Feeling a little frustrated about the number of unsolicited emails in your inbox? You’re not alone. That’s because it’s estimated that 89% of emails are spam. And, if you’re noticing a lot more e-newsletters that you didn’t sign up for, you’ll be delighted to know that unsolicited email numbers are increasing and it’s now the second most common type of spam.

The madness needs to end.

The focus for this post isn’t on the spam sent by botnets or the fun ones sent from foreign lawyers letting you know you have a lottery fortune yet uncollected. I want to tackle the unsuspecting corporation who pads their email lists with cards they collected at networking events or scrapes email addresses from corporate websites or buys a dreaded list.

I do believe that a good percentage of these businesses have no idea that what they’re doing is wrong and in many cases illegal. They don’t know that you can’t sent a mass email to people who have not explicitly given you permission to email them. But you can find more about that here: 7 things you may not know about email marketing.

So, what can you do?

I’d like to start a movement. And I need your help. Just imagine if after sending a mass e-blast, they see tens or hundreds of people have unsubscribed or their account is suspended or they get a number of responses indicating their email was not OK. Would this change their behavior? You betcha. So, here’s what you can do when someone sends you eblast or newsletter spam:

1) Unsubscribe:

(please note that this email was not spam)

Based on FTC guidelines, every mass email must have an unsubscribe button. However, it shouldn’t be surprising if you don’t find one. If it’s there and more than 1% of people on their list unsubscribe, their email account can be suspended.

2) Report as spam through their email service:

When you click “unsubscribe” many reputable email service providers (like MailChimp and A-Weber) will also give you the option to mark the email as spam.

3) Report as spam through your email software:

Even if they don’t have a ‘report as spam’ option with their email provider, you can still mark the email as spam by clicking on spam or trash.

4) Respond to their email:

I do believe that a large number of companies send spam not knowing the legal implications (even though I do believe they understand the ethical ones). Often, I will send an email response to their message when it is someone within the events industry. It goes a little something like this:

“Please note that I did not give you permission to send me mass emails. The FTC has very strict guidelines about sending unsolicited emails and you could be fined up to $16,000 if reported. Please remove me from your list and any further communications.

For more information on FTC CAN-SPAM guidelines, click here.”

5) Forward spam to the FTC:

If you get spam email that you think is deceptive, send it to spam@uce.gov. The FTC uses the spam stored in this database to pursue law enforcement actions against people who send deceptive email. It’s not as simple as clicking ‘forward’, so here are some quick tips on how to ensure the header of the email is included when you send it to the FTC.

Are you with me?

Listening is a fine art – especially when it comes to Event Marketing. Following my recent webinar with MeetingsNet on Event Marketing 2.0, I have put together a video on how to use socialmention to listen to what people are saying about your event, your competitor’s, or what your target market is talking about through social channels.

Let me know your thoughts!

Fast Company recently published a story about researchers who created bodysuits to mimic the mobility, motion, function and balance of a Baby Boomer’s body. Why? Because these researchers wanted to understand the challenges that this aging generation encounter doing even the most mundane tasks.

They uncovered a lot of insights by strapping on the suit…

“The suit has a pelvic harness that connects to a headpiece, mimicking the spine and restricting mobility, range of motion, joint function, balance, and vision. We’ve suited up students and taken them to the grocery store to purchase foods with low sugar, low sodium, and low fat — foods commonly purchased by older adults. They found that it was very challenging to locate these items on the shelf. That’s valuable information that we can take back to organizations.”

What would happen if you shed your skin for a day and climbed into your customer’s body? Would you better understand what their fears and frustrations are? Would you develop an appreciation for their hopes and dreams? Would you learn what it was really like to deal with your company…or your competitor’s? The answers are likely yes, yes and yes.

The key to success in marketing, sales, social media, customer relations, communications, web design, etc is to know your customers. Not just how you define your target market but how they live, what they see, what they hear, how they think and feel, what they say and do. Only then…when you know them intimately…can you speak to them in a way that connects, compels and elicits a response.

A brand that captures your attention gets considered

A brand that captures your wallet gets a chance

A brand that captures your mind gets a call back

A brand that captures your heart gets passionate loyalty

A brand that captures many hearts creates a movement

This megalist of Event Planning online tools appeared in my Feb/Mar Connections column in Event Solutions Magazine.

Planners are being challenged to work faster, harder and more efficiently. The past few years have seen a cumulative number of tools created to help us accomplish more. I take great delight when I find a tool that helps me and my clients. So as 2011 hearkens a new year with new goals, I thought I’d share some of my favorite tools to make your life and job easier this year.

ENGAGEMENT

Quora – Ask and answer questions about an event. Listen to what people are asking about you. A tool that’s getting a lot of buzz right now…good and bad. But definitely worth checking out.
Survey Monkey – Create surveys for free and share & embed them easily.
Storify – Turn what people post on social media into compelling stories. You collect the best photos, video, tweets and more to publish them as simple, beautiful stories that can be embedded anywhere.
BuddyPress – Create your own social network for your event.

AWARENESS

Eventbrite – Create events online, share via social networking sites, sell tickets and manage affiliate partners.

Plancast – A way for people to share what they’re doing (think events) with their friends.

MailChimp – An email marketing tool that is 100% free.

Facebook Events – An incredibly powerful tool to share events. When someone indicates they’re attending, all of their connections will be notified.

Lanyrd – A site that allows you to promote your conference, incorporate social conversations about the event and include links to speaker bios, presentations, videos and podcasts.

SEO (search engine optimization)

Thumbtack – Create a great looking listing for your business and be notified when someone is looking for your services in your area.

Google Places – Create a storefront for your business so that when people search for products / services like yours they find you in Google local search results.

CREATIVITY

Elance – Post a project (logo design, web design, invitations, newsletter design, etc) and let tens or thousands of designers bid on your project.

99 Designs – Post a project and review design submissions from designers from around the world.

WEBSITE

Snappages – Let’s you create a great looking website, for free, with no HTML/CSS knowledge. Simply use their templates as a base and drag and drop to create your own custom site.

Unbounce – Create landing pages simply, then split test to determine the most effective design.

Stipple – Label your website photos with descriptions and weblinks (and even shopping information).

PRODUCTIVITY

Skitch – Lets you capture images, share them across multiple web platforms and create discussions.

Teux Deux – The most visually and functionally simple To Do tool I’ve seen.

SelfControl – Email, social media and web surfing can be procrastinations best friend. This application lets you block access to specific sites for a predetermined amount of time.

MinutesPlease – Unlike SelfControl, this tool lets you time exactly how long you want to spend on a site so you can control your time on the web.

CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT

Batchbook – Great for small businesses. Manage all of your contacts, pending deals, confirmed revenue, customer social media accounts, calendar and to do items at a very low monthly fee. Batchbook also integrates well with MailChimp, EventBrite, FreshBooks and many other small business management tools.

INSPIRATION

Thirty Conversations on Design – They asked 30 of the world’s most creative professionals two questions: “What single example of design inspires you most?” and “What problem should design solve next?”.

Ted – Video inspiration from some of the biggest thought leaders around the world.

Notcot – A collection of some of the most beautiful and inspiring design content on the web.

Stumbleupon – This tool helps you discover the best on the web. Click on Stumble and discover a new website based on the recommendations of others.

TRAVEL

Kik – For those who travel…a lot, Kik lets you send FREE, real-time text messages between iPhones, Androids and BlackBerries.

TripIt – Keep track of your travel details and share your schedule with friends.

Yapta – Track flight prices and save money before and after you buy.

What tools would you add?