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Newsletters are a fantastic and fast way to get information out into the world of potential or current clients. An important question often asked by businesses preparing to release newsletter campaigns is, how do we avoid our newsletters being labeled as spam?
There is no simple answer. While your e-mails may pass the requirements of the CAN-SPAM Act, the recipients may take no more kindly to your newsletters than they would every day spam.
What is the CAN-SPAM Act?
The CAN-SPAM Act is a law put into place to set rules and necessities for commercial email. Rest assured that any business with good intentions can easily follow the requirements of the CAN-SPAM Act without sacrificing newsletter content or volume.
1. Clearly identify who you are.
Use an accurate originating domain name and email address that will identify the person or business that is sending the newsletter.
2. Use truthful and accurate e-mail subject lines.
Be sure that the subject of your e-mail reflects the content of the message that is being sent out and doesn’t attempt to trick the recipient into opening the email.
3. Identify the e-mail as an ad or newsletter.
This is pretty straightforward and recipients will appreciate it. Be honest about what you are sending out!
4. Include your valid postal address.
Tell people where you are located. This can be your business street address, a PO Box registered with the U.S. Postal service for your business or a private mailbox that has been registered to receive commercial mail under Postal Service regulations.
5. Provide an option for recipients to opt out of receiving future emails.
It is vital that you and your business respect the wishes of those you are sending e-mail advertisements to and always provide an easy to find explanation of how they may choose to no longer receive e-mails from you.
6. Do not delay in honoring opt-out requests.
If a recipient chooses to no longer receive e-mails from your business, it is imperative that their request be met. Your newsletter manager must be able to process opt-out requests at least 30 days after the newsletter has been sent. An opt-out request must be honored within 10 business days.
You may not charge them a fee, request any personally identifying beyond an email address, or force them to take any other steps other than sending a reply email or visiting a single page to make their opt-out request. You cannot sell or transfer the email addresses of people who have opted out of receiving emails from your business.
7. Be sure to monitor what others are doing on behalf of your business.
If you decide to hire another company to take over your business’ e-mail marketing, your business will still be held responsible for whether or not your advertisements comply with the law.
As I mentioned above, even as you ensure that your e-mail advertisements comply with the CAN-SPAM Act, the receivers of your newsletters may still be less than pleased to see your e-mails in their inbox.
Trust is beyond essential when it comes to the relationship between a business and its clients. Having your newsletter disregarded as spam does a lot to damage that trust.
There are a few guidelines you can apply to your e-mail advertisements to both respect your customers and avoid being labeled as spam senders.
Just as you must provide an “opt-out” option, provide an opt-IN option as well.
Offering a clear option to receive newsletters from you business is arguably the best way to build a list of clients who WANT the information your e-mail advertisements provide.
Be honest about how many e-mails you send out.
A person may be interested in receiving newsletters from you, but not want to receive an e-mail every week. Consider creating different e-mail advertisement campaigns and providing options (weekly or monthly) that people may choose from to ensure that they are receiving exactly what they would like.
Above all, respect the requests you are sent!
If a user asks to be removed from your email list, honor their request. We have all felt the frustration of repeatedly asking to be removed from a call list only to get more calls from the same company. Disregarding requests to opt-out will quickly lead to your business being reported as “a spam sender”
Effective e-mail advertising can be boiled down to one simple rule:
Always provide information to those who want it, and do not bother those who don’t.
Interested in sending out newsletters? Aspire Technology Solutions provides fantastic Newsletter applications included in our Hosting packages. Click here to learn more!
As a web designer for Aspire Technology Solutions, I have a lot of great conversations with clients and other web designers about Search Engine Optimization. Search Engine Optimization (Also known as simply SEO) is the process of preparing and promoting a website on the web so that it appears higher in search engine results.
As I am explaining to customers what they can expect from basic SEO work, I find myself going head to head with some surprisingly common myths about Search Engine Optimization.
Today I sat down and whimsically put together a list of the Top 5 Myths about Search Engine Optimization for your reading enjoyment.
1. All it takes are a few keywords.
Keywords are of course the foundation of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) but on their own, they do little to nothing when it comes to improving the placement of a website in search engine results. Think about it, there are millions of websites out there, all competing with similar or exact same keywords and many websites use keyword stuffing (Placing hundreds if not more keywords within their website code that have nothing to do with the content of the website) and so most search engines now pay little attention to keywords on their own and instead focus on other more accurate criteria.
2. There is a secret way to get your website to the top of search engine results.
Strangely enough, I hear this rather often. I always want to say, “If it were possible, everyone would be doing it.” There is no magic easy button that will shoot your website to the top of all search engine results. Some SEO companies will advertise that they have this ability and charge top dollar for their services which may involve keyword stuffing, link spamming, and other unscrupulous SEO techniques that are likely to cause your website to be black listed and removed from most search engine results altogether. Simply put, no. Improving website visibility is a marathon, not a sprint.
3. Search engine optimization is a one time job.
Proper SEO work is an ongoing project. Requirements for good standing in search engine results change more frequently than most realize. Building links and promoting a website is quite similar to social networking and handing out your business card. You can’t hand out 20 cards at one time and expect those cards to circulate your business to all potential clients; you have to keep working at it. The same goes for SEO.
4. A website will instantly increase a business’ visibility and profit.
Just as building website visibility in search engine results is an ongoing project, so is utilizing your website to increase your business’ profit and availability to a larger demographic. As soon as your website has been created and properly represents your business online, it is important to make it known to those around you that it exists. Your website address should be on business cards, brochures, advertisements, email signatures, social networking sites, and any other place you plan on having visible to many people at once. This, coupled with quality SEO is essential to employing your website as a way to drive customers to your business.
5. Paid web advertisements are the only way to increase a website’s visibility.
It’s true that paid advertisements can be a great way to drive traffic to your website. Google is a great example of a search engine that not only accepts paid advertisements, but also applies keywords (of your selection) to your advertisement so it appears in search results that are relevant to what your website is about. Planning online advertising into your budget is a great idea as your options are many and flexible.
In conclusion, Search Engine Optimization is an extensive and ongoing project that, when done right, reaps many benefits from improved visibility to a customer’s trust in your business and many things in between. It’s important for every website owner to have patience and be willing to pitch in a bit of their own time to promoting their website whether it be through email signatures and Twitter updates or making sure that the website address is always visible on business cards. Stick to your guns and it will happen!
One question many business owners ask themselves is: Should I have a website? 
Often when I or one of my colleagues brings up having a website in a group discussion, a surprisingly large amount of people proudly claim that their business does not have a website, has never had a website, and has never needed a website.
In fact, I often hear from small to medium business owners, “I don’t have time for the internet, I never use it. A website is useless to me.”
You may prefer the phonebook over Google search, but you may be surprised by how many potential clients are out surfing the web, searching for services and products that you may be able to offer.
Did you know?
80% Of Americans spend as much time online as they do watching television.
Here are some even more interesting statistics:
Half of all small businesses with 10 or fewer employees do not have websites.
7 out of 10 single person owned businesses do not have websites.
The next question many business owners ask is: What can a website do for me?
As more and more people take to the internet, searching for anything from restaurant menus to IT consulting businesses, a website is an essential online landmark for your company. In fact, having a website is as essential today as having business cards or a telephone number.
It doesn’t take much.A professional web presence for your business doesn’t have to cost thousands or even hundreds of dollars, nor does it need to be flashy and full of bright and colorful images. You may be surprised at how affordable, fast, and easy designing a website that tailors to your business’ needs really is.
