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Anti-spam Policy is Strictly Enforced...

We take spam and permission very seriously. By creating an account you are agreeing to this anti-spam policy.

The Law Isn't Enough, It's Permission That Counts
While the CAN-SPAM laws are a step in the right direction for reducing the spam problem, we don't feel they go far enough. Our definition of spam goes beyond the laws in most countries and encompasses what we believe to be true permission e-mail marketing.

Spam is any e-mail you send to someone who hasn't given you their direct permission to contact them on the topic of the e-mail. But that's not enough. Permission is a fuzzy word open to interpretation. Let's get into some specific scenarios so it's clear what does and doesn't constitute permission.

What Kind Of E-mail Addresses Are OK To Send?
To send e-mail to anyone using this service, you must have clearly obtained their permission. This could be done in a number of ways:

  • An e-mail newsletter subscribe form on your web site.
  • An opt-in checkbox on a form. This checkbox must not be checked by default; the person completing the form must willingly select the checkbox to indicate they want to hear from you.
  • If the person/company completes an offline form like a survey or enters a competition, you can only contact them if it was explained to them that they would be contacted by e-mail AND they ticked a box indicating they would like to be contacted.
  • Customers who have purchased from you within the last 2 years. (NOTE: Don't assume that someone from 2 years ago will remember who you are: They could tag your e-mail as Spam.)
  • If someone gives you their business card and you have explained to them that you will be in touch by e-mail, you can contact them. If they dropped their business card in a fishbowl at a trade show, there must be a sign indicating they will be contacted by e-mail. Basically, you can only ever e-mail anyone who has clearly given you permission to e-mail them specifically about the subject you're contacting them about.

What Kind Of E-mail Addresses ARE NOT OK To Send?
Anything outside the examples above doesn't equal permission in our eyes, but here are some examples to make sure we're crystal clear. By using this program, you agree not to import or send to any e-mail address which:

  • You do not have explicit, provable permission to contact in relation to the topic of the e-mail you're sending.
  • You bought, loaned, rented, or in any way acquired from a third party, no matter what they claim about quality or permission. You need to obtain permission yourself.
  • You haven't contacted via e-mail in the last 2 years. Permission doesn't age well and these people have either changed e-mail address or won't remember giving their permission in the first place. To be sure, don't go back that far.
  • You scraped or copy and pasted from the web. Just because people publish their e-mail address doesn't mean they want to hear from you. Sure, some of these people might have given you their e-mail address, but what's missing is your permission to e-mail them commercial messages. Blasting promotional e-mails to any of these people won't be effective and will more than likely see your e-mail marked as spam by many of your recipients.

What Content MUST You Include In Your E-mail?
Every e-mail you send must include the following:

  1. A single-click unsubscribe link that instantly removes the subscriber from your list. Once they unsubscribe, you can never e-mail them again.
  2. The name and physical address of the sender.

How We'll Know If You Don't Have Permission to Send
This is a very sophisticated program with numerous layers of approval and monitoring to ensure you comply with our anti-spam policy. Here are a few of them:

  1. Until your account has been approved, every e-mail you send will need to be approved.
  2. Our software is directly integrated into the spam reporting systems for some of the biggest ISP's like Hotmail and AOL. If you don't have permission and someone marks your campaign as spam, we'll know about it the moment that button is pressed. If you receive a complaint rate greater than 0.25% of all recipients your account will be terminated.This is a generous figure that takes into account false spam reports.
  3. All large lists imported into our software program are verified. Until we've given it the all clear, you can't send to it.
  4. Blacklists and abuse accounts are monitored all day every day. We can pinpoint who is causing delivery problems or attracting complaints very easily. If we do discover that you're e-mailing people without their permission, we will terminate your account immediately.

In the end, it's really common sense. Take off your marketing hat and put yourself in your recipient's shoes. If they don't recognize who you are or aren't interested in what you're sending, they'll think you're a spammer. It's that simple... and you could end up in court paying hefty fines and legal fees. Why take that risk.