Gathering Email Lists

Gathering email lists is one of the most talked about sections in our forums. To address this topic we need to talk about the spam laws. In 2003 Congress enacted The CAN-SPAM Act . The Act includes regulations on how e-mail marketers can collect e-mail addresses, and then use them for sending commercial email. The act mandates that the sender receives permission from the subscribers before sending e-mails.

So, how do you get permission? That’s the two million dollar question. The best way is to post informational blogs and allow readers to subscribe. When allowing them to sign up, be sure to use email verification, so the subscriber must verify their email address by clicking a link sent to their email. This authenticates the subscription.

Why not just buy an email list? This seems like the fastest way to obtain a large number of emails; however, this typically ends in chaos, as there’s no way to ascertain whether the subscribers actually gave permission, or not. This could, indeed, lead to getting your email service cancelled, or worse, a nasty legal issue, and/or a hefty fine. This is also the case for borrowing email lists. If the subscribers didn’t give ‘you’ permission, it’s against the law.

Remember, blog about important industry information and you’ll start gathering followers quickly. People appreciate reading interesting and informative information. They absolutely hate getting spam from people trying to sell something they didn’t sign up to buy; hence, many people are likely to report you to the Spam authorities. The best way to stay out of trouble is to simply get permission.

– Jake Ryan, Campaign Manager

This article contains Jake’s opinion regarding the can-spam act, and email lists.

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