Quantum Communications Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Direct Email Marketing Contents: 1) What are your minimum orders? 2) Why can't I just do mailings myself? 3) What about Floodgate and other similar software mailing programs? 4) What if I have my own list? 5) What about the other Email Advertising companies? 6) What is the legal status of Email Advertising? 7) What about blocking by AOL? 8) What is "flame-filtering"/"Email Aliasing" ? Will anyone see my real Email address or complain to my provider? 9) What is an "autoresponder"? 10) What about ad copy design? 11) What about proof-of-mailing? 12) What is the "response rate guarantee"? How does it work? 13) What is your mail sending capacity? 14) What is the average lead time before my ad can be sent? 15) What type of mailing should I do? (Bulk stand-alone, MEGA-MAILER co-op, Targeted mail) 16) What categories are available for targeted lists? 17) Do you have sub-agent opportunities? 18) What is your list like, where are the names from, how big is it, how do you maintain it, etc? 19) What about undeliverables? 20) Contact Info 1) What are your minimum orders? Our minimum orders are 5,000 pieces for targeted mailings (in even lots of 5,000), 100,000 pieces for stand-alone bulk mailings (in even lots of 100,000), and 5 MILLION for the MEGA-MAILER co-op mailing (the full 5 million is the only size). As long as y our order is for at least the minimum amount of pieces, and in even lot sizes, you may stagger the actual sendings any way you wish (50,000 per week, etc.). Note, however, that the MEGA-MAILER is only sent once per week and is sent to the full 5 million address list. The reason we have minimums at all is due to the fact that the majority of our cost in terms of man-hours comes as a result of setting up a mailing, and so we cannot spend the time and money to setup too small a job. 2) Why can't I just do mailings myself? Technically, you can. For practical purposes, you can't. There are three reasons why it is implausible to even attempt to do your own Email Advertising: 1) Every single internet service provider on the planet will shut down your account. You will not even get 1000 pieces of mail out, and you will be shut down, because some uptight, self-appointed net-cops will complain to your provider. Do not kid your self. It WILL happen. Sending unsolicited commercial Email of any type is a violation of virtually every ISP's Terms of Service. Even if your ISP tells you it's OK (which will not happen 99% of the time), they will very quickly change their tune after th eir technical people receive a mailbox full of angry mail (commonly referred to as flames). When your account is cancelled, you will NOT get a refund, and, worse yet, you won't even be able to retrieve your replies! 2) A very large technical capacity is required to send bulk Email. You MIGHT be able to send 5,000 or so pieces of mail per hour, with a 28.8 modem, except that with dial-up internet connections, there are always dropped connections and so you can neve r be sure your mail went out unless you constantly sit and monitor the mailings all day and night, and send very small pieces at a time. 3) In order to have a list of addresses to send to, you have two choices: either spend months collecting names, or purchase an over-used list from a list vendor, who has sold the same list to dozens of others, who will bomb the list into uselessness. I n addition, most lists are so old that the names are 40% undeliverable, or from newsgroups, which are the WORST kinds of people to solicit. These three factors make it a practical impossibility to actually do your own bulk Email advertising, even though the vendors of the bulk Email software will not tell you this. The reason we do not have these hassles is because Quantum Communications IS OUR OWN INTERNET PROVIDER. We do not purchase service from anyone, and Email advertising is our only business! We have our own in-house servers, high-speed T-1 connections to the Internet, and full-time technical and customer service staff, yet our only customers are advertisers! Our lists are constantly maintained, updated, and cleansed, and are ONLY from high-quality sources. We DO NOT sell our names, or let anyone see them. See Question 18 for more on our lists. 3) What about Floodgate and other similar software mailing programs? Those programs can actually be fairly useful for extracting Email addresses and if you would like to build your own lists to your own specifications, that is an option (See Question 4 "What if I have my own list?"). However, building mailing lists is an EXTREMELY time-consuming and monotonous task, not to mention expensive in on-line charges. In addition, having these software programs will not help in the least in the sending issues you need to consider (See Question #2, above). We handle all aspects o f the mailing process, leaving you free to concentrate on your business! 