This thread and the offshoot thread have churned up some very interesting answers.
When you're a spanker introducing yourself to a spankee, the LAST thing you wanna do is scare them off with statements like "I'll spank your bottom until it's very red and sore", and yet most of the spankees here have stated something to the effect of "That's EXACTLY what I want.".
Also, to all of those who claim they "NEVER" bruise anymore : It only takes ONE bad strike to cause a bruise. Of course, one COULD argue that these statements are just a fun way of issuing a challenge ("Oh, no spanker can spank me hard enough to cause bruising anymore (wink)"), to which I'm several spankers will rise to the challenge.
Hope the responses keep coming and that Amber posts her own answer as well.