Nomad Internet Marketing March 2017 Issue 03 | Page 21

21
CAN-SPAM ACT
– YOUR STAY OUT OF JAIL CARD
Plus how I get away with contacting perfect strangers for business
reasons, without getting into trouble (so far)
Does CAN-SPAM laws sound like the most boring topic ever?
Yes.
Do you need to know it as well as you know your conversion stats?
Only if you want to avoid SERIOUS fines or worse.
Let’s see if we can inject some fun into this topic while keeping you and your business out of hot water
with the U.S. government.
First of all, if you want to win bets with fellow marketers at conferences, bet them that they can’t tell you
what CAN-SPAM stands for. Frankly, until I looked it up a second ago, you would have won that bet with me.
CAN-SPAM is the, “Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act of 2003.” It’s
legislation passed by the U.S. Congress that regulates commercial email.
9 out of 10 marketers will tell you they know what the CAN-SPAM Act entails, until you start asking them
questions. Then usually all they can tell you is this:
1. Don’t send unsolicited emails
2. Place your business address on the bottom of every email
3. Make it easy for people to unsubscribe to your list.
And that’s a pretty good
answer, but it’s not enough to keep
you out of trouble.
Here’s what you need to know:
• Each violation of the Act can
result in a fine of up to $40,654.
That’s
PER
EMAIL.
I’m
guessing I have your attention
now?
• The Act doesn’t just cover bulk
email – it covers ALL
commercial messages, which
the law defines as “any
electronic mail message the
primary purpose of which is
the
commercial
advertisement of promotion of
a commercial product or
service, including email that
promotes
content
on
commercial websites. Whew,
what a mouthful.