Can’t forget CAN-SPAM! Your marketing is going to very likely involve email in one form or another, and you’d be amazed what can get you slapped with a spam label. That label means that, very likely, any correspondence from you to customers who perceive your mails as spam will be lost to the spam folder, and they’ll never see another email from you. This counts even for mailing lists customers opt-into. So, let’s go over a few points from the CAN-SPAM Act that’ll keep that stigma off you--

1. All header info must be clear and truthful-- the From, To, and Reply-to fields and any routing info must be accurate and identify you or your business.

2. Subject lines cannot be deceptive, and must be an accurate indication of what’s in the body of the email.

3. Make it clear and obvious that the email is an ad.

4. Include your physical address, and a non-email means of contacting you.

5. Make it clear to users as to how they can opt-out, and honor any opt-out request within 10 business days.

These laws apply to you even if you hire out your mailing and marketing. That means that, should the agent you hire to handle this stuff, violate any of these points, you reap the whirlwind along with them. Your emails are your responsibilities, whether you actually send the mails or not.

I’m adamant about making sure folks know about CAN-SPAM because I got nailed with a fine for a violation of #s 4 (didn’t realize I had to include physical address), and 1 (was using a proxy server and the onion router when sending out the emails), but ignorance of the law does not justify breaking the law. Be proactive in complying with this stuff, because you can unintentionally burn a lot of bridges (and the leads along with them) very quickly.