I just recieved an email one of many I get daily from several types of sellers, brokers, agents, wholesalers and had an idea.
At the top of the message are a list of reciepients of the same message it occured to me to add them to my list and also watch for this in other emails. Now It just feels as though I am stealing names from someone else but they gave me access throught he email they sent. Does anyone see anything wrong ethically here? Seems like a good way to build the list....Comments and Suggestions appreciated.....
Spam alert! Those people opted-in to the other mailer’s list, but not to yours. Most opt-in lists have a disclaimer that they will never sell or give your email to another list. But now they are getting emails from you. They may not be too happy.
Spam laws have changed a lot since my brief stint in MLM in 1998. There are federal and state laws now. Just educate yourself on them. Some states allow you to send a one-time email with an opt-in message, some don’t.
Just be careful when sending advertsing/marketing (like wholesale deals) to people who have not actively opted-in to your list.
Another thing to think about outside spam: joint venture protocol.
How would you feel if you do a joint venture with another wholesaler, bring your favorite buyer to a property that the other wholesaler has the contract on, then that wholesaler hands your buyer his business card, bypassing you? I bet you would be ticked off. That is a breach of ethics and joint venture protocol with another wholesaler.
Since the email you received does not have the list of emails in a Bcc field hidden from you, it may not be from an automated buyers list from aWeber, ConstantContact, etc. It may be a personal list of buyers that are loyal to that one wholesaler.
If you send an email marketing a property to a buyer that you took from another wholesaler and that buyer is loyal to that wholesaler, that buyer will definitely forward your email to his wholesaler asking why some other wholesaler has their email address. That wholesaler would recognize your email from a joint venture or other affiliation and would never do business with you again - and neither will the buyer.
It is best to ask the source of the email the nature of their list that you see in the “To” or “Cc” fields of the email. If they say buyers, then arrange a joint venture with them, giving them a percentage of your deal if you market to these buyers through him and one of them closes your deal. That is the ethical way of handling this.
As a wholesaler with less than a year’s experience, joint venturing with other more experienced wholesalers has greatly helped me, especially since I still have a full-time job.
Also, what if the email received was a broken-up email. Meaning, the person sent 20 emails and you got one of them with a few other people on it since he might have a very large list and wanted to split them up. Joint venturing with this person will uncover the true extent and reach of his buyer’s list.
I made a joint venture wholesaler contact at a recent REI meeting (late October) and he already found 2 lease-option buyers for recently rehabbed properties I could not unload due to their location in the Poconos. And he found a buyer for one of my wholesale deals in Philadelphia just this Tuesday. I just met him last month. You can bet that I am not going to breach any protocol with this guy.
Most of us build our lists by getting on other people’s list and scooping up the names of the folk they accidentally carbon copy in an email blast.