To email or not to email?

[CG Effect]

Hi are we still allowed to send email ads to other businesses if the we have an suscribe tic box? I'v looked it all up but I don't speak goverment. Can somebody please advise.

[Rob Holmes]

If they've ticked a box on your contact form and said they want to subscribe to a newsletter then yes thats fine.

If spam complaints are made you may need to produce evidence that they opted in though.

Rob

[CG Effect]

The idea was to promote my site looks like I'm doomed.

thanks

[Eagle]

"Business to Business commercial email is legal whether they've opted in or not."

Just make absolutely sure it's a business address and not a personal one.

At least that's what I've been lead to believe... :?:

[confused]

Hi are we still allowed to send email ads to other businesses if the we have an suscribe tic box?
well I've been sending emails to every Tom, dick & Harry ! Basically an intro email saying who I am and what I do. I was under the impression that you could send as many mails to as many people as you wanted as many times as you wanted (no I'm not spamming ! just 1 each).

[Eagle]

*
Well, if it's a personal email address, and they complain, you could be fined....

[Rob Holmes]

Well, if it's a personal email address, and they complain, you could be fined....

£5000 per upheld complaint

Rob

[confused]

so what exactly determines a business email address?

for example info@mybiz.com would indicate a business address, what if mybox isnt a business but someone just registered it?
Likewise, if mybiz.com was used as a legitimate business domain name, registered to tom smith, is tom@mybiz a business address? or a personal address?

[Eagle]

It's your call! :shock: :wink:

[confused]

It's your call!
Well, the way I see it, if you send a single mail to someone offering your services, from any email address, and someone complained, I cant see that going very far, however, if you were to send 100 mails daily, then of course thats different, that said, surely you need to be asked to stop sending them before any action is taken?
Imageman, sorry to hijack your post !

[CG Effect]

Thats ok
I was going to send an email intro, leaflet style with an auto sender using a contact list. It would have an unsubscibe button at the bottom. Acording to the Uk law even businesses have to be subscribed before you send which I cant understand seeing as they are allowed to make sales calls and so on. The goverment email information goes on and on as if they are trying to say yo can email and you cant.

Il see what happens then the council contacts me back about the business list.

[Eagle]

As far as I understand, business don't have to be registered/opted-in. You can just send away.

Bad practice though - and it smacks of sheer desperation. :)

[confused]

well if it were me, I'd just go ahead and send. If someone is interested then they will reply, if not, they will delete your emails, I cant imagine anyone with more than 1/2 a brain cell clicking an "unsubscribe me" button though.

[CG Effect]

I would unsuscribe if it annoyed me like some of it does and if you email 5000 a month and it only takes on to complain.

[confused]

The reason I mentioned not clicking the unsubscribe button, is there are that many REAL junk mails where the unsubscribe button simply toddles you off to some dodgy site that tries to ram as much spyware as it can on your system before you realise and hit the close button !
If you mail 5000 a month to 5000 people, I very much doubt there would be a complaint, just my opinion you understand. I once did complain because I was getting proper spammed (100's a day) to one of my personal email accounts, seemed they were all originating from the same place - they didnt even have the sense to disguise the header ! so I complained to their ISP and they stopped almost immediatly but thats much different from what we are talking about.

[DarrenC]

I agree with eagle, it does smack of desperation - maybe think about producing a newsletter, and get potential companies to sign up for it.

I don't like emailing potential clients, so instead I created a newsletter that potential clients have signed up for.

You still have to becareful because you don't want to spam it with advertising, because they will loose interest - but I've gained alot of business this way.

[Rob Holmes]

Although the chances of someone pushing the boat out enough to ensure you are fined are 'probably' low with the levels of spam you are talking about, your host and ISP are highly likely take a very dim view of complaints coming in and you may risk being switched off.

Look, the definition of UCE (the real name for spam) is Unsolicited Commercial Email

So if you're mailing and you weren't asked to, and they are emails of a commercial nature (i.e. from your business) you will be spamming.

The definition does not take into account what you use to send the mail, if you have an opt-out link at the bottom, whether it's a Tuesday or not and whether you wear stockings while you did it.

I know I take a harder line than alot of people in this but I've been in email marketing for a few years now and have seen, read and experienced alot of different situations with regards to email marketing - Just trying to give you best advice :)

Rob

[usefulbloke]

Try this, http://www.dti.gov.uk/ccp/topics1/facts/unsolicited.htm

It's the DTI's guidance on the subject - seems to be written in almost plain english.

I send it to people whenever they accuse me of spamming their business (which i don't of course).

As long as your communication is genuinely B2B, you make it clear what it is, who you are and provide a method for them to decline further communication, then the government regards email as a "legitimate marketing technique".

As a word of advice though, if you must do it try to use it as an opening line of a genuine permission marketing campaign.

Al

[DuaneJackson]

We has a very senior DPA lawyer speaking about this at one of the recent networking events I organise.

Her take on it was that info@, etc email addresses are business, but name@ is personal, even if it's a business domain like John.smith@microsoft.com - if the mailbox name is personal, it's a personal email address.

[CG Effect]

The local council has agreed to send me a contact list knowing what it will be used for. Think I'll give it a try. Does anyone want to sample a test email I would be sending?

Thanks everyone for their help.

[usefulbloke]

Aye OK ImageMan,

PM it to me.

Al

[CG Effect]

Il leave it for now can't pm it it doesnt work that way.

[seabro]

How about a compromise.

How about an email, wishing people a merry christmas.

Your signature, could say something brief about your business, or even just link to your site.

Alternatively, develop something funny and send it to loads of your friends, and hope they send it on.

I sent this link to friends ages ago and people did send it on.. http://www.cardiffitsupport.com/dog.php


All the best,