Email Harvesting - Is it right or wrong?

Email harvesting is right if it is done in the right context. For example, if you have a product that you think another business would be intrested in, the only options you have to contact them normally is:

• Telephone them
• Post them a flyer
• Do a cold visit at their premisis

All the above options are about cold calling a business about your product services, which most businesses except and expect. In this context, if that business has a website and an email address, there is no harm in emailing that business about your products and services. In this context, it is just the same as sending them a flyer in the post or cold calling them.

There are ways of sending an email to a harvested list of emails. You must make it clear:

• How you find thier email address.
• How to opt in to your newsletter, if they want to receive further information from you.
• How to opt out and never receive anymore communication from you.
• To give your own business contact details, so that they can contact you to stop receiving emails from your business

Email Harvesting is wrong and can be categorised as spamming if you purchase an email list very cheaply and you don't know how that list has been generated, or the email list provider can not provide the opt in details of the email addresses. If you go down this avenue, your online business could suffer and get a reputation of being a spammer. If this happens, you could lose the following:

• Your ISP.
• Your Domain host.
• Your Domain.
• Your name will be added to the spam list.
• Your business will be blacklisted.
• You will gain a very bad reputation as a spammer.

If this happens, any online business that you try to start up will always have an reputation of being a spammer

In conclusion, Email harvesting is right if it is done:

• In context and only done to business to business
• You have harvested the email addresses yourself and you know which websites they have come from.
• You make that clear in your opening email about how you found their email address.

Email harvesting is wrong if you have purchased a list of emails blindly and you don't know the origins of how those emails were generated or found. As it has been made aware in this, blog the consequences of being classed as a spammer can bring your online business to an abrupt end.