Nomad Internet Marketing Magazine February 2017 Issue 02 Issue 02 | Page 27

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ARTICLE

ARE YOU RISKING YOUR BUSINESS BY BEING SUCCESSFUL?

However, if your business is successful, you are indeed at risk. That’ s because the higher your profile becomes, the more likely you are to become the target of an investigation.
And should that happen, you want to have everything in your business exactly the way it should be.
Which is why, regardless of your business’ size right now, you need to fall into compliance with these issues as soon as humanly possible.
There are online marketers who have lost EVERYTHING because they failed to do this.
Imagine building a 6 or 7 figure business, only to see it taken away from you.
Worst yet, imagine fines you cannot pay and possible jail time. Yikes.
Here are three key legal issues every online marketer needs to be aware of before your online success spells your demise.
Editor’ s Note: For any questions regarding the law, please contact your attorney.
When your business is small, there is a good chance you can fly under the radar of the FTC and other legal entities. No guarantee, but odds are they are looking to fry bigger fish.
Please Note: This is NOT scintillating reading. But this could potentially keep the FTC off your back, out of your life and away from your bank accounts, as well as keeping you out of court and away from jail. Enough said. 1: Privacy and Data Collection To send out marketing emails, you need to collect contact information, right? Sounds simple. But here’ s the thing – the legalities of collecting the information is far more complex than most marketers realize.
When you think of laws that cover anything pertaining to the Internet, you might be tempted to believe that only the laws where you live apply to you. But the fact is, it’ s the laws where your customers reside with which you need to be in compliance.
Perhaps the easiest method is to make sure you comply with the strictest of laws. In this manner you should also be compliant with other laws in other states and other countries as well.
So, which country or state is the real stickler when it comes to online privacy? Many would agree that would-be California and their Online Privacy Protection Act( OPPA). This law requires to you to disclose:
• The types of information your online marketing tactics or websites collect
• How this information might be shared
• The actual process your subscribers and customers can follow to review and( if they want) change the information you have about them
• Your policy’ s effective date and a description of any changes since then