Thought this might be of some interest since we've been talking about spam lately (I personally like the bit about "net cops" :-) Full headers included for your amusement. -meg meg@cerf.net
Forwarded message: From productlink@usa.net Fri Feb 21 19:06:01 1997 Return-Path: productlink@usa.net Received: from mtigwc03.worldnet.att.net (mailhost.worldnet.att.net [204.127.131.3]) by nic.cerf.net (8.8.5/8.8.8) with ESMTP id TAA05271 for <meg@cerf.net>; Fri, 21 Feb 1997 19:10:29 -0800 (PST) Message-Id: <199702220310.TAA05271@nic.cerf.net> Received: from q.qqq.com ([206.171.250.44]) by mtigwc03.worldnet.att.net (post.office MTA v2.0 0613 ) with SMTP id AAA3017; Sat, 22 Feb 1997 03:06:50 +0000 From: Product Link <productlink@usa.net> Date: Fri, 21 Feb 1997 19:08:48 PST Subject: We Will Send Your Bulk Email Status: R
*If you want to be removed from our mailing list, please respond to this email and put "Remove" in the subject line.
We will send out your bulk E Mail. Period. No qualifiers, no conditions, no nonsense...and we'll do it at the best prices.
We are Product Link. We are a business partner with a marketing company which develops buyers for its clients' products through electronic marketing; primarily broadcast fax. Together, we have over a hundred clients, almost 10% of which are Fortune 500 companies. We have numerous staff, and have just begun, at client request, to send high volumes of E Mail.
If you're new to bulk E Mail marketing, as we were a short time ago, I can confirm that all the E Mails you've been getting from E Mail software companies about how great E Mail marketing is; well, they're true. However, as those of you who have already purchased software and have tried bulk E mail know, nothing good ever comes easy.
Our staff has spent millions of advertising dollars on our clients' behalf; everything from commercials on the Superbowl to ads in the New York Times, to full page spreads in Scientific American.; not to mention the sending of over 1,000,000 marketing faxes a year for major corporations.
Bulk E mail has been quite an eye opener.
The Internet, the on line services and ISP providers are full of shrill, self appointed "net cops," whose mission in life seems to be dumping on those who have the audacity to sell product via E Mail. I don't wish nor intend to debate the issue here, except to say that if you've purchased bulk E Mail software (or intend to), you've already found out that when you attempt to use it, your ISP provider will shut you down, your E Mail account will be bombed, and electronic flames will become a way of life.
Since we have a low tolerance for allowing small groups of vocal fanatics to dictate our business life, we set up our own system to send out Bulk E Mail. This system will be greatly expanded in 30 days or so (we're installing more T lines), but we currently have room on our system to send out Bulk E Mail for a limited number of companies or individuals other than ourselves.
We'll send out your order, large or small. We'll do it quickly, and we'll do it at a really great price. You can supply the list, or we'll supply the list. Place an order with us, and we'll give you advice on how to set up your E Mail so your on line service won't shut you down, how to write your material, and much more. We will also write your marketing material, if you so desire. If you supply a list, we can run it through our computer program to sort out all duplicates and bad AOL or CompuServe addresses. If you buy a list from us, we will guarantee that the exact number of names you order will go out; if we send a list for you and a number of addresses are not delivered, we will send out more E Mails until you get delivered exactly what you ordered. We can even tell you how to confirm that your list was sent.
We also have programs that can filter out E Mail "bombs" and other irritating toys played with at your expense by people who don't have a life.
When we first began exploring bulk E mail, we contacted numerous firms advertising that they would send out bulk E mail. What we got was answering machines, disconnected numbers, and no call backs. The one firm that did contract us would only send limited numbers of E mails for us, and then only if we had already sent the list out once and taken off all the removes (go figure...if we could send out the list once, what did we need them for?). We finally got so exasperated, we set up our own system. And are we glad we did. Speaking as a marketing man with over 30 years experience in major advertising, E Mail marketing will change the face of advertising and cost of sale forever. I do not believe that has ever been a vehicle like it in history to allow anyone of any size and any budget to advertise and sell their products literally overnight. We employ 18 people, and I guarantee you that when you E Mail us back, you'll get a call. Right away. And the office phone number we give you, will have a live person at the other end.
Following is a price list to give you an idea of the quality of our company. Please bear in mind that Bulk E Mail is effective in large numbers; i.e., 25,000 and above.
Price List To Send Bulk E Mail:
Amount Cost Set Up (One Time Fee)
25,000 $150.00 $50.00
50,000 $275.00 $50.00
75,000 $400.00 $50.00
100,000 $550.00 $50.00
Bulk E Mail amounts above 100,000 per sending will be bid on a case by case basis. If you wish to modem us a list, there may be a small charge for down load depending on list size. If you wish us to "clean" your list (remove all duplicates and bad addresses), we will supply a bid on a case by case basis as with writing your marketing materials and other services.
If we may be of service to you, respond to this email with your name, company name, and phone number, or may also call us directly at (805) 654-4042. Thank you.