Rob Williams - Orangejack

I have a theory of how to get rid of email spam forever.

Don't buy anything from spammers!

My thinking is the reason spammers send these junk emails all the time is because it's cheap to send the mail and someone will buy. Think about it. If it cost $1 to send 1000 spam emails (I'm making up numbers here, but it is cheap to how many you can send...that's the point) and if 1 in 1000 make a purchase where you can net $2, then you've doubled your money.

So if no one buys anything, they won't make money and they'll stop. Or so goes the theory.

So how many people are buying from spam? You might be shocked:

According to the study, respondents claim to open and read more than 20 percent of unsolicited e-mail they receive. Twenty percent is a pretty good open rate for a spammer. I know a few permission-based e-mail marketers that don’t enjoy open rates that high. Also, the study concluded that more than 40 percent of U.S. respondents admit to having bought something from a spam message. Results from their international studies are even higher.

40% make a purchase?!?! Holy cow! Who's doing it? I assume that's 40% of the 20% who open it, but still!

If you're one of those spam purchasers, please STOP IT! Instead, just stay up late and buy something from Ronco instead so they'll leave my inbox alone!

I know because Earthlink told me so.