Ever wonder how Spam became Spam? Do you SPAM on AR? Is Spamming bad for business? Well here is the truth straight from my marketing class a few months back. It all begins with the actual wundermeat - Spam - the wundermeat became popular in america when women joined the work force and the family was adopting quick and easy meals that did had low preparation time.
(For the sake of length I am going to over-simplify some issues to get to the point)
Spam became popular because during their rise there was only 3 mediums, print, radio and TV. It was VERY clearly the birth of "brands" in America. You could literally throw money at these mediums and instantly sell millions of products, because unlike today's MASS (as in size) media, the options were very limited. I am sure that boomers and beyond can recall that even in the 70's TV was not more than 15 channels or so, of which you barely watched 4. All Spam did, was MARKET, buy ads, run commercials, you name it they were there and their sales went up - they SPAMMED SPAM - everyone caught on. SPAM is also absolutely useless for most people - sorry if you love it, but i believe it is really unhealthy.
It did not come to the technology arena until later: http://www.templetons.com/brad/spamterm.html
Now, why do I write this? STOP SPAMMING featured posts, popular posts in Social Networks, it is the ultimate way to get shunned, kicked, banned, booted, blocked, punted, denied and ignored. Social networks are NOT meant for promoting your product gratuitously.
SPAM = Promoting your product gratuitously, without request, without permission, and usually off-topic. Even on topic, it is not welcome.
How do you know if YOU ARE SPAM? ask yourself the following:
1) Am I answering the question in the blog? If you are, it is not SPAM
2) Am I merely stating my company name in a blatant disregard for integrity? If you are it IS SPAM
3) Am I putting words in a link and hiding the URL to encourage click through? 50/50 could be Spam
4) Does the comment I am adding ADD anything of value to the readers of this blog? only Yes if next is NO
5) Is this response strictly for my own benefit? If yes, you are a Spammer.
Look folks, let's Help people out, the next time someone SPAMS your post, send them the link to this post right after you report them as SPAM. They may not realize the negative effects SPAMMING will have on their business.
For example, if you are labeled a spammer, people will not like you - and instead of promoting yourself, you are actually ruining your reputation and opening yourself up for attack from the Social Network. This holds true for Trulia Voices, Zillow Q & A, ActiveRain, LinkedIn, MeetUp, Yelp!, etc.
The sad thing about Real Estate Spam is that alot of the brokers and agents do not realize they are doing it. It's okay, you are new to this medium. But you need to realize that the consumer does not fall for it, nor do they like it. If they are on Yelp! for restaurant reviews - and genuine reviews for other industries, contribute. But do NOT review yourself. Short reviews are also frowned upon, they look "spammy" - if everyone is writing thoughtful long reviews about companies and such - you should follow suit, so you are welcomed.
One Final tip: Look at the network you are joining, look at the popular posts, and learn from them what is read, what is welcomed and what kind of behavior is frowned upon.
Look at those 5 questions above, and I am sure you fellow AR members can add more to this list. Do not SPAM, and if you think it is SPAM, don't do it - But i'll give you a tip, on AR all you need to do to get recognition is to not be fake, be yourself, add to the community and people will naturally become interested in your product as a reflection of yourself. And you can write about your product, i do it. But those posts inevitable do not get featured, do not get posts and are not read. So this is my tip for 2008 - cut the SPAM!!!!!
Best wishes to all in 2008!
Pierre Calzadilla - Trulia - Manager strategic partnerships
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