• Survey of Rural Challenges
  • Small Town Speaker Becky McCray
  • Shop Local video
  • SaveYour.Town

Small Biz Survival

The small town and rural business resource

A row of small town shops
  • Front Page
  • Latest stories
  • About
  • Guided Tour
  • Subscribe
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
  • RSS

Warning: Are you breaking the law by gathering email addresses?

By Becky McCray

Email cupcakes by squeezeomatic

Be sweet; get permission before you add people to your email list. Photo by squeezeomatic.

 

“I’m always gathering email addresses any way I can. Anytime someone forwards a joke or an email to me and includes a bunch of other email addresses, I add all of them to the email marketing list for our organization.”

That was the story from a respected rural nonprofit leader.

She said that even though her rural town has fewer than 10,000 population, she has over 100,000 names on her email list now. And she encouraged everyone to do the same, adding anyone they could find an address for. If they don’t like it, they can unsubscribe.

What could possibly be wrong with that? 

You risk violating US or Canadian law

If you add anyone this way who resides in Canada, you have just violated Canadian law. The law applies to both businesses and nonprofits, according to the Government of Canada. You must have permission to send emails promoting a product or service people pay you money for, especially if sent to non-members or others you do not have an existing relationship with.

If you add anyone this way who resides in the US and who has previously asked you to unsubscribe, you have just violated US law. Nonprofits and businesses must comply with the law any time you promote a product or service people pay money to you for especially if sent to non-members or others who did not specifically ask to be on your list, according to the Association of Fundraising Professionals.

I didn’t check EU or UK law, but I suspect it’s even more strict.

You risk getting all your messages filtered out as SPAM

When you send email to people who didn’t specifically ask for it, they are more likely to flag your emails as spam. That cuts down on your future “deliverability.” The more you use bad tactics like this, the more you hurt your own ability to get email through to people, not just to the people who flagged your message as spam, but also to everyone you try to send email to.

All interactions with your emails are tracked by many different services, mostly unknown to you. ISPs and spamcop organizations keep that data and use it to evaluate all future emails from your address and decide whether to automatically delete all your emails rather than deliver them. And those organizations share data with each other, meaning your bad reputation can haunt you all across the internet.

You risk irritating people you don’t even know

If my first experience with you is being added to an email list that I never asked to join, I’m likely to think negatively about your entire organization. I’m probably not the only one.

You risk violating your email company’s rules

If you are sending email through a professional service such as MailChimp, Constant Contact, or Emma and you use these bad tactics, you are risking violating their terms of service. They will not like that. They are, in fact, required to investigate complaints and enforce industry standards. If they receive enough complaints, they may even suspend your account entirely.

What you should do to gather email addresses

Check with your email service for their own best practices. They all provide clear explanations of what is and is not allowed.

If you are sending emails in bulk using your own email account without a service provider, follow these guidelines from the well-respected MailChimp email service:

  • Best Practices for List Compliance 

What if you send a one-time email? 

Could you send an invitation to join your list to those email addresses you collected? I think that would be smarter than just adding them to your list, but do check with your email provider.

Bottom Line: Just get permission

Clearly ask for and receive permission before you send emails to people. It’s in your own best interest.

 

New to SmallBizSurvival.com? Take the Guided Tour. Like what you see? Get our updates.

 

  • About the Author
  • Latest Posts

About Becky McCray

Becky started Small Biz Survival in 2006 to share rural business and community building stories and ideas with other small town business people. She and her husband have a small cattle ranch and are lifelong entrepreneurs. Becky is an international speaker on small business and rural topics.
  • Check your small business website for outdated pandemic changes, missing info - January 31, 2023
  • Rural Tourism Trend: electric vehicle chargers can drive visitors - January 15, 2023
  • 2023 trends for rural and small town businesses - December 26, 2022
  • Local reviews on Google Maps drive enduring value - December 17, 2022
  • Extra agritourism revenue from camping, cabins and RVs with HipCamp - December 12, 2022
  • Harvest Hosts attract vanlifers and RV tourists, Boondockers Welcome - December 2, 2022
  • Holiday 2022 marketing: Tell your founding story - December 1, 2022
  • Holiday 2022 Marketing: Tell your customers’ stories - November 30, 2022
  • Holiday 2022 Marketing: Introduce your people - November 29, 2022
  • Holiday 2022 Marketing: Share your holiday traditions - November 28, 2022

August 8, 2016 Filed Under: marketing, mistakes

Wondering what is and is not allowed in the comments?
Or how to get a nifty photo beside your name?
Check our commenting policy.
Use your real name, not a business name.


Don't see the comment form?
Comments are automatically closed on older posts, but you can send me your comment via this contact form and I'll add it manually for you. Thanks!

Howdy!

Glad you dropped in to the rural and small town business blog, established in 2006.

We want you to feel at home, so please take our guided tour.

Meet our authors on the About page.

Have something to say? You can give us a holler on the contact form.

If you would like permission to re-use an article you've read here, please make a Reprint Request.

Want to search our past articles? Catch up with the latest stories? Browse through the categories? All the good stuff is on the Front Page.

Shop Local

Buy local buttonReady to set up a shop local campaign in your small town? You'll need a guide who understands how we're different and what really works: Shop Local Campaigns for Small Towns.

Best of Small Biz Survival

What is holding us back? Why does every project take so long in small towns?

How any business can be part of downtown events by going mobile

Concert-goers talking and enjoying the evening in downtown Webster City, Iowa.

Why do people say there’s nothing to do here then not come to our concerts?

Retailers: Fill all empty space, floor to ceiling

More of the best of Small Biz Survival

Copyright © 2023 Becky McCray
Front Page · Log in