Making your email-based business promotions legal and effective

Entrepreneurs can sometimes get so gung-ho about their online business marketing efforts that they forget there are rules and regulations pertaining to the distribution of advertising materials via email.

The Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography And Marketing Act of 2003 (CAN-SPAM) may have a humorous name, but it can be very serious for small enterprise owners that contravene it, so make sure you know what you're up against.

While the CAN-SPAM Act does not require companies to get permission before they send out business advertising messages, sending correspondence to customers who didn't sign up for it can feel like an invasion of consumer privacy, Customer Think notes.

Although the intended effect is to boost revenue, taking this approach could result in exactly the opposite reaction, as annoyed consumers are likely to take their business elsewhere. Instead, consider displaying a newsletter sign-up sheet at the point of sale in your brick-and-mortar locations, or encourage customers to enter their details on your website.

Getting consumers signed up is only half the battle, though. They could unsubscribe at any time, so to mitigate the likelihood of this happening, ensure your content is relevant and personalized. In order to achieve this, urge subscribers to share more about themselves and then use this information to tailor send-outs based on their interests and preferences.