Dear Smith,

This is not an automated message. I am sending this message directly to you because I have taken some time to review your website and think that I can probably help you in getting ranked in the search engines.

I've noticed that your website is not getting ranked for the terms it should be and with our unique approach, I am confident our company can help you get found in the search engines.

I just need a little bit of your time to discuss some options. I'm sure you'll be happy. I look forward to talking to you very soon!

Sincerely, A Spammer

I am so tired of seeing these spammers trying to tell me that I'm not doing it right. You might be just as tired.

Spammers are using more and more techniques to try to get their message through. Notice that my sample letter started with my last name. My email is smith@... So people don't necessarily know that it's my last name. They scrape my email from somewhere then use it.

What's more is that often the wrong email is used. They might use an email that I know is from a spammer list. Then, they try to tell me that they know me.

For me, this is especially annoying because they obviously don't do the research they claim to do about who I am or what I do for a living. I build websites. I market websites. I understand how it works.

Oh, and I'm getting the results I want.

If you get spam, from any source, ignore it. They might think that they are being clever. They are really just being annoying. The reason you get these is because enough people respond.

If you really want to see if someone is legitimate simply reply with, "Out of curiosity, where did you get my email address?" If they bought your email address and you didn't sell it to them, just put them to your spam folder and call it good.