4) What if I have my own list? We are fully able to use your list and send your mail to it. The price is 50% of what it would normally be. We simply have you Email or ftp your list to us, with ad copy (and autoresponse copy, if necessary). 5) What about the other Email Advertising companies? There is some competition in Direct Email marketing for your advertising dollar, and we have never purported to be the cheapest. We simply are the best. Most of the other "cheapo" companies who claim to offer a zillion pieces sent for $39, or some simil ar lowball deal, are quite frankly, scams. No legitimate company can afford all of the hardware, software, and personnel that a true advertising company like ours posesses, without charging a reasonable fee for providing of the service. Most of the low-r ent Email marketing companies are here-today, gone tomorrow. Perhaps gone with your money. Almost certainly gone without providing the actual service you paid for. Many of them look great until you investigate them further. Try calling them and getting a real live person on the phone. Or try asking them some of the questions referred to in this document. Most will disappear when you start asking serious questions. Or try asking for references. Good luck. There are so many fly-by night operators and snak e-oil salesmen on the 'net, it is hard to know what to believe. But the basic truths in business hold true. You should be able to call and get a live person on the phone, you should be able to check references and ask pointed questions, you should have a ccess to customer service and technical support, and you should be able to get a clear understanding of who you are dealing with, and how they do business. One mailing with us and you will be convinced that we truly are the cadillac of the industry. 6) What is the legal status of Email Advertising? Direct Email Advertising and solicitation is legal. It always has been. There are many self-styled legal eagles who dislike Email solicitation, and they will sometimes misquote federal statutes which apply to sending of unsolicited FAXES. There has never been a higher-court ruling supporting this supposed link between Email and unsolicited FAX. It is highly unlikely that such a ruling will EVER occur. If it does, we of course will need to adjust our business practices to stay in accordance with the law. However, at the present time, and for the foreseeable future in our opinion, Email solicita tion is just as legal as postal mail solicitation. The only real negative point which anti-Email advertising people address is that SOME people pay for their connect time at a timed/metered rate. Thus, the milliseconds which it takes to download an unsol icited piece of mail does cost the recipient (albeit tiny fractions of a penny). However, almost all ISP's (even America Online) have moved, or will be forced by competition to move, to an unlimited time rate structure. Therefore, this will no longer be an issue, and the persons who oppose Email advertising will have no legs to stand on. As this happens, Email advertising will become exactly like postal mail solicitation ( it is actually LESS intrusive than postal junk mail), and therefore we believe i t will NOT be regulated or legislated against. As a side note, we do provide a very clear, brief disclaimer at the header of ALL of our mailings which gives quick, simple removal instructions for persons who do not want to be on our lists. We act on all such requests immediately. In fact, it is an a utomated process. We do not want to be sending mail to unwilling recipients any more than they wish to receive it. 7) What about blocking by AOL? America Online has recently taken to blocking Email solicitations to it's members by certain Email Advertising companies. These companies are the ones who had been abusing their power, and had in fact been over-mailing (sending multiple pieces to the sam e recipients PER DAY). The most well-known of these companies was Cyber-Promotions. We feel that since we only send mail no more than 3 times per week to any single recipient, AOL is unlikely to begin blocking our transmissions. We also could take counte rmeasures technically and send to them again if necessary. However, our list only consists of about 25% AOL members, and that percentage is shrinking, as most of our newer names are coming from indepedent ISP sources (see Question # 18), so a blockage, w hile unlikely, would not affect us in the least in any event. Incidentally, we find it interesting that AOL does not apparently mind soliciting it's members (one cannot be online with them without getting at least 3 pop-up ads PER SESSION), they simply d on't want others soliciting their members without compensating THEM. 8) What is "flame-filtering"/"Email Aliasing" ? Will anyone see my real Email address or complain to my provider? Flames are the hate mail which is a part of Email soliciting today. Flame filtering is the automated filtering process we use to ensure that replies forwarded to you (by us) are only positive, serious inquiries, requests for information, orders, etc. We assign customers an Email alias at OUR domain. We are the only ones who know your REAL Email address. We then have all replies to your advertising sent to the alias we have assigned you so that we can filter out flames, then forward the "good" replies to you. No one can complain to your ISP, because as far as anyone knows, WE are your ISP (and we of course will not pay any attention, except to promptly remove them from our lists). In this way, you are totally insulated and protected, while still getting all "good" replies! Good replies are forwarded to you automatically as they come in. There is NO lag time or waiting. 