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Happy Memorial Day!
Hopefully, you have survived tax season and are planning your first summer getaway! In this month's edition of our newsletter, we'll be deciphering the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003, which is extremely important to those of you who send out mass emails. Artistically speaking, we'll be looking at how CMYK color is different from RGB color, and in our Technical InSight, we'll define the different states of "opting".
As always, if you have any questions or comments, please send them to info@gilmoredesigngroup.com. You can also view past issues of the Design InSight newsletter at www.gilmoredesigngroup.com/company_newsletters.html. |
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| Client: |
Coy, Konieczny & Peppel, L.L.C. |
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| Project: |
Website Design & Development |
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Project Management |
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Website Design |
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Website Development |
Objective: To create a web site for a law firm in Toledo, Ohio that not only exudes professionalism, but is also clean and simple while being extremely easy to use.
Solution: The colors were kept soft, yet professional to add interest to the site while being clean and fresh. The site also utilizes a very simple left-hand navigation system that will allow visitors to find the information they seek in the easiest way possible.
Testimonial
"I came to Gilmore Design Group with a blank slate for a small project. I was treated like a king, and ended up with a fantastic final product.
I simply could not be happier with the service,
attentiveness, initiative and work ethic of Gilmore Design Group.
I have recommended it to others, and will continue to do so."
- Gregg Peppel, Coy, Konieczny & Peppel, L.L.C.
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 CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black)
CMYK is a color model for combining primary pigments and is the standard for offset printing for full-color documents.
CMYK stands for Cyan (aqua), Magenta (pink), Yellow, and blacK. The CMYK model is used for full-color printing. Because printing uses inks of these four basic colors, it is often called four-color printing.
RGB (Red, Green, Blue)
 In contrast, display devices (i.e. monitors, and televisions) generally use a different color model called RGB, which stands for Red - Green - Blue. Each pixel on the screen can be represented in the computer or interface hardware as values for red, green and blue. These values are converted into intensities which are then used for display. The combination and intensities of these three colors can represent the whole spectrum.
One of the most difficult aspects of desktop publishing is color matching -- properly converting the RGB colors into CMYK colors so that what gets printed looks the same as what appears on the monitor. |
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Double Opt-in
When a registrant signs up to an opt-in form on a website or email campaign, they are opting to receive email, goods, services or something that the website is offering. When they double opt-in, an email is sent to them asking them to click on a link to confirm who they are. Many sites use double opt-in to protect themselves in the case where a registrant may give false information and use an email address belonging to another individual.
Opt-out / Unsubscribe
When the owner of an email address unsubscribes, this indicates that the individual no longer wishes to receive emails from the organization. People can unsubscribe either by clicking the "Unsubscribe" or "Opt-out" link at the bottom of an email, or by replying to the email with the word "Unsubscribe" in the subject line.
If you are using Vertical Response to send your mass e-mails and a person unsubscribes, that email address is automatically flagged in your mailing list and no future emails will go out to them.
However, if you are receiving emails from a malicious SPAMMER and you try to unsubscribe, don't be surprised if this doesn't work. There are many malicious SPAMMERS out there who include an unsubscribe link at the bottom of their email, so the email looks like it complies with SPAM laws, but will never take your name off their list even if you unsubscribe. This is part of the ongoing battle with malicious SPAMMERS. |
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Question:
I would like to send out an e-mail campaign to my mailing list. Are there any rules that I should be aware of?
Answer:
Yes, there are not only rules, but laws that you must abide by to send out mass emails. For example, did you know that you must, by law, include a valid postal address within your email campaign? Believe it or not, this is a law which is part of the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003.
As we all know, SPAM can be a nuisance. SPAM is especially annoying when you receive messages that don't even interest you (i.e. porn sites, Viagra, Rolex replica watches, etc). In December 2003, congress passed a bill called the "Can-SPAM Act" which took effect on January 1, 2004. Below is a summary of the act:
CAN-SPAM Act of 2003
(Pub. L. 108-187, S. 877)
The Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act requires unsolicited commercial e-mail messages to be labeled though not by a standard method and to include opt-out instructions and the sender's physical address. It prohibits the use of deceptive subject lines and false headers in such messages. The FTC is authorized (but not required) to establish a "do-not-email" registry. State laws that require labels on unsolicited commercial e-mail or prohibit such messages entirely are pre-empted, although provisions merely addressing falsity and deception would remain in place. The CAN-SPAM Act took effect on January 1, 2004.
The CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 was introduced by Senators Conrad R. Burns (R-MT) and Ron Wyden (D-OR) in April 2003, with minor changes from the previous year's version, S. 630 (2002) . Two other bills ( S. 1231 and S. 1293 ) were subsequently merged into it. The final version was approved by the Senate in November 2003 and by the House of Representatives in December 2003, and was signed into law by President Bush on December 16, 2003.
So what does this mean to you? Well, if you want to send out a newsletter or an email campaign, your mass email campaign MUST have the following in it:
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A valid postal address of the sender. |
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A clear and conspicuous unsubscribe link which continues to work for 30 days. |
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A non-deceptive from and subject lines so they relate to whom the email is coming from, and what the content is relating to. |
Not having all of these in place could result in you having to pay significant fines and/or land you up to 5 years in prison! When using a email campaign system such as Vertical Response, you are required to abide by their Anti-SPAM terms before you can send out your emails.
But somehow, that ridiculous SPAM keeps appearing in your inbox! How can this be?
Keep your eye open for our upcoming newsletters when you'll learn more about SPAM and other e-mail issues. |
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