SPAM: Defined
Dictionary.com defines spam as "Unsolicited e-mail, often of a commercial nature, sent indiscriminately to multiple mailing lists, individuals, or newsgroups; junk e-mail." So why do so many of these stooges just not "get it?"

Within the past month I have received two separate pieces of spam from individuals completely oblivious to the fact their practices are spam. Not only did they not feel they were spammers, they both wrote back in complete surprise that I would consider their missives unsolicited junk mail. You see, they feel that since they wrote "Press Release" at the top of their message that it shouldn't be consider junk mail. Nevermind the fact they sent it to a group of people who never asked to be on their list, nor did they take the time to actually address it to an individual (my name is pretty easy to find on every page of my website), nor did they make an attempt to draw a parallel between their message and anything I'd ever written on my website.

Here's some advice to any persons considering the shotgun approach to emailing press releases. Don't do it. It pisses people off. If either of you had bothered to contact me personally, at least pretending to be a regular reader of my blog, and claiming to have some information that might be of interest to other readers, I would have gladly agreed to receive your information and been predisposed to posting a blurb or two on your behalf.

Spam/press releases will not achieve this. Stop doing it.
Sending random press releases is and old rule for OLD media. Offline media. NEW media has new rules. Learn them and abide by them.

Stop sending crap about yourself to people who don't care about you.
Start by building a relationship. Make me care about you by showing that you care about me.

Zig Ziglar said it a helluva a lot nicer than I just did:
You can get everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want.