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Are You Allowed To Email Companies?

by Ross Cohen
8 replies
I know there's lots of laws nowadays when it comes to spam... or even an unsolicited email (which then again could be considered spam). Where's the line, legally? I'm not talking about sending a mass email to every company in XYZ, I'm talking about a brief personal email, which, of course, would at some point hopefully result in a sale. Thank you!
#allowed #companies #email
  • Profile picture of the author dennismw
    Personally I would make a phone call and ask if you can send them an offer via email. If it's the receptionist get her name and put the comment in your email that you spoke to her/him. So, unless someone else you know or you have already done business with recommends you contact the business – I wouldn’t do it.
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  • Profile picture of the author Sys4
    Originally Posted by Ross Cohen View Post

    I know there's lots of laws nowadays when it comes to spam... or even an unsolicited email (which then again could be considered spam). Where's the line, legally? I'm not talking about sending a mass email to every company in XYZ, I'm talking about a brief personal email, which, of course, would at some point hopefully result in a sale. Thank you!
    The answer to your question is... it depends. In the U.S., as long as you follow the guidelines outlined by the FTC in the following link, you'll be fine - legally.

    CAN-SPAM Act: A Compliance Guide for Business | BCP Business Center

    As you can see by the above referenced link, it's not hard to be legally compliant. What's hard... is staying "commercially compliant".

    By that, I mean even though your emails are legally compliant you may still find yourself getting blacklisted. Following dennismw's advice will go far towards protecting your emails from being reported as spam.
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  • Profile picture of the author socialentry
    ^^ You will most likely get blacklisted because what makes you CAN-S{PAM compliant also makes you easy to detect by spam filters.
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  • Profile picture of the author Sherry Han
    Oh wow, I had no idea you couldn't simply email businesses using the info@ email address or contact form found on their website. I thought only mass mailings of untargeted emails were considered spam. Good to know that even personalized emails can still be illegal!
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  • Profile picture of the author Ouroboros
    Congress recently got a new law - it was supposed to be about SMS but was more about "autodialers" - B2B is still Ok as long as you include an opt-out option.

    I did all the research when I was concerned about SMS because all the big name guys were abusing it, but as it turns out most of the new law was about auto-dialers and contacting people with "robots"

    As long as you contact other businesses with the option to "opt out" you should be ok, not sure about business to consumer. I can look up the law if need be.
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  • Profile picture of the author doshmachine
    If you contact them at all via email it should be very personal and very relevant to them. The same as if you were enquiring about a job vacancy.

    If you have done your research and you genuinely have something to offer them personally then a simple personal email to the effect would not be regarded as spam.

    In this sense you are not acting as an internet marketer - simply as one businessman attempting to contact another.

    This works if you are trying to coax clients. Again the opt-out is important.

    Any kind of mass email or reproduced email is going to start to run into some of the issues above.
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  • Profile picture of the author kellyyarnsbro
    Emails to companies goes Spam mostly specially those unsolicited ones. Making a phone call first is a good idea and most paople use that, otherwise it's against the guidelines.
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  • Profile picture of the author TrumpiaTim
    Yeah because of all the filters, you're probably best cold calling these opportunities.
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