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Canada’s New Weird Ass Spam Law Goes Into Effect July 1st 2014

Posted: 25 Jun 2014 06:30 AM PDT

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imgresIMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: While I do have a Doctorate from the Kazakhstan University School of International Business, AND a High School Diploma from Moline Senior High in Moline, IL., I am not a lawyer and probably completely misinterpreting this law so talk to one before you send emails to Canadians.

Canada is only a decade late to the email compliance legislation party but better late than never. On July 1st, almost 11 years to the date, Canada’s anti-spam laws will go into effect (kind of – as I will explain below).

In 2003, the United States put into play the “Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography And Marketing Act”  (CAN-SPAM) and completely eliminated spam in the United States. Err…actually only a year later the FTC reported that less than 1% of reported spam was actually CAN-SPAM compliant. Hey good try though!

But Canada’s new law isn’t just about email…Its a HUGE net of shit. 

From their website, the new laws will apply to “any electronic message that encourages participation in a commercial activity, regardless of whether there is an expectation of profit." Types messages include "any means of telecommunications, SMS, social networking, websites, URL's and other locators, applications, blogs, VoIP, and any other current and future internet and wireless telecommunication."

WTF?  The part about any future internet and wireless communication is a nice touch. Canadians…

For the most part a lot of the rules for sending email are similar to the CAN-SPAM act:

  • No misleading from or subject lines
  • Must contain various methods of unsubscribing from the messages
  • Must store how you got the email/ip/whatever

A couple things I noticed that stuck out from email sending was that there was no requirement to have a suppression list. Also unlike the CAN-SPAM, act there is no exemption for political or religious organizations.

Existing emailers must implement these changes for new mail recipients immediately, but they have three years (until July 1, 2017) to apply them to existing mailing-list subscribers.
Now here is where it gets really weird:
Acquisition – You can only send email to someone that has not become a “customer” within 6 months then you must take them off of your list.
Retention/upsells – You can only send email to someone for 2 years after the last date they purchased or paid a bill to you.
So basically if you’re doing a pre-launch or the “get a coupon” or “subscribe to our newsletter” to get an email address and the person doesn’t buy in 6 months then you gotta delete them.  If they do buy something, then you bought yourself another 24 months to send them emails. On one hand I agree if you’re emailing someone for 6 months and they haven’t bought your stuff then you should remove them anyway. On the other hand I’ve been emailing people that bought something from me 7 years ago and still open and click my newsletter emails. I gotta delete them? Obviously, these laws are written by people who don’t understand email.I think just saying “anyone that has not opened or clicked on an email for 6 months must be removed from your email lists” is not all encompassing. Seriously….Canadians love my emails…Even if they never buy anything from me. Its true; I just looked at my stats in the PAR Program and Canadians have the highest open/click rate of any country on my list but the lowest buy rate (actually I just made that up to pimp the PAR Program capabilities. Its actually Nigeria that has that honor). So long Canadians that don’t buy anything…Blame your country…I will no longer have the legal authority to enlighten you in the world of email marketing. I know you are dying to read the entire law details so here are the links:
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How to Get Influential Bloggers to Say “Yes” to Being Interviewed on Your Blog - DailyBlogTips

How to Get Influential Bloggers to Say “Yes” to Being Interviewed on Your Blog - DailyBlogTips

How to Get Influential Bloggers to Say “Yes” to Being Interviewed on Your Blog

Posted: 24 Jun 2014 12:57 PM PDT

Have you ever wanted to get a big-name blogger to contribute to your blog?

Chances are, they're too busy to write you a guest post.

But they might well be able to clear 15 minutes to answer a few quick interview questions.

The only trouble is, well-known blogger get a lot of interview requests … so you need to make sure yours stands out.

Here's how:

Step #1: Don’t Go Straight to the Top

When you’re looking for bloggers to interview, it’s tempting to start with the biggest names in your niche. But they probably get loads of interview requests, and they’re almost certainly too busy to say “yes” to them all.

Instead, target up-and-coming bloggers. A good place to look for them is on the big blogs you know … but as guest posters there. These people are likely to have lots of great ideas to share, and they’re probably actively looking for opportunities to promote themselves.

Step #2: Ask Interesting Questions

I’ve been interviewed a fair few times now, and I find that a lot of questions crop up again and again in different interviews. Things like:

  • What are your favourite blogs / websites?
  • How did you get started as a blogger?
  • What’s your advice to bloggers just starting out?

While all of these are good questions, they’re also a bit generic. It’s fine to have a couple of basic questions, but try to add in some that go deeper, beyond what your interviewee normally answers.

Not only will they be more likely to want to take part, you’re also likely to get a better interview with more interesting material for your readers.

Step #3: Don’t Ask for Too Much

It’s tempting to ask as much as possible and get the full benefit of your interviewee’s wisdom – but sending across dozens of questions is really off-putting! Stick with around 6 – 8 questions (you’ll generally get more in-depth answers that way) and definitely no more than ten.

Beyond that, don’t demand too much. Most people will be happy to tweet/share the interview, but don’t insist that they agree to do so. If you’ll be interviewing them on Skype rather than by email, don’t expect them to set aside more than 15 minutes for the interview.

(Obviously, if you already have a good relationship with the person, they may be willing to do a bit more.)

Step #4: Use the Format They Prefer

Most bloggers prefer email interviews, where you send a list of questions and they respond to them all at once. Some, though, would rather get together with you on Skype (Danny Iny is a prominent example) for 10 – 15 minutes.

If the blogger does have any guidelines on interviews, make sure you offer them the format they want – even if that means some extra work for you. Otherwise, you’re almost certain to get a “no”.

Step #5: Be Patient

If you email an interview request and don't hear back straight away, wait at least a few days (ideally two weeks) before following up. Perhaps the blogger is particularly busy.

This means you need to make sure you allow plenty of time – probably at least a month – between sending an interview request and publishing that interview on your blog. If you want to run interviews regularly, make sure you get organised well in advance.

 

Have you interviewed some great bloggers on your blog? Is this something you'd like to do in the future? Drop a comment below to share your experiences.

 

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