On January 1st, 2004, the United States' new
anti-spam law went into effect.
Failure to comply puts you and your business at
risk.
The new law states that all promotional email
(all means all... solo ads, newsletters,
autoresponder messages and everything except personal email) to any U.S. resident must comply with new
regulations.
Failure to comply puts you at risk of potential
civil fines of $250 per violation (each email is a
separate violation) up to $6,000,000, criminal penalties that include a felony conviction, jail time and fines,
and the seizure of all your business and personal
assets.
If you send any promotional email - even to opt-in
or double opt-in lists, each email must comply with the
regulations under the new law. If you send email ads
for other people, you must comply.
Here is an Email Deployment Checklist:
__ Valid FROM email address?
__ SUBJECT line not misleading?
__ Email address is working and available for at least 30 days?
__ Size of email address is sufficient to hold bounced / returned messages?
__ Physical Postal Address included in message?
__ Domain name registration information accurate?
__ Opt-out / remove system working properly?
__ Warning label in subject line if non-affirmative consent? (ADV or ADLT)
__ Your mail server is not an open relay or gives non-authorized users access?
__ You have permission to send via the appropriate mail server?
__ List was gathered appropriately (see above)?
__ Spellcheck message (to prevent typooos and misssteakes)?
__ Common Sense Test: Does the message make sense to a potential recipient?
__ Message is relevant to target audience? Somehow adds value to their lives?
__ Personalization is used properly?
__ Test messages to make sure they render properly in different email platforms?
__ Privacy Policy posted on Website?
__ Abuse@ & privacy@ email addresses working?
__ Are messages flagged by anti-spam filters?
__ Is your server Blacklisted?
__ Is your server Whitelisted?
__ Names are not all pasted into TO: line?
Go throughthe check list and ensure your compliance.
Good Marketing.
Make it a great day.
