This is brand new service released in December 2017 and it is called Get Cold Leadz. This is an app that is used to extract email addresses from websites which you can use in your marketing campaigns.
This method is, to the best of my knowledge, borderline illegal and I suggest you do not engage in this activity.
After doing some Googling I can see quite clearly that Cold Leadz is using a method which can, potentially, get you in hot waters legally.
You can break the terms of use of almost all websites and you will not have permission to email any of the leads this app harvests. I have included a few legal references you can browse through at your leisure.
The website I am reviewing here is - www.getcoldleadz.com - and this following blog post is based on my opinion about this service. You can read more about email harvesting/scraping here. You will have to make up your own mind if scraping/harvesting/spamming is your you. You will enter into a delicate legal area by using a method such as this.
Is this method illegal? Here are some sources you can read up on.
"At first glance, scraping email addresses can seem like a fast way to build a list of contacts, but there are many reasons why this is not a good idea. For starters, harvesting emails in this way is illegal in many countries, including the United States. In fact, the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 specifically prohibits the practice." quote from sendblaster.com
What is in the members area?
The search engine inside allows you to enter a keyword and therefore what type of email you are after, it will then return hundreds of email addresses related to this keyword which you can use in your email marketing.
This is email scraping right? Am I wrong?
The idea behind the software is to use these emails, which are related to the keyword, in email campaigns which are relevant to that niche.
So, for example, you can collect email addresses related to 'blogging' and then proceed to send them products relevant to that niche.
Main Tools Available
Email Validator:
This tool allows you to copy your new email list into a feature which will check if the email addresses are still valid and remove any duplicate or incorrectly spelled emails which resulted from your initial search.
Done For You
There are two done for you systems which you are supposed to use as marketing services to your new email list. The method is that you use these two tools to generate SEO reports and legal pages for a fee. Services such as:
- Website Auditor
- Social Stats Spy Tool
- Visitor Analytics
- Backlink Maker
- Keyword Research Tool
- Article Rewriter
- Article Spinner
- Comma Separating Tool
- Broken Links Finder
- Word Counter
- Article Density Analyser
- MozRank Checker
- and countless more services!
The second tool is a legal page creator where you simply pop in your URL and author name and it automatically generates a legal document for your website, such as Privacy Disclosure and and overall boilerplate legal document.
So you could, for example, email your new list and offer them an SEO Audit service using the tools inside the 'Done For You' area.
Why These Tools Are Worthless
These tools speak volumes about this whole product. The fact that they actually have 'article spinner' and 'article rewrite' tools tell you how low quality this really is. No one uses these kinds of tools anymore.
I review products like this all the time, I do know what I am talking about here.
Also, who is going to pay you to check their page rank? Or to perform a simple task like checking page authority or site speed? These are ALL free tools you can find online and you cannot build a business around providing these services as 'paid' services - especially with cold emailing!
Based on the legality issue of the main email scraper and the ethical boundaries being crossed. I highly doubt these other 'services' and tools are of any better quality.
There is a 'Link builder' which is most likely going to cause your website more harm than good. If it is as methodically outdated as the other tools available then I am guessing it will spam out hundreds of backlinks to weak, penalized blog networks which Google will punish you for.
Is this method legitimate?
I am not a lawyer and this is only my opinion but I believe this method is genuinely unethical and can get you into trouble with the law. You can check out these other sources here and make your own mind up, plus the links I included at the beginning of my article. This article about Email Harvesting is interesting. Also, these videos:
It always puzzles me why people choose to use unethical methods to make money online when you can use your passion, drive and interests in a much more productive manner.
Will You Make Money?
No, you will not make money using Get Cold Leadz. The leads you will generate with this app are worthless and you will literally need tens of thousands of them to generate any sales.
You will also get a lot of complaints from people who do not appreciate your sales technique and you run the real risk of having your autoresponder account banned. All autoresponders are very clear about their policy on spam, and as soon as they see your huge bounce rate, your increase in spam reports, and the overall poor statistics, they will close down your account.
Have you had any experiences using this app? let us know in the content box below!
Hi Philip, I stumbled of your review about getting email subscribers by accident looking for new opportunities to build a list. It always takes some time to build your own list. And I am aware of the fact you can buy email addresses and now I also read you can get this Cold Leadz software to harvest and scrape email addresses. I think you are right to say that on the shady side of working ethically to get a list. I wouldn’t use this line of work. I have multiple websites, non-profit and affiliated ones with great companies. And I do love to stay on the legal side of the internet. My parents always thought me, honesty is the best policy. And they are right!
Success with your website and I invite you to visit my “Coloring life” website one time. It’s in Dutch but has Google translate on it:)
Have a great day, Loes
It is always better to keep on the ethical side, as you say, because you will reap the rewards in the long run. If you use any manipulation of any kind then your long term revenue will always suffer. By using a method like email harvesting you are gaining very poor quality leads and the people you are contacting will not appreciate it. It is like cold calling people,no one wants that. Even if you are offering something very special to them, no one wants to cold contacted like that!
I read the your post. And I found it to be revealing. I have never heard about Cold Leadz before it sounds like a trap to me. I honestly don’t think that I would want to get involved with them. I strongly believed that their app that they said can be used to extract email addresses from people’s websites is all fake and deception. If they are doing their illegal practice don’t you think that they should keep it to themselves and leave the vulnerable out of it?
Harvesting emails in this manner is very much a legal gray area. It is most certainly against the T&C of almost all websites but there is no police force online. Meaning people can collect email addresses as much as they want, but it’s not until they try and use them that they will get in trouble.
It is a great shame people decide to use methods like this, not so much for the legal issues, but purely for your own moral thinking. I do not understand how anyone can hold their heads high and be happy about making money online when using methods like email scraping.
The emails you sue aren’t theirs, they did not earn them in an organic manner. I do not understand why anyone would want to use a service like Cold Leadz.
It always amazes me the lengths some people go to to dream up all these scams. Email scraping sounds to be some of the lowest methods of scamming or spamming I have heard of so far. If people could just direct this same energy towards something legit, their results would be so much more fruitfull to say the least. And I also agree with the author here that this is extremely unethical. Talk about taking advantage of somebody elses hard work. Great review and I will watch for more of your reviews. Thanks
Hi Mike,
Appreciate you taking time out of your life to leave a comment. You are absolutely correct, if people devoted the same thinking, time and dedication to using ethical and organic methods they would be so much better off!
The problem with underground methods is that you feel like you get results quicker, even though the leads and potential profit is much smaller and less satisfying.
The truth is that following the proper path, at least under Google’s Guidelines, takes more time and energy but the rewards are much bigger, sustainable and scalable.
Even though we are not lawyers, it is clear that the creators of this app is oblivious to existing rules and regulations pertaining to email marketing. This is not permission based marketing, which renders it illegal. Not even compliant with the CAN-SPAM act.
Is there any way we can report this to authorities before it can victimize people who are not aware of existing laws pertaining to proper email marketing? I want to report this and be taken down.
I do not know how to report this kind of thing. The only way is for the people who receive emails to unsubscribe and report it as spam when they do so. That the way the auto responder will eventually flag their account and band them.
It is unfortunate that people do use methods like this but spam filters are quite effective these days so the damage is minimal, but this does not make it any better.