seven emails (make that 8, with this one) over the span of a month. A MONTH???? EIGHT EMAILS??? This is unacceptable. I’ve highlighted the most-relevant excerpts from this process in my messages below. I think everyone can agree that this would push even the most patient and understanding person past the breaking point. Your company will IMMEDIATELY find a way to stop sending me emails. IMMEDIATELY. NOW. Thank you —in advance— for your swift and effective response. P.S. - I don’t want any more emails. Period. That includes apologies or explanations. I don’t want to see another email from Jupiter EVER. Just take me off your list. All of them."
June 6-15 – Despite my request to the contrary, I get emails from these folks apologizing and promising to do whatever they can to remedy the situation. "Eff you... just do it," I’m thinking.
July 24 – Yep, you guessed it. BINGO! Another promotional spam email. This time, the message was short and to the point: "You have got to be kidding me... One more email from you and I’m calling a lawyer. Got it? - jp"
July 25 – The sales guy figures out the only way he can stop email from getting to me is to go in and change my email address. He can’t delete it. He can’t change its settings. All he can do is garble up the address so that it bounces back.
Future – If I get another email, I’ll spend up to $5,000 of my own money on a lawyer.
Frightening, yes? It's all too common. From Greg:
The CAN-SPAM Act uses broad language. Where Jeffry says he didn't sign up for e-mails is an example of this, as businesses are allowed to dispatch e-mails to clients/patrons without a prompt. But Jeffry was facing a problem that's fairly common - it's not that the people sending you the automated e-mail don't provide a solution, it's that the solution doesn't work.
In thinking more and more about SPAM, I realized a fundamental truth: SPAM is in the eye of the beholder. Jeffry didn't want his e-mail about pictures just like anyone else might not want chain e-mails about the Arctic Fox or the Presidential Campaign. In either case, they're a grievance, but it's the simple fact that you're getting a whole lot of what you DON'T want that makes it so aggravating.
Special thanks to Jeffry for sharing his indignation with us.
Be Upset...Be Very Upset: Bankers come forward to CNN about predatory lending
by Ron Daly
As the Financial Crisis looms and the bailout comes to life, the amount of damning evidence against finance companies continues to grow. This story, from CNN (click here for print), comes from two bankers who were pressured by Bank of America to drive cardholders deeper and deeper into debt.
Watch the video to see the story, or click the above link to read.
Give It Away: How can we make things easy for you?
By Ron Daly
The Wii. A miracle of modern gaming. It's fun for everyone, it's easy to pick up, and it allows my daughter to have something to do on a rainy day.
Anticipating this year's Holiday Party for our office, I purchased a Wii for my employees. Needless to say, they can't wait for the Holidays.
Yes, the Nintendo Wii is awesome. So much so that nearly 30 million units have been sold. It's a hit with parents who want their kid's gaming to be more mobile or with people who aren't "typical gamers" who are suddenly interested in making it happen. Women and seniors, long considered the outliers in gaming, are getting in on the trend.
Which brings me to the topic of this post (took a while to get here). One of our early promotions involved giving away mp3 players to members who signed up for electronic statements. Credit Unions could order inserts which offered a chance at winning an iPod Nano. We charged a fraction of a cent per flyer ($.00162, on average) and saved the CUs over $25,000. The best part? We payed for the iPods with the money gained from the flyers. The CUs simply had to sit back and watch members flock to online statements, a smart, green, money-saving alternative to paper.
So, my question is this: could we do this with a Wii? Would anyone be interested in a "Wii give-away?" Contact me at rdaly@digitalmailer.com or leave a message on our comment section.
One of my colleagues managed to drop a back-issue of the Credit Union Times on my desk today. In it was an article (read the online version here) about how Credit Unions need to "think outside the box".
Ho hum, I thought, considering that just about every article that has ANYTHING to do with Credit Union marketing says those exact words. But then I kept reading (bad idea). The article goes on to say that:
Credit Unions have to get themselves onto Facebook and MySpace.
Gen - Y is the "Hannah Montana generation" (although it never says why).
Gen - Y has no interest in entering a brick-and-mortar building when it can do everything online.
No one cares about helping people.
The article goes on to make outrageous claims about how the iPhone and Bill Gates' retirement mean Macs will outdo PCs - which is bull. PCs claim about 75% of the marketshare, Apple moves around 6%. Read about that here.
The overarching question in the piece is "Are you still a CD Credit Union in an MP3 World?"
Right, I forgot - No one buys CDs anymore. Which is why THEY have shy of 90% of the market, compared to 10% for MP3s and - get this - 0.2% vinyl. People are still buying albums on vinyl!
