Comments on: Noteworthy Links And News From This Week http://the-gadgeteer.com/2007/04/28/noteworthy_links_and_news_from_042307/ Gadget reviews and news by Julie Strietelmeier and friends since 1997 Sat, 21 Nov 2009 21:31:24 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc hourly 1 By: Smitty http://the-gadgeteer.com/2007/04/28/noteworthy_links_and_news_from_042307/comment-page-1/#comment-25829 Smitty Fri, 04 May 2007 04:50:52 +0000 #comment-25829 <p>Great organization! It's nice to see that someone is realizing people don't want all that junk advertisers keep throwing at us. Many credit card companies have an opt-out line to be removed from their marketing lists, and if you call your catalogue companies, they will usually remove you pretty quickly as well.</p> <p>I've also found a slightly passive-aggressive way to encourage junk mailers into re-considering the economics of their craft. When I get a magazine that has 53 blown-in postage paid cards (I paid for the bloody subscription, mind you!), I send them all back blank. That means they have to pay for them at Business Reply rates, but get zero return (actually, negative return) for their efforts. Plus, it saves room in my local landfill, lowering my taxes. I also mail back all the inner pieces of offers (minus the personalization, of course) in the return envelopes, lowering my recycling quite a bit. </p> <p>I also make it a point to never give credit for any bulk-mail or card of this type for a subscription or contribution. I always cite an online source I wish to see get credit for it, or an article in a journal I want to see get more attention. It's just like never answering spam: if more people ignored it, rather than responding to the offers, it would become unprofitable, and disappear. </p> Great organization! It’s nice to see that someone is realizing people don’t want all that junk advertisers keep throwing at us. Many credit card companies have an opt-out line to be removed from their marketing lists, and if you call your catalogue companies, they will usually remove you pretty quickly as well.

I’ve also found a slightly passive-aggressive way to encourage junk mailers into re-considering the economics of their craft. When I get a magazine that has 53 blown-in postage paid cards (I paid for the bloody subscription, mind you!), I send them all back blank. That means they have to pay for them at Business Reply rates, but get zero return (actually, negative return) for their efforts. Plus, it saves room in my local landfill, lowering my taxes. I also mail back all the inner pieces of offers (minus the personalization, of course) in the return envelopes, lowering my recycling quite a bit.

I also make it a point to never give credit for any bulk-mail or card of this type for a subscription or contribution. I always cite an online source I wish to see get credit for it, or an article in a journal I want to see get more attention. It’s just like never answering spam: if more people ignored it, rather than responding to the offers, it would become unprofitable, and disappear.

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