Before we talk about Email Marketing, let’s clarify What Is SPAM? If you upload a list you just bought into any email service provider and send that list an unsolicited email, this is SPAM.  If you take that list, and write one-to-one emails to each recipient, personalizing your message for each recipient, that’s NOT SPAM. The United States federal CAN-SPAM Act became law on January 1, 2004. According to the FTC website, if you violate the law, you could be fined $11,000 for each offense. Remember, it’s very easy to get blacklisted and it can take months to get your name cleared.

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In general, when you send marketing emails, you have to provide an ‘unsuscribe’ link that must work for at least 30 days after sending your email.

You must include your physical mailing address in the email (no PO Box). Remove recipients from your list within 10 business days.

Never use deceptive headers like ‘from…name’, reply…to, or deceptive subject lines.

Describe the subject of your email, but don’t write your subject line like advertisement.

Use email newsletters and opt-in lists for email marketing. Tell your newsletter subscribers during the opt-in process what kinds of emails they’ll be receiving. Don’t confuse newsletters with promotions. If your email is a newsletter, put the name and issue of the newsletter in your subject line. If your email is a special promotion, tell them what’s inside.

Double opt-in is fast replacing the single opt-in method, where someone submits a form and is added right away to the list. One could get signed up to a list without his/her permission or by error or maliciously. The old opt-out method is getting phased out due to all the spam complaints from people who never saw the opt-out check. Double opt-in ensures that every single recipient really wants to hear from you. Here are the 3 steps of the double opt-in process:
1. A customer signs up for your email newsletter through a form at your website.
2. He/she receives an email with a confirmation link.
3. If the customer clicks the link, he/she is added to your list, and you store the IP address, date, and time of registration as a proof of opt-in if you need it in the future.

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