What should you expect from this quick and easy form of advertising? How about a nightmare? Bulk email works, it really does, but it can come at a high price.

Unsolicited email is called SPAM. It is sending information to someone that did not request it. This information could be ads, advertorials, business opportunities etc.

If you are new to the Internet or are participating in this form of promotion be aware of what can happen to you. Recently I received an email from a dear friend and business associate. What she told me is a very real and scary fact about the Internet.

I felt compelled to tell of her horrible experience. SPAM is not only bad business, but also can come back to bite you! I won't mention any names due to legal matters still pending.

My friend has a reseller program for her product. She is very well known and has been very successful with her online business. She told me that one of her resellers had written an ad for a business opportunity that he was involved in. At the bottom of the ad he also included another ad for my friend's product.

He had purchased an opt-in list and distributed the ads to all the people on the list. It was his understanding that the list was safe and that all the subscribers had chosen to receive business opportunities via email. What happened next is totally unreal.

My friend started receiving complaints from some recipients of this email. Not to mention most were extremely rude and hateful.

She then gets an email from her hosting provider telling her that her site has been shut down. After much discussion they agreed to put her back up but they told her if they received three more complaints, they'd shut her down for good. She chose not to risk it.

She has incurred over $5000 so far in charges, fees and costs including moving to another hosting provider. After pain and headaches she was finally back up, but everything is still pending.

She will likely be forced to ask or sue for reimbursement. The person that created all this mayhem is new to the Internet and did not realize the massive problems that can come from a "dirty" opt-in list and/or SPAMMING.

As far as the opt-in list...it was not "clean". It somehow contained email addresses of folks who absolutely despise unsolicited email and who will go at greater lengths than most to stop it.

This article is not to put down opt-in lists. There are some very professional companies on the Internet that work hard at making "safe" lists for emailing. Just be very careful in your selection if you decide to use one.

For the folks that were on the opt-in list that hadn't asked to be there, this particular email was indeed SPAM and this story just proves how dangerous SPAM can be. If you are considering unsolicited email as your next form of promotion, think twice. Though the person that caused this mess feels horrible about it, he will likely end up paying for most or all of the charges incurred.

Many folks will just simply hit the delete key to get rid of SPAM, others will complain, write hateful and rude emails, sue you for the trouble and put you out of business. There are thousands of other ways to advertise without SPAMMING!

Hopefully this story will drive home to those who participate in SPAM and to those who are new and either don't know or have been thinking about doing it... DON'T! It's just not worth it.