heartharmony.com.au

There has been an increasing trend in the past 12 months of businesses using contact forms on websites to “share information” to the website owner. It seems like many people new to business are not getting the message about Spam – and what constitutes spam communications.

Spam is not just about selling viagra or phishing scams. Many small or new businesses can unwittingly find themselves caught up spamming people, without realising it. The funniest one I received was from a Brisbane company selling double opt in mailing lists. Now given I did not consent to receiving any of their marketing material I had to wonder about their understanding of what they were selling.

So … if you are in Australia, before you hit the send button on your next email read over the information contained on the ACMA government website about Spam.  If you are in the USA – then the Can – Spam Act is for you.

No matter where you are the basics are still the same:

• Use accurate from addresses & clear subject lines
• Explain how people can unsubscribe from your mailings (and honor their requests promptly)
• Include your valid postal address in all emails
• Only send emails to companies with their explicit consent (and no, grabbing their business card at a networking event doesn’t cut it)
• There are gray areas relating to inferred consent – and you would want a pretty good lawyer to be able to argue them.  So when in doubt, don’t use contact forms or email addresses on websites to contact people and tout your wares. In the words of the ACMA – you cannot infer someone’s consent just because you believe your product or service will benefit them.

Until next time

Ingrid Cliff

We put your business into words

Heart Harmony – Freelance Copywriter