It's against the law to send a prospect an unsolicited invoice.The law against sending invoices to people who have not asked for them seems straightforward enough, but some newsletter publishers still don't get it. The most common breach is at the end of a forced free trial, when some publishers send an invoice instead of a continuation notice--ideally accompanied by a disclaimer such as "This is not an invoice, and you are under no obligation to pay." It doesn't take a rocket scientist Rocket Scientist In the world of finance, these are people with science and math degrees who work in the finance field building highly advanced quantitative finance models. These models help banking, insurance and investment firms to price financial instruments. or a brain surgeon Noun 1. brain surgeon - someone who does surgery on the nervous system (especially the brain) neurosurgeon operating surgeon, sawbones, surgeon - a physician who specializes in surgery to recognize that the word "forced" in FFT (Fast Fourier Transform) A class of algorithms used in digital signal processing that break down complex signals into elementary components. FFT - Fast Fourier Transform means just that--the prospect did not ask for the issues. * The Newsletter on Newsletters recently received four issues in a forced free trial of from a prominent newsletter publisher. Then this week we received a yellow window envelope with only the publisher's initials in the return address and a prominent, all-caps STATEMENT ENCLOSED printed in black above the window. Sure enough, inside was an invoice for the subscription we had "ordered." Wrong. Didn't order it. Against the law. And on April 27, 2005, the Office of the Attorney General of Florida (Charlie Crist Charles Joseph "Charlie" Crist, Jr. (born July 24 1956), is an American politician of the Republican Party and the current Governor of Florida. Crist served as state attorney general from 2003 to 2007.[1] Crist was born in Altoona, Pennsylvania. ) cited a case file which "relates to a civil--not a criminal--investigation." The subject of the investigation is another prominent newsletter publisher. The AG filing stated: "Allegation or issue being investigated: "Deceptive printed advertisement. Complaints allege To state, recite, assert, or charge the existence of particular facts in a Pleading or an indictment; to make an allegation. allege v. that the company is disseminating direct mail solicitations that resemble past due invoices for payments due to doctor's offices, clinics, and law offices. Possible violations of Chapter 501, Part II, and Section 817.061, Florida Statutes The Florida Statutes are the codified, statutory laws of the state of Florida. The laws are approved by the Florida Legislature, and signed into law by the Governor of Florida. ." The Attorney General unit handling the case is the Economic Crimes Division in Tampa. * One variation on the FFT does permit you to send an invoice at the conclusion of the trial, because it takes the "forced" element out of it. Some publishers mail a double postcard or telemarket their prospects to qualify them for the free trial. The offer is, "Yes, sign me up to receive three free issues of The Newsletter on Newsletters. I understand that the first three issues are free and that I can cancel at any time." This technique has two advantages: 1.) Considering the relatively high costs of FFTs, it weeds out unqualified prospects. 2.) Because they've agreed to subscribe (with the first three issues free), you may then send them an invoice rather than a continuation notice. (NL/NL contributing editor A contributing editor is a magazine job title that varies in responsibilities. Most often, a contributing editor is a freelancer who has proven ability and readership draw. Fred Goss Fred Arlo Goss (born March 25, 1961, Orchard Lake, Michigan), an American TV actor, writer, and comedian. Personal Goss and wife Arlene live together with their three children in the San Fernando Valley community of Sherman Oaks in Los Angeles, California. has prepared an eight-page Special Report on FFTs, which we'll be sending to all subscribers in the next few weeks. Also see this issue's DM Notebook on FFTs.) |
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