Quick Update on the Canadian Anti Spam Legislation


It's been 3 years since CASL came into effect in Canada and the grace period ends on July 1, 2017. I know, it's an icky subject but I want to keep you informed. There's a lot to know but I'll keep this really brief.

Here are the two most important things you need to know about CASL right now.

First, if you own a business and use email for business, every email sent is governed by CASL. It has nothing to do with the application you use, or how many people you send to at a time. Many business people seem to think CASL doesn't apply to them. It definitely does!

Second, the good news. Even though CASL applies to your email communication, unless you have many thousands of subscribers, you're unlikely to ever garner enough attention to warrant an investigation by the CRTC. There is possibly some new legislation coming that will allow civil cases although I have a hard time imagining the grounds for any such cases.

For some businesses, such as mine, it's still important to be compliant with the regulations. If that is also the case for your business, here's a quick and dirty run-down of what most small businesses are missing.

photo by ThoroughlyReviewed / Flickr

Click to Tweet this Article

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Best Reading of 2013

Image
The best reading from our newsletter contributors during 2013... Does your writing pass the $1-a-word Test? by Neil Everton, Podium Media & Communications Coaching If you are looking for a quick and certain way of giving your words more impact, look no further than your purse or wallet. Take a look at the last thing you wrote. It doesn't matter if it's a letter, email, report, newsletter, web content or promo script... read more Marketing to Your Tribe by Stephanie Holmes-Winton, The Money Finder This just in: some people don’t like what I have to say. They might unsubscribe from my newsletter, or they might make a snide comment on social media... read more Anyone Can Find Business on Twitter by Anita Hovey, Twirp Communications That’s right... ANYONE. The next time someone says “Twitter is just a bunch of nonsense” I want you to share a link to this post... read more 6 Ways to Become Part of Your Customer's Story by Bernadette Jiwa, The Story of Tell...
Keep reading »

Make Sharing Easy

Image
example of sharing buttons I'm such a critic - an enewsletter critic that is. Of course, critiquing other newsletters is partly how I get better at my job. I'm often disappointed when I receive a newsletter or promotional email that doesn't give me buttons for easy sharing, especially when it's something I want to share. In many cases, with the amount of information to read these days, I will shrug and move on. I would have shared the information but the sender turned it into a job. Another job I don't have time for in my already busy day. How often do people shrug because they can't share your information easily? Think about your own activities, what encourages you to share? And how easily do you give up? Click to Tweet this Article
Keep reading »

Paper Counts

The paper you use when providing printed documents to contacts and clients is a big deal. Well, I should say that it's a big deal only if you use the right paper. It's a non-issue if you use plain old 20lb. paper and it's a real detriment if you use cheap photocopy paper. I have had a lot of people comment on my paper over the years and many have said it's an important part of my brand. Not only does quality paper look good, but it also feels good to the touch - it engages other senses - which makes it (and you) memorable. I think it also says that the person you're giving it to is worth the extra cost and effort. The environment: I try to compensate for my excess by recycling all the paper I print for my own use. Once done with, paper gets flipped over and used again. I had read that this isn't good for your printer but I just retired a printer after doing that for 11 years - can't ask for a printer to last much longer than that! (I also b...
Keep reading »

Combine Networking with Research for Killer Content

Image
Looking for a unique and easy content idea for your blog or newsletter? It will even improve your networking at the next event you attend. Think of a survey question where the answers of many people will give you market insight . Make sure: The results will be useful to you in understanding your market. The results will be interesting to your readers, and perhaps be useful to them, as well. The question is simple and can be articulated easily in a networking setting. The possible answers are easy to record so you can tally them up later. Here are some examples: I might ask, "How often do you send out a regular email newsletter?" My article might be something like: 45% of Small Business Owners Surveyed Don't Send Out Newsletters , with the results of the research (and how it was gathered) within. A health coach might ask, "How many times during a week do you skip breakfast?" His article might be something like: Skipping Breakfast is Rampant Among ...
Keep reading »

My Essential Small Business Tools (Part 1)

