I just read a horrifying tale on Jason Bagleys Blog. Basically someone that he knows got scammed by a so called “direct marketing” company. They offer to send out emails on behalf of the client and offer all sorts of guarantees. They claim not to be spamming. Their results as seen on Bagleys site speak for themselves.

As I was not personally involved in any of the conversations I will not make any slanderous or libelous comments about the company involved. I will merely look at the facts and allow them to speak for them selves. You be the judge. This is a cautionary tale as you can see.

There are companies that make outrageous claims and offer guarantees to good to be true. The rule of thumb is, If it sounds to good to be true it probably is. There are many SEO companies offering money back guarantees. They make claims like we guarantee you a front page listing on Google and if not we will refund your money.

First you need to look at all the small print. I am wondering how much small print was displayed by Webmail and Interface IT.  I can see from Jason’s article that they promised a 40% return and a no spam policy. The results tell of less than 2% click throughs. What that tells me as an experienced internet marketer is that the list was not targeted. It was opened by less than 6% of respondents, that tells me that these people had no clue why they were receiving the email.

Sending mail to untargeted lists is bad practice. You annoy people and they brand you a spammer. Using someone elses list is never a plan unless you are advertising on a regular mailer that gives the respondents the option of whether to follow through. It is also not a good idea to advertise your wedding supply business on a plumbing newsletter.  The reasons for this are bad responses. People receiving a plumbing newsletter are less likely to be interested in weddings than a petrol head would be in floral displays and opera.

SEO (Search engine optimisation) is not about guaranteed placement, It is hard work and will gain you results if implemented correctly. If implemented badly it can get you sandboxed. If you have received spam for SEO services first consider why someone alledgedly so good at SEO needs to spam you. Next to be fair look for your SEO specialist by doing a local search.

If you are in White River you would search for “White River Search Engine Optimisation” Or “White River SEO”. Check your most local city in this case “Nelspruit SEO” If you cannot find the spammer he can’t be much good can he?

The article by Jason can be found here

Webmail and Interface IT are a bunch of scammers