I could not help but chuckle today, after receiving an email from a chap offering to sell a domain.
Sure, this was the same old “let’s spam every domainer from a scraped WHOIS list” email – but with a twist.
After skimming through the email, I reached its closing statement, that looked very familiar:
“Please let me know when you have a chance.”
Despite battling a flu bug currently, my memory works just fine; I quickly identified this as being part of an “updated end-user email” that Elliot posted at his blog, very recently.
In that post, I had explained via a comment why quick and dirty, cookie cutter responses that don’t stand out for their individual attention by the writer, can easily be misconstrued for spam.
It seems that people are too lazy or too ignorant to compose an email that explains just what they have in their head!
Here is Elliot’s email “template”:
Hi [Name],
My company owns the domain name, [Domain Name ].com, and it is now for sale. The domain name is easy to remember and it may be good for SEO, which should help bring you business.
I am reaching out to a number of [industry] companies, and I am interested in discussing the sale of [Domain Name ].com if you have an interest.
Please let me know when you have a chance.
Regards,
And here is what our friend from South Africa emailed me about:
Hi.
I own the domain name, [x] .co, and it is now for sale. The domain name is easy to remember and it may be good for SEO, which should help bring you business.
I am reaching out to a number of other individuals/or websites, and I am interested in discussing the sale of [x] .co if you have an interest. Note that if you buy [x] .co, the transfer/payment
process will be done through Escrow.com which will give me(seller) and you(buyer) security that you will receive the domain and I will receive the money.
Please let me know when you have a chance.
Regards,
So very little was changed; the addition of an escrow process paragraph added very little to the fact that this copy/paste of Elliot’s email signifies a lack of writing skills, when reaching out to someone for a sale.
To top it off, our seller openly CC’ed 351 email accounts, thus adding himself to the list of domainer spammers. The domain wasn’t hot either.
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That sample letter template is not really very business like.
It’s too casual for a business setting.
Unless one knows the email recipient, one should be more formal, and, yes, a bit old-fashioned, even stodgy.
That sample template is too close to the spam I receive and did receive before Elliot posted his template.
I do hope he takes some of the good advice offered to him and is not too flattered by the rah, rah, suck-up comments.
🙂
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Ms Domainer – The problem is not Elliot’s email sample, but rather, the lack of imagination by those who simply copy/paste it. It is meant to be used as a guide, otherwise it becomes grade school template cheating. 😀
Stop wasting time perfecting letters…it’s NOT going to help.
If u have a great domain at a very good price…it will sell no matter what u say in your email.
For example: if I write a retarded email and spam top 1000 domainers…this domain for example Toys.com will sell.
Sample email letter…
I the master CEO owner of the toys.com domainname.
I ask $100k toys.com domain. Pay in escrow.com
If u like and want buy, email me now please.
Now, if I send this retarded letter to top 1000 domainers…I guarantee I will get 500 responses and people calling me within an hour.
A good domain at a good price will always sell no matter what u say in an email.
Anunt – If you mean that by grossly underselling a top tier domain, you can send a ‘retarded letter’, then I agree. Domainers are always looking for steals.
Acro, As I pointed out in the comments section of Elliot’s post that you reference, he shared a previous end-user email around 2009 that till now has easily been the de facto template of choice used by domainers/spammers, and one that I still receive constantly, so its no real surprise that they’re now updating to the latest iteration. To Elliot’s credit it shows how widely read and respected his blog is.
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Anunt,
If I received an email like your sample, I would assume that the domain has been stolen and send the email to the trash pile.
While one should not obssess unduly over one’s sales letter, one should always use good business etiquette practices.
If that makes me old-fashioned, then I embrace the label wholeheartedly.
🙂
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“That sample letter template is not really very business like.”
@ Ms Domainer
Aside from law firms and possibly some very buttoned up companies, most people I know from various companies email others with a more casual tone.
This email has served me pretty well selling domain names at a variety of prices to a variety of companies.
With respect to spam, I don’t condone it and I do my best to ensure my emails are targeted and don’t end up in domain investors’ mailboxes. I literally hand send each, and if it looks like a domain investor’s email address, I will do additional due diligence to check. While domain investors may be interested in certain names, I am usually trying to achieve a retail price, and it’s a waste of time and goodwill to email other domain investors whom I don’t know.
If you continue to receive unsolicited emails from the same person/entity, I recommend reporting it as spam to the sender’s hosting company or the free email service. It’s harsh, but it can be effective.