Email marketing when done correctly can be one of the most targeted and lucrative ways to make money online. Internet Marketing expert, John Chow says that on average you can expect to earn about $1 per person on your list of subscribers. However, if done incorrectly you will face stiff penalties from the Federal Trade Commission, or FTC.
The CAN-SPAM Act
This law was passed in 1993 and made it illegal to send unsolicited email. In addition it requires the sender to give recipients the right to requests to be removed from the email list. Although it primarily applies to bulk email, it can in fact apply to any commercial email, even if it is just sent to an individual. The penalties for breaking this law can be up to $16,000 per individual email violation, which can add up quickly if you consider that millions of emails can be sent out at a time.
Law Requirements
The law isn't difficult to follow, although there are several things you will need to know in order to maintain compliance: You cannot use false or misleading information in your "From" "To" or "Reply To" areas. You also cannot falsify either the email address or domain name. The subject line must accurately reflect the content of the message. You must disclose that the message is an advertisement and cannot mislead the recipient into thinking that it is something other than that. Your message must include a valid physical postal address. This can either be a street adress or PO Box, but it must be valid. You must give the recipient an option to opt-out of the email. You must comply with the request to opt out within 10 days.
Double-Opt-in Email Marketing
Although email marketing is still alive and well today things have changed. In the past, it was possible for unscrupulous Internet marketers to use software to collect tens of thousands of emails from forums, blogs or other sites. Of course this is illegal today, so what most of them do is to use a double opt-in email form which makes the surfer request information and then confirm their request to receive information. Thus, it is not considered spam.