Can Your “Free” Marketing End Up Costing You Thousands?
Topics: can spam, can-spam laws, email marketing rules
Many entrepreneurs start email marketing campaigns because they provide an easy, inexpensive way to stay in touch with prospects and clients. But beware! If you’re not following these few simple rules, your “free” marketing could land you with thousands of dollars in fines.
Keeping these best practices in mind before you hit the Send button will ensure that your email is CAN-SPAM compliant:
Ensure subscriber privacy. Never, ever, ever share your readers’ email addresses or other personal information. And likewise, don’t ever use email addresses that were shared with you. Make sure your subscribers have specifically asked to be added to your mailing list.
This seems simple enough, but if you’re new to email marketing and you’re trying to do it all yourself from your own PC (as I’ve seen many new entrepreneurs do) you need to pay special attention to this point. If you create a distribution list in Outlook and use that list in your “To:” field, you’ve just shared every email address with every reader! If you absolutely must maintain your own list, enter your own email address in the “To:” field and your distribution list in the “Bcc:” field.
If you want to be really, really safe, use a double opt-in process. This simply means, when someone subscribes to your publication, he must confirm his subscription before he is actually added to your mailing list. If you don’t use a double opt-in, you’re not violating any CAN-SPAM laws, but double opt-in is definitely a best practice.
Allow your readers to easily get off your list. Each and every email must should include an easy-to-use unsubscribe link. Once a reader asks to be unsubscribed, you only have 10 days to remove them from your list. Fortunately, most email marketing software packages and online services will handle the unsubscribe process for you automatically. If you’re keeping your own list, make sure you maintain it in a very timely manner.
Be sure to include your contact information in each and every email. CAN-SPAM laws require that you include your name, phone number and a physical address. This can be a sticky situation for the hundreds of thousands of entrepreneurs who works from home. Technically speaking, PO Boxes are “not allowed”, but as of this writing, I have not heard of anyone being fined for using a PO Box instead of a physical address. Personally, I don’t feel comfortable including my home address in mailings to thousands of anonymous readers. So, for now, I’m taking my chances and using a PO Box.
Karen Scharf offers several whitepapers, free reports and checklists, including her FREE Can-Spam checklist and FREE email pre-flight checklist to ensure your emails get delivered, get opened and get read. Download your copies at www.modernimage.com
Previous Articles Highlighter:
How To Increase The Amount Of Time Your Visitors Stay On Your Website! (1)
The first thing that you can do to increase the amount of time your visitors stay on your website is to create your website in such a way that users find it easy to maneuver around.
How To Create Your Own Information Product (2)
Make sure whatever your selling is original, and learn how to respect intellectual property rights. 6. Have people proofread your drafts and make corrections. As with plagiarizing, a poorly written document will lose you customers in the long run.
Boosting Sales Using Promotional Products (3)
Promotional products pertain to promotional items, gifts and others. These can be used to effectively boost your online sales. So, how can promotional products be utilized as your marketing strategy?
5 Simple Tips To Make Your Trade Show Display A Success (4)
Get A Name. The most important thing you can do at a trade show is data capture. Get a name. 1. For consumers, contest entries or sweepstakes are ideal for database capture however ensure they do not require much more information than a name, an email and a phone number.
Use Customer's Questions To Establish Your Expert Status (5)
I see questions all the time on how to use article marketing to earn more money online, for example. It would be easy for me to directly respond to this question in the body of an e-mail or as a reply in a forum.
Article Directories: A Partner On Maximizing Your Exposure With Articles (6)
Getting quality articles written will be expensive up front, but they will pay for themselves in no time, either through affiliate sales or selling your own services, and everything from then on is pure profit.
Simple Tips For Generating Web Site Traffic (7)
This strategy is essential because this enable you to build your collection of email address of your potential customers. This is for future reference and marketing. You can also trade advertisement with electronic magazine publisher and you can distribute various topics that you want.
Work At Home Internet Businesses Need Several Affiliate Programs (8)
You could see your site as a retail store or even as a department store to be able to understand the need of the wide selection of affiliate programs. Of course your business plan will determine, which work at home internet business programs fit for your concept.
Prepare Your Trade Show Display In 5 Easy Steps (9)
Make sure that they understand proper etiquette as well as what kind of attire to dress in. There is nothing worse then wearing a killer suit with uncomfortable shoes!
Being An Online Video Publisher - Getting Started (10)
You can also be a live broadcaster of video products. There are site where you can create a community of subscribers or users in your target niche market. You can make your videos shared by encouraging them to subscribe those though links or email links or video feeds.
Discover The Tightly Held Secret That Will Explode Your Online Income Automatically (11)
There are a number of good methods of using an auto-responder besides just answering your email. For example, auto-responders can be used if you need a way to send information about your services or products, pricing, or a frequently asked questions message that addresses repeated questions asked across many incoming emails.
Finding Top Multi Level Marketing Company (12)
Companies that promise huge commissions should be suspect. While you want to earn as much as possible, companies that promise you a commission of fifty per cent or more are usually not legitimate.
Importance Of Private Label Rights Versus Writing Your Own (13)
If you have never created an ebook before, it is difficult to understand exactly how much hard work it entails. To be worth the buy, most ebooks are at least one hundred pages long; however, some are longer.
Product Review: SpamArrest (14)
You can preauthorize senders by typing in specific email addresses, by using a special import feature, or by preauthorizing entire domain names. When someone who is not on your preauthorized list tries to email you, she will receive an email asking her to verify her intent to send you the message.
Live Your Dream - Make Money On The Internet (15)
At the same time, many multi level marketing businesses allow you to sell and market their products to make a profit of your own. You have many different roads to take on your path to understanding how you can make money on the internet.