Image
Whenever I get together with other business owners over lunch or coffee, the conversation often flows to a discussion of how to be more productive. What processes are we using? What contractors are helping? And what tools or apps are useful? I love this sharing of ideas and found out about many of the tools I use regularly from these chats. Those listed below are ones that I use at least weekly - often daily - and consider essential to managing my business. Google Calendar In the newsletter business, we have to keep track of a lot of dates - reminder dates, preparation dates and issue dates - for all our clients on varying schedules. Google Calendar has been invaluable, not only as an organizational and tracking tool, but also as a communication tool because it lets me share my calendars with work colleagues. I have my own calendar of appointments and events, plus a calendar to track all of the important newsletter dates. I use the email and pop-up reminders so I don’t forget a...
Keep reading »

Behavioural Economics and Small Business Marketing​

Image
After spending my adult life thinking I'm a mostly logical person (and being not so secretly proud of it), I just found out I'm not. And apparently the fact that I think I am is a little irrational. You might think I'd be a little sad to discover this but I'm actually thrilled. A whole new perspective on marketing just opened up because Dan Ariely told me we're all Predictably Irrational . Don't let behavioural economics scare you off. This book is insightful and funny, and a fairly quick read (because I couldn't put it down). I learned a marketing lesson in the first chapter that is so improbable... well, you'll have to see for yourself. It's powerful stuff and I recommend it highly. originally published in Work Better, Not Harder newsletter June 27, 2017 Click to Tweet this Article
Keep reading »

How to Recycle your Ideas

Image
This is the 250th article I've written for my own blog, started way back in May 2010. Do you think each of these 250 articles is an original idea? Not by a long shot. Even if you've been following this blog for awhile, there are many older articles that you've never seen. Some may be outdated and some may be irrelevant. But some of those articles have great ideas... and you won't know unless I recycle those ideas into my current posts. That's the strategic reason to recycle your ideas . It's not just something to do when you're stuck for something to write about . In order to stay a bit organized, I typically look back to what I wrote about in the same month last year. Often I'll find something I haven't written about since - a good candidate for recycling. The goal is not to simply re-write an article, but rather to expand on the idea . Here are some ways to think about that: Does the article still make sense? Or has it become outdated ...
Keep reading »

Building Relationships versus Getting Shared

Image
You just shared a most awesome resource with your followers on Twitter. It’s not your own resource but rather one you found on someone else’s blog. Regardless of the author, you know your followers will find it useful. Earlier you were busy sending an email message to a colleague in response to their newsletter. The personal story they included was touching and inspired you to write back. But you didn't tweet that  article. Why not? There’s a difference between content intended to build relationships and content intended for sharing . Building relationships and getting shared are only two of several possible reasons for creating content via newsletter and blog. Which is best? That depends on your own goals... and why it’s so important to have well-defined goals . Likely you will use a combination of both types of content but in different situations. For example, I tend to include experiential stories in my own newsletter. But on my blog I include more of the type of info...
Keep reading »

It doesn't have to be About You

Image
Let’s face it: some businesses are in a better position to provide valuable information through newsletters (blogs, social media) than others. Take our own newsletter as an example. We could easily publish a newsletter about publishing newsletters. (Stay with me here.) It would have lots of tips and suggestions and advice. We could really show off our expertise and share our opinions. Now, who would that appeal to? People who are publishing their own newsletters. Perhaps even people who are publishing newsletters for others. These people aren’t our target market - not even close. Our newsletter has nothing to do with our area of specialty. But of course we have to have one. What’s an 'enewsletter boutique' without its own newsletter ? So we found something else of use to our target market:  ideas and tips for small business owners shared by other small business owners. And (big bonus here) members of our...
Keep reading »

Action and Email Don't Mix

Image
Reactionary Workflow – reacting to what’s coming in rather than being proactive. It’s a new term but a familiar feeling… and it sure did resonate with me. Being constantly connected means that it’s really easy for people to contact us. As a consequence, our ability to prioritize is crippled by the unending flow of communication. It has become harder to direct our work with intention. We’ve relinquished control over our focus. One of my own personal focus areas last year was to be, well, more focused. What I found was that just focusing on being focused didn’t cut it. I needed tactics… and discipline. Here are some things that I found useful: Blocking out time for specific tasks , especially tasks related to developing my own business. Turning off email for certain periods during the day – need I say more? Taking time to create , rather than just responding to emails. Yes, I might be suggesting taking more time. Adding value to my communications has resulted in many ben...
Keep reading »