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A friend of mine passed this to me. She received an e-mail from a hbfod52@pplmail.com & it was sent to (no addressee name)@hotmail.com Save Address - -then it says save address-Block sender. It goes into a little spiel about the service & then it suggests to call an 800 # for a free catalog. Do all the personal chefs do this? It also suggests that meals go from freezer to table in about 10 minutes. I was under the impression that it takes a little longer unless everything is nuked. My friend knows I will be joing the APCA in a few weeks & I was telling her a little bit about it, & what was on EXTRA back in May (?) & then bingo, she gets this in her e-mail. She thought maybe I sent it to her....but nope. Does anyone in the APCA do this, & is this even a good practice to do? I think I would feel uncomfortable vast e-mailing persons as a form of advertising. I kinda feel that it is an invasion, you know like phone soliciation. Feedback please! Meredith & Brian maybe ya'll can shed some light on this. Thanks, & hope everyone has a good 4th of July.

I have done some e mail releases, but they are directed to people in a informal way and state right off that you apologise for the unwarrented e mail but you would like to introduce a new business that may be of some interest to them or their business. Most of these people that I have contacted have been real estate agents and accountants. I use it as an intro and direct it to people I have meet or am going to meet. Spamming is a no no in some circles so you must use care. If they are nasty they can track your isp and make life difficult. I also use e mail to keep in touch with media editors and keep me in their thoughts for press releases. My brother is very senistive when it comes to spamming so I heed his advice and don't batch mail anything. It takes more time but it doesn't automaticly throw up a red flag in spam gaurds. One thing that I have found is important is to have a direct link to you web site so people have quick access to you and your info and have your main speal there and use your release as a teaser about your service. You know like "you can bye time" or" tired of the same old take out" or "chicken man got you slip sliding away!" Hope this helps...
Brian

[This message has been edited by Chef Brian (edited July 03, 2000).]

I hate spam! I would never do a mass mailing to people that I don't know because it is considered very rude and I don't want to be known as a rude person before anyone even hires me!Not that I AM rude or anything
~LOL! When I get my business going the only people I will e-mail to let know about it are family and close friends. The purpose of this is so that they will know that I'm working and not assume that I am free to babysit! I will also be e-mailing my press release (along with snail mailing it) to newspapers and radio stations (etc) to let them know about the new business in town. My advise is to keep any e-mails on the professional level but don't be a spammer because that will just give you a bad image!


Samantha Ellis
The Enchamted Kithen
Cape Cod, MA
Enchanted_Kitchen@excite.com

[This message has been edited by Samantha (edited July 03, 2000).]

I only e-mail someone if they have inquired about my service!! No spam - i personally can't stand mail if I don't know the sender!!

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Ruby Price
Savour the Thyme
Personal Chef Service
Duncanville, Texas
savourthethyme@aol.com
www.mcbeeweb.com/savourthethyme

thank you. I totally agree. When Jan (my friend) printed it & showed it to me..I couldn't help but feel like some toes would be stepped on. For all that the person who sent it knew...it couldv'e been sent to another personal chef...or stepping into someone's territory. I just wanted to check & see who might feel like I do. For a moment, I thought maybe I was over-reacting or being too sensitive...but I don't anymore. It is definetly not something I would do...as I don't like phone solicitors, much less e-mail solicitors. I'm so proud to be a part of this forum...can't wait til I'm an official member, all of you are grreeaatt & your ethics are simply wonderful.