How to Prepare for Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation

If you're a business or organization using e-mail, text messaging or social networks to promote products and services Canada's new anti-spam law probably applies to you. Once it is in force, (July 1, 2014) compliance with the law will be mandatory, and following the new rules will help businesses and organizations build and maintain the trust of clients and customers.

So how do you get ready?  Here's a few things you can do:   

1. Determine if your electronic messages are commercial in nature. The law applies to Commercial Electronic Messages (CEMs) only. A CEM is defined as encouraging participation in a business transaction or activity, regardless of whether there is an expectation of profit
2. For all electronic messages you have determined to be commercial:

• Get the consent of your recipients, and keep records. The legislation requires obtaining "express" or "implied" consent. Express consent means that a person has clearly agreed to receive a CEM before it is sent - you cannot request consent in a CEM. Consent may also be implied in certain situations, for instance if there is an existing business or non-business relationship. In all cases, keep detailed records in case you are ever asked to prove that consent has been received.

• Identify yourself and anyone you represent in the message. Provide contact information including your business name, postal address and either a telephone number or e-mail address. This information must be accurate and valid for a minimum of 60 days after the message has been sent.

• Include a working mechanism that allows the recipient to unsubscribe from receiving additional messages. This must be at no cost to the recipient.

• Ensure that no part of the CEM is false or misleading, including the sender's identity, subject line, any Web links, or any other material part of the message's text or data.

Here's an infographic summarizing the above four points.  Print it and Post it.   :) 

This law applies to new contacts immediately (you need their consent and each CEM must include your information and an unsubscribe mechanism) and within 3 years for those you already have a business relationship with (during the transition you have implied consent to continue sending CEMs to existing contacts, with unsubscribe options), so depending on the list you have built over the years, it may not be necessary to send out one of those "please reconfirm your interest in receiving emails from us" emails. 

It definitely is a good idea to use an email management system to keep track of consent, ask for double-opt in, and allow for automatic unsubscribes.

You can learn more about the law at www.fightspam.gc.ca.  Every business owner, manager and employee is encouraged to examine the legislation to see how it will affect their marketing campaigns.

Pinnacle Communications & Media Inc has helped dozens of clients with their email marketing from set up to list management, and producing the marketing messages and more.  If you'd like our help, contact us today and get ready for the new legislation. PS. You can even sign up to receive our eNewsletter! or start your own email system here free.

How Too Many Marketing Ideas can be Bad for Small Business

When it comes to marketing, ideas are a dime a dozen.  

It is easy to come up with ideas. There are so many options.  Often the result is too many ideas. 

Too many ideas to sort out how they all fit together and to know which ones to do.
For small businesses and organizations doing their own marketing, it often becomes too time consuming or overwhelming as there are too many ideas, too many platforms, and too many other things requiring the business owner's attention.  And usually too many ideas to implement with existing and fixed fiscal and human resources.  

When businesses are busy with their day-to-day activities, marketing becomes less important. This is how too many marketing ideas can lead to no marketing. Busy companies tend to stop promotion and advertising. However the marketplace is ever-changing and marketing needs to be considered in both slow and busy times. 

10 Ways to Make Small Business Week Count

It's nearly the end of BDC Small Business Week^TM  (Oct 20-26), and besides talking to myself, I haven't had one conversation about the state of small business, their value to our communities, or participated in a learning opportunity or networking event! Not for lack of time, but rather for lack of attention.

This got me thinking that it really is important to take note of small business.  

We all know that if we don't use local small business, we lose them. We lose a resource, and option, an employer, and a bit of character in our towns.  

So, how do Canadians show their "support" for small business besides the obvious "Shop Local, Buy Local" programs?

New Girl in Town Makes Twitter Pages Dynamic

Twylah is about to get famous for her amazing talent at bringing together one's Twitter stream into an exciting dynamic webpage that automatically groups and presents your tweets by topic, letting followers know what you're all about.

This creates a better brand experience for business, non-profits, and individuals resulting in more followers, engagement, and click-throughs etc.

Your tweets show up with links and pictures intact. You can pin three of the trending topics to the navigation bar so they are always clickable.  You can also hide up to 10 topics so they don't show up, which is good for older, less relevant tweets.  

Check out my Twylah: http://www.twylah.com/PinnacleComms

Three cool features available through Twylah:

1. PowerTweet button can be dragged to your browser window so you can quickly and easily tweet any web page you're on.  Fast content!  And for each PowerTweet, a custom landing page is created that includes all the links and text of your tweet. Followers can click that backlink and see your dynamic webpage. Your followers get easy access to more of your related tweets, increasing their engagement.  
2. Widgets to create clickable Trending Tweets buttons or thumbnails of your themes are available in Twylah's Resource section, making it easy to embed attractive links on your business website.
3. It's free. Whether for your business or your own personal account, Twylah can help create your brand by telling your whole story.

To check out other Twylah webpages (celebrities, companies, musicians etc) or to request your own, click here: http://www.twylah.com/

10 step checklist for small business starting in social media

I talk to small businesses everyday about social media.

They email me questions, ask for presentations, tutoring, help with setting up accounts, etc. The nuts and bolts can take a lot of time for small business, the services are always changing, and even once all the accounts are set up and integrated, they find themselves spending more and more time updating statuses and tweeting links with less and less satisfaction and results.

That’s one of the reasons I’m a big fan of strategy. Know what results you are expecting.

Know where you want to go. Sure, save all the usernames you can. That’s good advice. But you don’t have to populate them right now, or ever. Keep it simple. Blog only if you have time and your customers will value it. Tweet, definitely. Facebook page, absolutely. Maybe even add a coupon to Google places or foursquare if retail savings is your business forte. Make time to engage in key groups on Linked in if you’re a consultant.

Just keep it manageable.

Social media for small business needs to start somewhere, and starting small and making time to monitor results will help you judge your ROI. Here’s a 10-Step checklist for small business. If you’re a one or two person shop, realize that unless your business gets put on hold, putting these 10 steps into action can take 3-5 weeks. Because sometimes, well actually, all the time social media is less important than getting the work done, or going for coffee with a prospect, or sending a thank you note.

So if you’re ready to get started, here’s some suggestions. And if you need help, or want a strategy, give me a call or send me an email.

1. Ensure Google analytic tracking code is properly installed and functioning on web pages

2. Update locations and request reviews and recommendations on Google, Yelp etc.

3. Establish your foursquare account and offer a discount for anyone who checks in

4. Make your Facebook Page public with a username

5. Create your LinkedIn business page

6. Establish Twitter and Blog accounts

7. Write and post first content Blog then Integrate/Cross promote it by tweeting about it, posting on facebook

8. Add your new account addresses to your profile pages, emails, business cards, website

9. Update content on profile accounts, like your Chamber of Commerce and other site

10. Practise listening, creating and engaging strategies; monitor results!

If it was an 11 step checklist, #11 would be ... have fun! It’s called social for a reason.