What Alternatives Do Companies Have To SPAM?

peterjm writes: "I work for a company that does a lot of business on the Internet. Like most companies in similar situations, the marketing department occasionally sends out 'informational' messages to a database of addresses (once bought, now garnered from trade shows and webinars in exchange for the customary t-shirt). We recently sent out one such note and recieved a very harsh (but very true) response from some one who stated in no uncertain words that he no longer wished to receive such messages. This sparked a bit of debate on a few of the company mailing lists. My contention is that such messages receive a terribly adverse response from the Internet community at large. Not only that, but were we to find ourselves on the RBL, our business would all but come to a screeching halt. On the other side of the coin is the fact that we -need- to market our product. We have something to sell, and we obviously want to tell as many people as possible. Someone who stradles both the IS and Marketing groups posed the question, 'How do you propose that we market our products?' Well? What's the best way? How does a company market with effectiveness without pissing off the Internet in general?"