9) What is an "autoresponder"? An Autoresponder is just an Email alias which we can have prospects who see your advertising respond to. When the response hits the autoresponder, it kicks back an automatic text file reply via Email, which is typically a more detailed package of informa tion (up to 20 pages) regarding your product or service. This effectively helps you weed out the "tire-kickers", so you are free to concentrate on fulfilling orders and more serious requests. A typical procedure is for a small "teaser" ad to be sent, wi th an autoresponder as the reply-to address. In the autoresponse text, you would typically include another Email alias for orders or more serious or specific questions. 10) What about ad copy design? We do have a copy editor on staff who is available to either write your copy from scratch or revise existing copy you already have. This is usually a wise investment, because the copy can be reused many times in different mailings, it will be done by a s easoned professional with over 10 years of experience in copywriting, and the actual copy is more than anything the key difference between success and failure when doing an Email marketing campaign. Think about it. Email is text only. No graphics, no mov ing pictures, sounds or colors. The content is all-important. Charges are $80 per hour, with typical costs being 1/2 hour for a revision, 1 hour for a small ad design, and 3 or more hours for design of ad copy plus autoresponse copy. 11) What about proof-of-mailing? When sending mail via the US Postal Service, a proof of mailing receipt is provided. There is no such counterpart in the world of Email. Although you will receive confirmation of your mailing once it is sent, the best way to become comfortable with deali ng with us is by first talking with our references, then by doing a single mailing to see what we can do for you. Once you have done business with us you will agree that we deliver exactly what we promise. Our minimum response rate guarantee is further e vidence of this, and renders the question of a proof of mailing as somewhat moot. We do actually have a log of all sent mail which is generated by our mailing software, but we only disclose the log under extenuating circumstances, and for a fee of $50 pe r 100,000 pieces sent, as it lists every mail sent, which discloses our list. 12) What is the "response rate guarantee"? How does it work? Our unique "response rate guarantee" is a clear indication of not only our rock-solid commitment to each and every advertiser, but also of our belief in direct Email advertising as a marketing medium. We know of no other advertising agency (Email or othe rwise) who actually GUARANTEES a minimum number of responses. Our guarantee is the following: 1) If you do not receive AT LEAST the minimum guaranteed responses from your Email Advertising, we will send on your behalf again, and again, and again..until you get the minimum amount! 2) You must allow 10 business days from the date your mailing was completed and you received confirmation, before requesting a remailing. 3) Of course, only positive, interested replies are counted towards your guaranteed minimum. 4) For this guarantee to apply, we must be able to verify the amount of replies you receive, so your ad must direct interested persons to an autoresponder or Email alias which we provide. 5) Any remailings are done on the same scale and amount as the original mailing, but to different recipients (except for the MEGA-MAILER or targeted lists)). 6) You must request a remailing by sending an Email to our customer service department, or by calling our office (ask to speak to customer service). We do not monitor replies automatically and automatically resend. 7) You may, at no charge, alter your original advertisement in any way you wish, as long as it is the same type of mailing as the original (targeted must be to the same group), and the same length as paid for in the original. Optionally, you may have t he ad revised professionally by us (See Question # 10). The Minimum responses guaranteed are as follows. We have had to make the numbers guaranteed purposefully low, because we extend this guarantee to ALL advertisers, regardless of whether or not they have effective ad copy or an appealing product or service . We of course strive for much higher responses for everyone, but is helpful to know that there is a "safety net", just in case. MINIMUMS: GENERAL STAND-ALONE BULK: 100 REPLIES PER 200,000 PIECES SENT TARGETED BULK: 150 REPLIES PER 5,000 PIECES SENT MEGA-MAILER: 200 REPLIES This allows advertisers to plan on a maximum cost per inquiry, which can be essential when planning a marketing budget. This guarantee, more than any other single factor, shows that Quantum Communications is a cut above the rest in the world of Marketing and Advertising! 13) What is your mail sending capacity? We have the technical capacity to send over 2 million pieces of mail per day. We have invested heavily in hardware, software, and high-speed mail transmission facilities to be able to achieve this capacity. We can handle your job, large or small. 14) What is the average lead time before my ad can be sent? The current lead time is 7-10 business days. This allows time for your ad copy to be submitted and for any revisions you may have before the mailing date. We actually work very hard to keep the lead times to a minimum, however, there has been a very high demand for Email advertising services, and it has been difficult just keeping up. If you have a special need to expedite an order, call or Email our customer service department, and we will make every effort to accomodate you. 15) What type of mailing should I do? (Bulk stand-alone, MEGA-MAILER co-op, Targeted mail) This depends entirely on your product or service. If you have a product or service which has a broad-based appeal, it is definetely better to send to a larger group of people. If you have an offering which you think needs 20-30 lines to entice people or grab their interest, then you need a stand-alone (the MEGA-MAILER is not for you). If you are announcing a website and just want mass exposure to 5 MILLION people, the MEGA-MAILER is just the thing. Of course, if you are trying to reach a select group, y ou need to have a targeted mailing. You may Email or call our sales department and a sales representative will be happy to assist you in selecting the right type of mailing to suit your offering. 16) What categories are available for targeted lists? We custom build all of our targeted lists from scratch, and 90% of our targeted lists are never re-used. We are able to build a custom-designed list to YOUR specifications. So, in other words, you tell US what the category is, or the demographics of the persons or businesses you are trying to reach. We then get an estimate from our List staff for approximately how many names we will commit to being able to find. Our sales staff will work with you on this issue. Of course, it is always a much lower volum e of names than a normal bulk list, but we have seen response rates of over 5% when mailing a targeted group! 17) Do you have sub-agent opportunities? Yes we do. We are currently accepting sub-agents who wish to promote and re-sell our services, or simply send us referrals. For a copy of our agent registration kit via Email, send an Email to agent@quantcom.com 18) What is your list like, where are the names from, how big is it, how do you maintain it, etc? Our Lists department is continually extracting fresh names for our lists from many sources. The sources include the membership directories of all the major online services (AOL, Compuserve, Prodigy, Delphi, MSN), plus the "white pages" Email databases su ch as 411, IAF, etc. We NEVER extract names from newsgroups, except to build targeted lists. We NEVER send mail to Listserv's, .edu's, .gov's, etc. We automatically delete removal requests immediately, as well as undeliverables. We add 400,000 to 800,000 fresh addresses each week. For these reasons, we feel that we have a super-high quality database, which consists of over 6 MILLION addresses. This high list quality is another feature of our service, and boosts response rates dramatically over our compe titors. Although we add addresses constantly, and are attempting to reach 10 MILLION addresses by 2nd quarter of 1997, it is difficult because we lose about 10% of our database each week to removal requests and undeliverables. 19) What about undeliverables? We are consistently losing about 10% of our list each week to undeliverables and removal requests (combined). In order to somewhat compensate our advertisers for this, without incurring all the logistical nightmares we would have to endure if we tried to account for removals and undeliverables for each particular mailing, we send 110% of the actual order amount as a general rule. For example, if you paid for 100,000 we send 110,000. This approach has worked very well for our customers. Also note that th is becomes a less significant issue when the minimum response guarantee is taken into account. Contact Info: Quantum Communications 6 Laurel Lane Stratham, NH 03885 (603) 772-4096 (603) 772-7297 fax general correspondence: staff@quantcom.com sales: sales@quantcom.com customer service: cusserv@quantcom.com http://www.quantcom.com