What you need to know and do about the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003

Many of the things I suggested you do to be a decent human being when it came to managing the email side of your online business (Opting Options) are no longer optional niceties you can employ to delight your customers. The CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 will make basic courtesy mandatory. Or else! As in, do not pass Go; do not collect $200.1

In this case, one bad apple absolutely can spoil the entire bushel basket. Everyone – me, you and even that chubby red guy who flies around with reindeer once a year – will now be held accountable for the content they fling through cyberspace to existing and potential customers. Think you don’t need to worry because you’re a Good Guy and have only ever managed a permission-based email list? Wrongo!

We are all going to have to develop new strategies and incorporate new tactics to make email continue to work for us. It’s loin-girding time, folks. So, in my welcome to 2004 and the official advent of CAN-SPAM, here are some useful girding ideas.2

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