I get a lot of e-mail and I’m betting that you do too.  Lately, I’ve taken to unsubscribing from nearly every publication that I get e-mailed to me.  If it’s another pointless newsletter filled with salesy garbage, I don’t want it.  There is enough of that “stuff” circling the web as it is.

Today, as I was going through my e-mail, I received yet another newsletter.  Going through the motions to unsubscribe, I realized that this one was different.

This one had my e-mail address, and a group of others, in the “To:” line of the e-mail.  Realizing that my contact details were exposed, I scrolled down to the unsubscribe button and clicked it… only to realize that I was met with a Constant Contact “Test Message Only” error.  Turns out, I was forwarded a test e-mail that someone had generated from Constant Contact… I couldn’t even unsubscribe.

Scrolling back up, I noticed that the e-mail was in fact forwarded from the e-mail address that the test had gone to.  Not only was this particular e-mail not in compliance of CAN-SPAM laws, it was just a messy way to get a message across to your audience!

After realizing all of this, I sent the following e-mail to the company’s owner:

“Please remove me from this mailing list immediately.  Your unsubscribe button doesn’t work because this was sent out as a test instead of an actual e-mail.  If you have an assistant looking after this, he/she may want to know that it’s against CAN-SPAM laws to not allow unsubscribe from your e-mail list.

Also, my e-mail address was exposed (as were your other recipients) in the “To:” line of your e-mail.  I don’t want my contact details shared with anyone that I do not share them with as I get too much e-mail as it is.  Exposing my details goes against CAN-SPAM’s privacy laws.

Hopefully you understand that these suggestions don’t come from a place of negativity but being an Internet marketer, I do my best to inform people about the things that are happening in their business that may not be compliant.”

The owner of the company promptly wrote back an apology, which was appreciated and included the following line:

“I have an intern from the college i teach at doing this and will look into it.”

This is where I stopped in my tracks to write this blog post.

Too many business owners are cutting costs in the WORST place in their business — their operations. Instead, they pour buckets and buckets of money into coaching, info-products, training, seminars, networking events, etc. and they scour the Internet looking for CHEAP outsourcing.

Why?

When we’re investing in more information, more training, more networking and we’re lacking on the investment back in the business’ core, things WILL fall apart when your momentum picks up.  Or, you won’t have time to implement 3/4 of what you learn so it becomes a waste of capital.

The worst part is, when all of the mistakes happen, the messy business operations happen and the business’ image is flawed (as the above example shows) the business owner places the blame on their team.  The very team that they went cheap with because the value of that particular service, to the business owner, just wasn’t there.

When you invest in your team, think about the fact that they are your core.  They maintain your operations.  They make sure that your professional image is carried through everything you do.  Outsource cheaply and you cheapen your image.

Luckily for this particular business owner, I was willing to point out where the errors had gone wrong and how they were in violation of the CAN-SPAM Act.  Had I been someone who didn’t care as much about informing them or who was really irritated over the situation, it could have gone very sour.  That business owner could have lost their right to their Constant Contact account, their ability to send out e-mails without being blacklisted and who knows what else.

However, this is just my opinion… what do you think?  Do you think outsourcing cheaply cheapens your business or do you think budgeting this area is important?

P.S. — I’ve been told that this video has helped people understand the value of outsourcing. Check it out: