When is a Skype Message Spam

We had a very interesting discussion about when a message is actually spam, and when is it a plain “nuisance” message.

When you receive a message from someone who has not connected with you or has sent you a request to connect, but you declined the request, this is conceived as a “Spam” message. If you are connected with someone on Skype, there is a mutual agreement that you are prepared to receive messages from each other, so it is not considered to be spam. Should someone just send you promotional links and advertisements and never even try to network with you or get to know you better, it may not be spam as such, but it is certainly not in good taste. That is not “networking”….

I know that most of us are here to promote our businesses – after all, why else do we network if we are in business BUT…….

The correct way to treat one’s contacts, is to learn more about them and to be helpful. Most of the time when you network correctly, asking people questions about themselves and their business, offering help whenever you can, they will respond in a similar fashion. This will, of course, leave the field wide open for you to explain what you do. If you are clever, instead of jumping in – promotional feet first, you can persuade them, very subtly, to ask you!! You can tell them what your fields of expertise are when offering them help – that would not be in bad taste. Just don’t start throwing links around left, right and center.

Listen to the audio below for more tips and information.

As a matter of interest, as Diana mentions in the audio – some people may not realize that they are actually spamming. They need to be educated.

TIP: When I receive a message like that from a non-contact, I send them a message explaining about spam, and what the correct procedure is. Unfortunately many of these message are sent with Message Magic, and because people do not attend trainings and do not follow instructions, they are unaware of the fact that they are doing it all wrong. I strongly believe that education and knowledge are the most powerful priveleges anyone can have.