The article is littered with buzzwords. "Evolve with the marketplace", "Be edgy","Outdo the Banks"...sorry, I nodded off there. I don't want to seem like I'm picking on anyone (I'm really not - the article's a good read and it DOES point out that sometimes the best way to appeal to a group is to latch on to their wants more than their needs), it's just that I'm tired of people in the CU industry who try to drive a square peg into a round hole when it comes to young customers. You want the truth about how young folks (like me) see finances?
I'll do this one thing at a time.
Credit Unions should be on Social Networks - Okay, so Facebook is important to advancing high schoolers and college kids. Fine. But nobody needs to get it in their head that all the problems CUs face trying to get youth membership will disappear when they sign their CU up for a MySpace page or a Twitter account.
Gen-Y uses these spaces as a personal tool, not a professional one (go back and read my old posts on Facebook and Social Networking - or don't, I don't care). So no, you don't get a bump in ROI because you uploaded your favorite videos of a dog chasing his tail. You want to advertise? Advertise. But don't try to "friend" me to tell me about a Roth IRA. I promise you I won't want to chat about it. Want to use Facebook's ACTUAL business tools? Here's a link. I just made your day.
Gen - Y LOVES Hannah Montana- I'd laugh at this if the thought didn't completely repulse me.
And why does this have anything to do with ANYTHING?!? Hannah Montana is not a real person. Is the idea that Gen - Y is desperate to be dual-identity pop stars? Did people in the 30s and 40s call their children "The Buck Rogers generation"? You CAN'T BOIL AN ENTIRE GENERATION OF PEOPLE DOWN TO A FAD. Fads disappear - and so does money, if you're not careful.
That's why we (the young) rely on Credit Unions to KEEP our money. This link points to a study saying that only about 19% of Gen-Y's total income gets saved (that's an average, now...nobody I know puts away 20%, not even me).
You can do it all online! - No, you can't.
I can't go online and speak to a loan officer. I can't go online and resolve a checking dispute or get the best service for a problem I'm having. My computer doesn't burp up cash when I need it. I can't count on my computer for everything.
Sometimes, you have to have a building with actual, living, breathing people inside. The speaker from the article says he's "of the generation that...learned to eliminate the middle man." Well, why's he still here? I point to self-checkout, a phenomenon that is popping up at more and more stores. I love self-checkout because I never have that much stuff and it all pretty much fits in one bag. But when I buy beer (I'm 22) or Lucky Charms (I don't act like I'm 22) that don't scan correctly or need cashier assistance, I can't just beg the machine to read my ID. It won't. Because there is NO SYSTEM in the world that can act without human input.
Drink machines don't refill themselves, Gas pumps don't just pump pure crude from out of the ground, and a bank can't run without people there to make sense of whose money is where. You can upgrade or downgrade a building, you can put balance sheets in the palm of someone's hand, but Credit Unions have to do with people. Part of the reason I joined my CU was because I got better service and support, not because of their website. Get real, people.
Nobody Cares About People - Who sold somebody with this one?
Gen - Y can, at times, come off a little selfish. But who isn't? We all want to get the most for our money and the most for ourselves. But one thing that someone had to tell me when I started my account at the CU was this: I own part of a financial institution. I put more into my investment every time I save, every time I borrow, and every time I walk through the lobby. I'm a financial powerhouse, and it only took $5.
You really want to hook Gen - Y? Explain to them that Credit Union membership means owning your own bank.
So, what's the lesson for the day? Well :
Social Network friending doesn't mean anything. I'm friends with people I've never met. Odds are, they only friended you to drive up their friendship number or as a novelty.
Online services are important, but they're only one leg on the table. Match, don't surpass, your online with your over-the-phone, e-mail and personal services.
Never lose your focus on PEOPLE. At the end of the day, Gen - Y wants to be treated well by their CU. That matters more than hip-hop and iPods and, yes, even Hannah Montana.
[EDITOR'S NOTE -- All trademarks and brand names copyright their respective owners]
I got curious when I saw this story pop up in my blog reader. It has to do with loans. Not car loans, which, like home loans, are defaulting at an alarming rate following the bad tidings from this weekend.
No, these were loans for fuel. I'll say that again - a loan for fuel.
This winter, the Maine Credit Union League has authorized small loans to people who have to keep warm. The loans, which have a $5,000 cap, are intended to keep people with high heating costs from getting stuck paying for outrageous fuel prices. The CU decides on the loan and, if and when the loan is approved, mail a check directly to the oil company.
