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Using an API to build a $1,500/month side business in 4 months

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Re: Using an API to build a $1,500/month side business in 4 months

#51

Post by the_watcher »

Alupis wrote: post #19

If you need to verify an email address, it's very likely you did not obtain it via an opt-in... a la Spammers... or people purchasing bulk mailing lists. Both are illegal. It's difficult to imagine how anyone using this service is not violating the CAN-SPAM Act[1]. Despite its name, the CAN-SPAM Act doesn’t apply just to bulk email. It covers all commercial messages, which the law defines as “any electronic mail mess…

Papa John's didn't violate CAN-SPAM. And there has never been a case (that I've seen, and I follow this stuff pretty closely because I really dislike receiving newsletters, personally) prosecuting anyone for sending a cold sales email.

Re: Using an API to build a $1,500/month side business in 4 months

#52

Post by [deleted] »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #18
mark242 wrote: post #3

Please don't continue to run this. What you are doing is effectively recreating the VRFY command that nearly every major mail hosting service has removed for privacy and abuse reasons. You are opening yourself up to a huge liability, since spammers will quickly use stolen credit cards to crosscheck their lists against your API. This will cause you to have processing issues from Stripe. This will cause you to have a h…

"To avoid gaining a bad IP reputation, we make requests from a large number of servers, any of which will be turned off it our system detects its IP is temporarily graylisted by some larger email server. In the unlikely event that all our servers are graylisted at the same time, the API might be down. Within a few minutes, our automated system will create new servers elsewhere." I just threw up a bit in my mouth. I g…

[deleted]

Re: Using an API to build a $1,500/month side business in 4 months

#53

Post by antisthenes »

the_watcher wrote: post #38
chinathrow wrote: post #29

Don't use this in Europe. Cold emailing is forbidden in lots of countries. If you cold email me with your business/sales/whatever you make money with it pitch, I report you to your hosting provider and if necessary, to the local authorities.

How do they define cold email? If someone you know gives me your email address, and I don't tell you how I got it, is that illegal? Can you only email people who have actively given you an email address? This seems very unlikely, and extremely hard to enforce.

> Can you only email people who have actively given you an email address?

While soliciting them with offers or advertising, yes. Anything other than that would be sheer lunacy, frankly.

Re: Using an API to build a $1,500/month side business in 4 months

#54

Post by chinathrow »

the_watcher wrote: post #49
chinathrow wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You even need consent and proof of it. Cold email can't have that consent... http://www.selligent.com/blog/inspiration/think-differently-...

This is for email marketing, not cold emails. Email marketing refers to using automated systems to send emails to a list. A cold email is a human sending an email individually. They might use a template or software to aid in creation, but each email is sent to an individual separately. You might think that this sounds identical, but it isn't.

Not true. That is an excuse of any spammers out there.

Edit: Check my posts - I am talking about Europe not the US. Cold emails are against UWG in Germany.

Re: Using an API to build a $1,500/month side business in 4 months

#55

Post by Analemma_ »

Just because you wrote about it on Medium, and used words like "biz dev", doesn't mean you're not a spammer.

Seriously, if you're not swayed by the ethical considerations and all the other commenters here pointing out how scummy and immoral your business is, at least consider the liability questions. You're in pretty flagrant violation of the CAN SPAM Act and could be looking at very large fines.

Turn it off.

Re: Using an API to build a $1,500/month side business in 4 months

#56

Post by jwatte »

chinathrow wrote: post #29

Don't use this in Europe. Cold emailing is forbidden in lots of countries. If you cold email me with your business/sales/whatever you make money with it pitch, I report you to your hosting provider and if necessary, to the local authorities.

And I'm sure France invade California to enforce their laws. (Or Barbados, or Jersey, or wherever this moves to.)

Re: Using an API to build a $1,500/month side business in 4 months

#57

Post by the_watcher »

the_watcher wrote: post #49
chinathrow wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You even need consent and proof of it. Cold email can't have that consent... http://www.selligent.com/blog/inspiration/think-differently-...

This is for email marketing, not cold emails. Email marketing refers to using automated systems to send emails to a list. A cold email is a human sending an email individually. They might use a template or software to aid in creation, but each email is sent to an individual separately. You might think that this sounds identical, but it isn't.

It is true, no matter how many times you claim that it isn't. Can you name one single salesperson who has ever been prosecuted for this? Active consent is required for email marketing in the US too. It's not required for me to send a cold email to someone whose email address I acquired (or could guess).

Re: Using an API to build a $1,500/month side business in 4 months

#58

Post by snowwrestler »

aantix wrote: post #16
downandout wrote: post #10

I'm not sure why there is so much negativity in these comments. LeadGenius is nothing more than a well-financed spam enabler that charges more, and yet they are celebrated in the Valley and have been handed $18 million in funding. The only difference is that they aren't as up-front about how the data they sell is derived.

While I agree that it probably does enable a certain portion of spammers, cold outreach is a necessary component to growing a company. There is nothing more effective than a well directed email stating that 1) you can solve one of their problems and 2) are you willing to purchase it today? Skip your blog posts. Skip your viral marketing videos. Skip your media blitz. Find your customers. Find their emails (yes, using…

People give higher credence to information that they find themselves, than information that is pushed to them by an obviously interested party. This is the heart of why inbound marketing works and is a good idea.

The alternative to finding potential customers is to find where they hang out, then go there and inform them that you exist. If they really want/need your service, they will come to you. Once they do, that's when you get that contact info and politely but persistently pound it.

Re: Using an API to build a $1,500/month side business in 4 months

#59

Post by Silhouette »

chinathrow wrote: post #32
aantix wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While I agree that it probably does enable a certain portion of spammers, cold outreach is a necessary component to growing a company. There is nothing more effective than a well directed email stating that 1) you can solve one of their problems and 2) are you willing to purchase it today? Skip your blog posts. Skip your viral marketing videos. Skip your media blitz. Find your customers. Find their emails (yes, using…

"There is nothing more effective than a well directed email stating that 1) you can solve one of their problems and 2) are you willing to purchase it today?" That is considered illegal spam in lots of european countries unless you have a pre-existing relation ship with the recipients. YMMV.

Unfortunately, many of those laws only apply in B2C contexts, not B2B.

That doesn't make the time dealing with it any less of a waste or make spamming any more ethical or socially acceptable just because it's a professional contact, of course.

Re: Using an API to build a $1,500/month side business in 4 months

#60

Post by aantix »

someone7x wrote: post #33
aantix wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While I agree that it probably does enable a certain portion of spammers, cold outreach is a necessary component to growing a company. There is nothing more effective than a well directed email stating that 1) you can solve one of their problems and 2) are you willing to purchase it today? Skip your blog posts. Skip your viral marketing videos. Skip your media blitz. Find your customers. Find their emails (yes, using…

I consider spam to be a on a spectrum of invasive advertising. Direct mail and telemarketers are other obvious examples. A more extreme example: if a hustler approaches me on the street and tries to con me, is that still "cold outreach"? To me if it's on that spectrum it's all sleazy, only to varying degrees. At least with blog posts and viral videos it's always my choice to engage with them.

If someone notices that you walk on the insides of your feet and see that you're in pain and they say "Hey, I own an orthopedic shoe store, you should stop in and we can alleviate some of your foot pain", is that sleazy?

I think it's beyond helpful; it's doing a great service. Thoughtful, highly targeted cold outreach is just that.

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