Learn Internet Marketing From Real Experts (16)
Unfortunately, all the internet experts that talk about being able to offer you the best coaching or mentoring package online are not always able to deliver on their promises. Being able to create success for yourself is one thing, but being able to replicate the materials that will show others how to create that success is an entirely different thing.
Why Blogging And SEO Work Well Together (17)
Aside from writing content, you can do a lot of creative, and even productive things with a blog. Blog systems provide the ability to upload files and attach them to your posts (articles).
Importance Of Private Label Articles (18)
Many people do not have the time to read or the willingness to read several articles at different times. Providing them a simplified version of the information they want will be a welcome offer for your visitors.
Are You Ready To Go International? (19)
Simplify this as much as possible for your customers. It's better to start with something very simple (for example, one postage price for all international orders, regardless of destination) and adapt it with experience.
Internet Marketing Services - Ways To Maximize Your Online Sales (20)
Since marketing on the Internet includes online payment, it is highly needed to impose financial security for your customers so that building customers' trust and confidence is achievable. The best way to convince your possible customers that your marketing site is secure is by having it confirmed by third party.
Newer Articles Highlighter:
Advantage Of Having An Online Presence (1)
All Most people worldwide are making use of the internet for various purposes. From the very basic down to the most complicated activities- the Internet empowered them all. This is the most amazing truth, statistics shows that 90% of online users buy products online and therefore, it is a promising ground to succeed in business.
How To Optimize Your Website For Ask (2)
Consider these tips: Optimizing images for Ask's universal search model is a little more complex than simply adding an alt tag. Yes, you still need to use an alt tag, and the alt tag should contain the target keyword.
Searching For Qualified Business Lead (3)
The skill to transfer the need and its fulfillment to the product or business you are selling while placing you in position as the gateway to that fulfillment. Develop these three skills, understand their potential, deliberately train your instincts, and you will turn any free marketing lead into a qualified lead in little time.
How To Use Article Marketing To Earn Passive Income From Affiliate Marketing (4)
You can do this for free using article marketing. How to Use Article Marketing Article marketing, also referred to as BUM marketing, is a free away to create back links to your site by submitting an article to a submission directory service.
Adwords Tips - Learn How To Boost Your Account Quality Score (5)
Also create smaller ad groups that are focused more closely on the keywords you are targeting. Make sure your ads are benefit driven so be sure to describe how your product or service will enhance the lives of your visitors.
Forum Marketing-Discover The Only Way To Sell Without Selling! (6)
Marketing on forums is not rocket science, but it does take the right mindset to make it a profitable marketing step for your internet business. Just remember to add value to the other members in the forum, and provide sound advice, and you are bound to stimulate traffic and sales to your site without ever promoting anything.
Basic Internet Marketing Strategy (7)
So, what are these so called basic principles that make your online business a success? First is, you have to stick to a practical approach. While others only think on how to get profit online easily- that is not the principle.
Creating A Huge Opt-In List (8)
With the numerous sites in the internet that offers the same products or services in one way or the other, the competition can get pretty tight and it is easy to be forgotten.
Do Your Readers See What You See? (9)
Always offer a text only version of your email campaign during the subscription process. And, since some readers will be accessing their email from multiple clients, such as Outlook when they're in the office and web mail when they're on the road, include a link to the text only version in each of your html campaigns.
Conducting Business Online (10)
'Contracting out' would probably not be considered valid in some jurisdictions with high consumer protection values, so again this is simple a risk that you take. This leads neatly into the next major problem with online business.
Search Engine Optimization SEO: Finding The Right Keyword Search Terms (11)
One of the first things you should take into account when doing keyword research is what sort of response will these keyword search terms produce. The trick is to select words that are targeted to the specific audience you are trying to reach.
Start Now: Make Money On The Internet (12)
The more knowledge you have on the business, the better you are determining your success. Your knowledge, combined with your skills, can make you a very prominent figure on the internet.
Internet Marketing Tools - For Better Sales (13)
Below are some of these internet marketing tools that are essential for your business campaign online. You can take advantage of utilizing them for your Internet marketing. The first and foremost tool is a domain name The first and the most essential is a domain name.
Sending People To Your Site For Advice Could Make You Rich (14)
Topics: online business, home business opportunity, home based business, success university, home business Getting customers to your site should always be ranked as high as the importance of the quality and the excellence of the product and the services you provide.
Advertise In Smaller Ezines: The "Think Small" Method Of Getting More Sales (15)
Don't let careless mistakes hinder a sale. Test your URL, check for spelling and know the ezines ad policy before your ad runs. While bigger is better in some cases, small scale ezines are a cost effective way to pull profits.
World Wide Brands Review (16)
A directory of quality and inspected suppliers is a very valuable resource. To those new to the wholesaling world, ease of use is one of the most important features of a wholesale directory.
The Most Important Facets Of Blog Marketing (17)
Doing so will make it look even more professional. Do you know SEO? SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. If you are not familiar with SEO, you need to get that way and fast.
Affiliate Marketing, An Easy Web-based Business (18)
Will you store all your inventory at home? Fortunately, there is another mode of web-based business, which is a lot easier. It is called affiliate marketing. Of course you will still need to create a website for affiliate marketing.
How To Promote Your Site With Article Marketing For Free (19)
That is really all you need. So, how does article marketing help you draw traffic to your site? Well, you can give these handy, informative little articles away for free so that webmasters and anyone else looking for free content can come and copy your article, resource box and all, for use in other places.
Home Based Internet Business Resources - Why Legit E Biz Succeeds (20)
If you want to start and grow your online business it takes effort, period. Why It Works I own a small construction company and one of our marketing techniques is to offer a finders' fee for any of our customers that recommend us to a friend, co-worker, family, whomever, and we sign them up.
Permalink to Can Your “Free” Marketing End Up Costing You Thousands?