This made me think about Microloans - Kiva.org is a good place to learn more - which involve loaning a small amount of money to a small, poor business to get them started/keep them going. The default rate on these loans is usually very small, and the business model leaves a bit to be desired - read this article from the New Yorker. All in all, however, microloans can make a difference in the lives of the "working poor" as they're often described.
As America has gotten more and more mired down in debt, the concept of more lending is always a little puzzling. Sure, people need things like homes and cars and now, sadly, very expensive fuel for those homes and cars. But what will it take to keep us from all being under the gun?
TIME FOR SOME OPINIONS:
What do you think of small, practical life loans, such as the "fuel loan" above or "micro-credit"? Do Credit Cards take the place of small personal loans?
Stormy Weather: The Weekend Brings Bad News for the Financial Sector
by Ron Daly
Our Friday post had to do with resources available to Texans who had been uprooted by Hurricane Ike. Even as we put together our list, we were uncertain of exactly what was in store. Thousands of people trapped after ignoring the evacuation mandate, thousands more stranded far from home - the picture is grim. But there are those who try to make it a little brighter, bit by bit.
Click the image above to donate. Special thanks to Brent Dixon at OpenSourceCU.com for breaking the story/providing the source code for the donation buttons. Visit their site to get the code for yourself/your blog/your credit union's webpage.
In a move that some would describe as shocking - and others would describe as the good nature of credit unions shining through in a time of need - Texas Dow Employees Credit Union has offered to delay loan/mortgage payments in the wake of the Hurricane. Their Senior VP of lending, Paul Perdue, put out this video:
But that's not the only big financial news from this weekend. Merrill-Lynch was swallowed by Bank of America, Lehman Bros. filed for bankruptcy, and the stock market hit its worst day since September 11, 2001 (won't link to stories, because they're everywhere already). How are CUs faring in the midst of this? This story from the Times Leader explains the urge for calm and how credit unions view the turmoil.
As someone who was a credit union CFO for a number of years and who has always kept an eye on how the financial industry moves, I'm interested to see what happens next in all these news stories.
DigitalMailer can provide Crisis Management Notification Systems for CUs concerned about impact/ recovery information. Visit our CMNS page for more info, or contact us at info@digitalmailer.com.
In the next few weeks, Greg Crandell will shed light on the origins of SPAM - how it came to be, how it continues, and how you can avoid it on both ends of the e-mail spectrum.
Before we here at DigitalMailer begin this long and winding road to understanding SPAM, we want to hear from you. How has SPAM affected your personal life, your e-mail, the way you do business online, your marketing efforts, or your world in general?
If you have questions, comments, stories, photos, screenshots, videos, recordings...whatever... that has to do with SPAM, send it to us at this address. We want to hear from you.
20&Change: What're Ya Worrying About? [**SPECIAL REPORT: THE JIMMY CHALLENGE CONTINUES!**]
When my dad was 20, he asked my Uncle Allen, his brother-in-law, if he could borrow his brand new car. Allen wasn't sure, but dad told him he'd be very, very careful. He even went so far as to throw in a "don't worry".
Dad drove Allen's car into a river.
My grandmother was mad, but not surprised. Which brings me to Gen - Y marketing or, more appropriately, Gen - Y mentality. Lindsey Siegriest from CUTimes Wrote about this just recently (read the article here), saying Credit Unions and other financial institutions should start looking at not just Gen-Y, but "Gen-Z". That would be Tweens and Teens that are verging on spender status. After all, marketing professionals consider seven to be the start point of Gen-Z advertising - kids of age 11 are considered active consumers (more horrifying stats about how much young people spend can be found here).
That said, it's important to remember that Gen-Y is one slice of a $175.1 Billion dollar pie. A large slice of pie, to be sure, but a slice nonetheless.
In Communication, there is a theory known as the "Two-Step Flow of Communication". The idea is that there are opinion leaders and opinion followers - followers follow the leader. Still with me? Good.
Young people, more specifically Gen-Y, look to our parents to give us guidance and help us make decisions. We trust, respect, and admire their decision making skills. And here is where I eat a little crow: I, too, am "Gen-Y-ish" and wanted to get away from my point of origin from ages 14 to 20. But I, too, ask my parents about the big calls I have to make. And I've learned from their examples AND their mistakes. Here's the news that's not really news: YOUR KIDS WANT YOUR OPINION AND YOU CAN HELP THEM MAKE GOOD INVESTMENT DECISIONS. I don't need an article to back that up, but here's one anyway.
People my age and younger want to know they've done the right thing by socking their money away in a checking/savings/investment account. Let them know all the benefits and the differences in their choice of service. I'm not saying that the creative approaches to Gen-Y investing aren't good - some of them are really extensive (Young and Free, which is in Texas now), some are simple but to-the-point (BankerSpank.com), and some of them are hillarious (WhatTheB.com).
