Prevent Email From Being Classified As Spam

Do you use email in your business? The CAN-SPAM Act, a law that sets the rules for commercial email, establishes requirements for commercial messages, gives recipients the right to have you stop emailing them, and spells out tough penalties for violations.

Despite its name, the CAN-SPAM Act doesn’t apply just to bulk email. It covers all commercial messages, which the law defines as “any electronic mail message the primary purpose of which is the commercial advertisement or promotion of a commercial product or service,” including email that promotes content on commercial websites. The law makes no exception for business-to-business email. That means all email – for example, a message to former customers announcing a new product line – must comply with the law.

Each separate email in violation of the CAN-SPAM Act is subject to penalties of up to $16,000, so non-compliance can be costly. But following the law isn’t complicated. Here’s a rundown of CAN-SPAM’s main requirements:

1. Don’t use false or misleading header information. Your “From,” “To,” “Reply-To,” and routing information – including the originating domain name and email address – must be accurate and identify the person or business who initiated the message.
   
2. Don’t use deceptive subject lines. The subject line must accurately reflect the content of the message.
   
3. Identify the message as an ad. The law gives you a lot of leeway in how to do this, but you must disclose clearly and conspicuously that your message is an advertisement.
   
4. Tell recipients where you’re located. Your message must include your valid physical postal address. This can be your current street address, a post office box you’ve registered with the U.S. Postal Service, or a private mailbox you’ve registered with a commercial mail receiving agency established under Postal Service regulations.
   
5. Tell recipients how to opt out of receiving future email from you. Your message must include a clear and conspicuous explanation of how the recipient can opt out of getting email from you in the future. Craft the notice in a way that’s easy for an ordinary person to recognize, read, and understand. Creative use of type size, color, and location can improve clarity. Give a return email address or another easy Internet-based way to allow people to communicate their choice to you. You may create a menu to allow a recipient to opt out of certain types of messages, but you must include the option to stop all commercial messages from you. Make sure your spam filter doesn’t block these opt-out requests.
   
6. Honor opt-out requests promptly. Any opt-out mechanism you offer must be able to process opt-out requests for at least 30 days after you send your message. You must honor a recipient’s opt-out request within 10 business days. You can’t charge a fee, require the recipient to give you any personally identifying information beyond an email address, or make the recipient take any step other than sending a reply email or visiting a single page on an Internet website as a condition for honoring an opt-out request. Once people have told you they don’t want to receive more messages from you, you can’t sell or transfer their email addresses, even in the form of a mailing list. The only exception is that you may transfer the addresses to a company you’ve hired to help you comply with the CAN-SPAM Act.
   
7. Monitor what others are doing on your behalf. The law makes clear that even if you hire another company to handle your email marketing, you can’t contract away your legal responsibility to comply with the law. Both the company whose product is promoted in the message and the company that actually sends the message may be held legally responsible.
   

SBA Micro-Loans To Small Businesses

Through the America’s Recovery Capital (ARC) program the Small Business Administration (SBA) was awarded some $750 million for 2009 – 2010 to lend to small businesses in financial peril. This program is part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 or Stimulus Plan/Recovery Act.

Small businesses that qualify can take advantage of SBA guaranteed micro-loans from $5,000-$35,000. To take advantage of this program you will need to be in business for more than two years and be profitable for at least one out of the last 2 years. Also, you will need good credit and a FICO score of at least 650.

The business owner needs to provide at least two years of cash flow statements as well as a plan on how the funds will be used to help make the business profitable. By demonstrating that the bottom line is suffering, due to the economic environment, a micro-loan can be used to meet their obligations.

An SBA ARC loan can be used for:

1. Debt consolidation
   
2. Equipment purchase
   
3. Remodel or expand
   
4. Advertising & marketing
   
5. Payroll
   
6. Secure working capital

As a result, many struggling businesses can “buy time” until the overall economic environment improves. Creative entrepreneurs can also use such financial support to improve their market position with customers and prospects, at a time when many businesses are cutting down on their marketing reach.

The following are the Terms that apply to ARC loans:

1. Interest-free to the borrower.
   
2. No fees paid to SBA.
   
3. Loan proceeds are provided over a six-month period.
   
4. Repayment of principal is deferred for 12 months after the last disbursement of the proceeds.
   
5. Following the 12-month deferral period, the borrower pays back the principle over a period of five years. For example, a $35,000 loan to be paid in 60 months, result in monthly payments of $584.
   
6. The SBA will pay the monthly interest rate of prime plus 2% to the lender on behalf of the borrower.

Ultimately, a prolonged economic growth will help small businesses navigate out of the recession, but this program can put them on the right path and give breathing space to a sector of the economy that is deprived of traditional financing options. The program is scheduled to end in September 2010 or until the funds run out. You can call 877-693-8691 for assistance with the application process or contact your local SBA office.