Marketing on MySpace Without Being Deleted for Spam

By Heather Carroll

When I first started my home-based business, I heard that a great way to market your business for free was MySpace. Was there any better way to connect with millions of people for free? I didn't think so. With that in mind, I proceeded to spend hours making a profile that would portray who I was as both a person and an entrepreneur. Friend requests quickly started pouring in and I accepted only like-minded business people and a few close friends and family.

After several weeks, I noticed that my friend profiles were slowly disappearing. I didn't understand why so many people would spend so much time creating a profile only to delete it. Well, it didn't take me long to realize that their profiles and all their hard work was being deleted due to spam.

Ah, spam... those awful e-mails that plague our inboxes trying to sell time shares, medicines from Canada, and many other things that very few will ever buy. So, I decided to take a look at the MySpace Terms and Conditions just to ensure that I too would not get deleted. What I found was a confusing mass of legal disclaimers, limitations, and regulations.

... direct commercial endeavors may only be used if they are specifically endorsed or authorized by MySpace. MySpace reserves the right to remove commercial content in its sole discretion ... advertisements, affiliate links, and other forms of unauthorized solicitation may be removed from Member profiles without notice or explanation and may result in termination of Membership privileges ...

Who could understand it even if they did take the time to read all ten pages? As far as I can tell from the Terms and Conditions, you simply aren't allowed to advertise unless you have been endorsed or authorized by MySpace. Since MySpace relies completely on paid advertisements, the likelihood that you will be endorsed would probably fall in the range of slim to none.

Marketing on MySpace really does work. A woman working for the same network marketing company as me made several thousand dollars in one month all with free MySpace advertising. Unfortunately for her, she was eventually deleted due to spam as well. So, after speaking with several people regarding how they market on MySpace and do not get deleted, I have come up with a few suggestions.

First and foremost, when you are setting up your profile, be sure that it not only says something about your business, but yourself as well. In almost any industry, self branding is imperative. Some people accept every person that requests to be on their friend list. Others, like myself, look at the person's profile to find out what we may have in common.

I think most people have looked at the profile of a person requesting them as a friend and asked themselves "What interest would you have in requesting me as a friend? We have absolutely nothing in common". Unless I see that we have something in common, I always deny the request.

When looking for potential customers/clients to add to your friends list, try and find something that you have in common with them prior to sending them a friend request. In your friend request write a personalized note and make a comment about their profile. This lets them know that you actually took the time to read it. Example: "Hey John, I noticed that you're involved in network marketing. I would like to have you on my friend list so that maybe we can trade ideas".