Then there's folks like me (you're reading the article) and CU Tomorrow from Filene (Hi, Ben and the Gang!) and Dane, Elliott and Lydia over at Callahan (they did their big webinar and it was a SMASHING success. Way to go, guys!). We just shout out our thoughts about the way we think and folks seem to get a kick out of it. But as much as you, the "big-wigs" rely on us for insight, remember: we're looking to our parents to give us guidance.
THE THREE COMMANDMENTS OF GEN-Y MARKETING: Don't talk down to us Don't waste our time with boring details, and Don't expect us to run right to financial responsibility.
(last minute fourth): And don't worry...we'll figure out how to save soon enough.
That said, it's time for "The Jimmy Challenge!" How much have I got saved after this past paycheck?
Drum roll....
$5! The amount I started with to open my member savings account. It seems that the idea of financial security was less tempting than a Redskins game and a concert...hoo boy.
Since this is our first time out, I'll forgo the "What Ron Says" section about how best to invest the amount I've got saved. I've decided to hang onto this tiny amount and wait until next week, when I'll have to start...you know, saving money. For real.
Have any ideas for what I could do with Mr. Lincoln? Send me 5 bucks worth of ideas to blogs@digitalmailer.com.
From CAN-SPAM to Spam Guards: Can You Still Reach Your Members?
Article by Ron Daly. This article was originally published in the Credit Union Times. Read it here at CUTimes.com.
As if newer, more robust spam filters weren’t enough to pull out the hair of legitimate e-mail marketers, the Federal Trade Commission’s final rule enforcing the CAN-SPAM Act became effective July 7. Is it the end of using e-mail to tell members about special offers?
Not at all. First, we should recognize that both of these consumer-protection measures are really good news. Few people appreciate receiving nuisance or unsavory junk mail, and putting reasonable restrictions on e-mail marketing may actually increase the likelihood of legitimate e-mail marketing getting through. By following the rules and learning what makes e-mail get stuck in spam guards, we can ensure that our promotions reach members’ inboxes.
The new FTC regulation focuses on four areas: unsubscribing, legal mailing addresses, definitions and responsibility for joint promotions. But for credit union marketing departments, the most important provision relates to honoring requests to unsubscribe.
If a member chooses to opt out of a sender’s e-mail, that request must be honored within three days (instead of the 10 days allowed under the FTC’s interim rule). Further, senders may not impose a fee on recipients asking to be removed from an e-mail list, nor can they require recipients to provide any information beyond their e-mail addresses and opt-out preferences. And finally, recipients may not be required to take any steps other than sending a reply or visiting a single page on a Web site.
Other provisions of the regulation involve the following:
Sender. The new rule defines who is a designated sender of e-mails and, therefore, responsible for complying with the CAN-SPAM Act’s opt-out requirement. This provision pertains to situations in which two organizations collaborate on promotions or advertising.
Mailing address. The credit union’s physical mailing address must be easy to find on its Web site. Or, if either a USPS or private mail box is used, it must be registered according to postal regulations.
Definition of person. The FTC rule added a clarification broadening the term “person” beyond natural persons to include groups, associations and corporations.
Please note that only promotional–not relational or transactional–messages are affected by CAN-SPAM. For more information on the new regulation, go to www.ftc.gov.
While spam filters have become more complex, ensuring that credit unions’ messages are delivered is a straightforward process. But it may require adjusting systems or working with e-mail service providers, such as DigitalMailer, that know their way around ISPs worldwide.
Credit unions can go beyond the FTC regulation and ensure deliverability by following these tips:
Preference-based e-mail. Allow members to choose the types of e-mail they wish to receive. Not only does this place your credit union well beyond CAN-SPAM rules, it also ensures you are invited into members’ inboxes.
Subject line and content. Stay away from punctuation or words (such as “free,” “save” or “buy”) that could raise red flags with the subject line. In the body of the message, avoid large images, logos or mastheads, which can take up valuable space or cause the viewer to see red “Xs.”
Certification. Make sure your system is certified or safe-listed with leading ISPs. And be sure to remove bad e-mail addresses that ISPs report as not being active.
Spam-check tools. Take advantage of tools that evaluate outgoing e-mail so you can correct messages that could trigger spam guards.
Register. Record your own SPF files to protect against forged sender addresses and to meet the growing list of ISPs requiring this form of identification.
With a few adjustments to make sure your procedures are in compliance and by staying attuned to spam-checker reports, you can continue to provide members with wanted information on special offers or new products.
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