Interesting Times
Email marketing on its own I have been told is not the spam business. For one reason or another, I was lied to.
Working in this industry has been real eye-opening and surreal at the same time. One day I am having lunch with 2 dudes who look like ordinary joe schmoes, but are making $50,000 a month just by selling their data of email addresses, names, and any other relevant information a marketer could use. In essence I am dealing with some of the world's biggest and most successful spamers in the US. The money is great, the work environment is lax, and the rewards are high. The one down side I am noticing is that I now have to go through an entire online identity reformation. I will probably have to begin using a fake name for myself. It seems the companies I deal with had to have their employees change their names because of the risk involved.
My dealings in the industry isnt the black market type, we are legal and so are all of the business partners we deal with (mostly because they have been forced to be legal or they risk losing on profits.) We all comply with the CANN SPAM Act, and that alone makes us legal. It is sad and amazing that the people I deal with have more data on people in the US than the IRS does, let alone more names and records of people.
You name it I have access to it, PETA, Republican/Democratic/Etc Registered Voters, Celebs, the list just goes on, and it can get very specific within each category down to race, gender, income, desires.... its mind-blowing really. Over 8 million new names are added to this list every month alone.
I think in another two months I will fully see the rewards of dealing within this industry, and perhaps I will even see it's drawbacks.
One way or another this will be an interesting story to tell when im 50 and recalling the days where I had casual ordinary discussions, lunch, and signed contract agreements with the biggest spammers in the world which forced me to use an alternate name for my own safety.
Working in this industry has been real eye-opening and surreal at the same time. One day I am having lunch with 2 dudes who look like ordinary joe schmoes, but are making $50,000 a month just by selling their data of email addresses, names, and any other relevant information a marketer could use. In essence I am dealing with some of the world's biggest and most successful spamers in the US. The money is great, the work environment is lax, and the rewards are high. The one down side I am noticing is that I now have to go through an entire online identity reformation. I will probably have to begin using a fake name for myself. It seems the companies I deal with had to have their employees change their names because of the risk involved.
My dealings in the industry isnt the black market type, we are legal and so are all of the business partners we deal with (mostly because they have been forced to be legal or they risk losing on profits.) We all comply with the CANN SPAM Act, and that alone makes us legal. It is sad and amazing that the people I deal with have more data on people in the US than the IRS does, let alone more names and records of people.
You name it I have access to it, PETA, Republican/Democratic/Etc Registered Voters, Celebs, the list just goes on, and it can get very specific within each category down to race, gender, income, desires.... its mind-blowing really. Over 8 million new names are added to this list every month alone.
I think in another two months I will fully see the rewards of dealing within this industry, and perhaps I will even see it's drawbacks.
One way or another this will be an interesting story to tell when im 50 and recalling the days where I had casual ordinary discussions, lunch, and signed contract agreements with the biggest spammers in the world which forced me to use an alternate name for my own safety.