CAN-SPAM or the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act of 2003, went into effect on January 1, 2004 and governs commercial email marketing practices in the United States.  CAN-SPAM itself does not forbid unsolicited commercial email but it does place restrictions on the content and composition of emails. Most responsible email marketers do not send unsolicited email (and Epro Services has a strict opt-in only email policy) but everybody must comply with the following CAN-SPAM rules or face possible criminal charges.

Everybody who sends commercial email should know the basics of the CAN-SPAM act and I draw on the excellent summary by By Rob Kahn of Fenwick & West LLP to provide this overview:

CAN-SPAM summarized

1. Prohibition of False or Misleading Transmission Information

This is directed at "spoofers," but applies to all senders. Don't try to hide the individual or organization sending the transmission.  

2. Prohibition of Deceptive Subject Headings

Neither the subject line nor the content should MISLEAD the recipient about its purpose or objective.  A common example of such deception are those pornography e-mails with subject lines like "I've been trying to call you!", but this provision goes well beyond those obvious violations. For instance, a link in your e-mail to the "purchase publications" section of your Web site should not be misleading about where it's taking the recipient.

3. Inclusion of Return Address or Comparable Mechanism in Commercial Electronic Mail

When the recipient hits "reply" to your e-mail, the return address should go somewhere such that "remove me" type e-mails are received and acted upon. Such return addresses must remain valid for 30 days from the date of transmission. Note that the law provides an exception for temporary outages, such as your firm's e-mail server crashing for a brief period of time. A common area likely to trip up businesses is when an employee responsible for broadcast e-mail leaves the company. If their address was being used as the "reply-to" address, that address must remain valid (or be forwarded to a valid address) for 30 days from the most recent transmission.

4. Prohibition of Transmission of Commercial Electronic Email After Objection

This is a big one!  If somebody replies to your email (or follows your other opt-out procedure) and asks to be removed from your email list, you've got 10 days to get them off your list! If you send them another e-mail 11 days or more after they sent you an unsubscribe request, you could owe them money if they choose to pursue it.   Epro Services Mail relieves most of the burden of compliance here as an opt-out link is automatically added to all your email messages and anyone who clicks the opt-out link will be automatically unsubscribed from your list.   

Not everybody will click an opt-out link however.  Some people will reply to your email with a request (in varying degrees of politeness) to be removed from your list.  You must make sure to monitor your reply email regularly and handle any such requests promptly.

5. Inclusion of Identifier, Opt-Out, and Physical Address in Commercial Electronic Mail

This is the second big one! Your e-mail must contain:

(A)(i) clear and conspicuous identification that the message is an advertisement or solicitation.

Subparagraph (A)(i) does not apply to the transmission of a commercial electronic mail message if the recipient has given prior affirmative consent to receipt of the message. By adhering to Epro Services opt-in only policy, you are not obligated to mark your messages as advertisements.

(A)(ii) clear and conspicuous notice of the opportunity to decline to receive further commercial electronic mail messages from the sender; and

(A)(iii) a valid physical postal address of the sender. (Note: Some commentators interpret this paragraph to mean you cannot use a P.O. Box address, but there is nothing in the law itself that prohibits the use of a post-box or mail-stop address to fulfill this requirement.)

If you're just starting your business and/or are new to eamil marketing you should be eager to tap into this highly effective and low cost way to increase sales!

Keep in mind, however, that the value of your email program depends on the relationships you've built up with the people you send to.  emailing people who don't know you or who haven't asked to hear from you is not only ineffective, it can tarnish your reputation as a sender and even prevent your customers from getting your messages.

Your contact list is like a living creature that deserves your utmost care and respect.   And, like a loyal pet, your list needs exercise, nourishment and an occasional trim to be healthy!

Here are some of the most common pitfalls to avoid:

1. Buying email lists.   One of the worst mistakes you can make is to buy email lists. Sellers may even claim that they are selling opt-in lists, but they are defining the term very loosely.  An opt-in relationship really only exists when a person knowingly and willingly agrees to receive email from a specific person, business or organization.  When you buy a list, that personal connection is gone. At best you're getting a list of people who might have have checked a box on a form at some time in the past saying that they wouldn't mind hearing about products related to whatever it was they were originally interested in.  This is not the basis of a lasting relationship!   

    

    

2. Failing to maintain your lists. Over time people's interests can change. The people that once eagerly signed up for your newsletter may no longer be interested in what you sell. They may let you know this and ask to be removed from your list (which of course you should do promptly) but they may just flag your emails for the junk box, delete them without reading them, or otherwise ignore them. A good strategy for keeping your list fresh is to periodically check for people that haven't opened your emails in a while and ask them whether they still want to receive them. A contact that never opens your emails is not doing you any good.

    

    

3. Overzealous sending. Have you ever given out your phone number to someone only to be bombarded with tons of text messages that you don't really want? That's kind of what it's like when you overdo the emailing. Sure, they gave you permission to write, but if you aren't careful you will wear out your welcome fast. Too frequent emailing is the top reason a contact will unsubscribe from your list.