We’re on the brink of 2011 and the way we communicate is constantly changing. Facebook is launching new features yet again, designed to help us connect and converge according to our similar preferences.  Gartner is predicting consolidation of business email and social network platforms as corporate enterprises embrace social networking.

Most (certainly not all) large enterprise marketers understand the rules and implications of the CAN-SPAM act. But the vast majority of small businesses, independent musicians, artists and arts organizations are just learning about email marketing. Many don’t even equate the mass emails they send with the dreaded SPAM. After all, OUR messages are pertinent and relevant, right? It’s just all those other people who need to stay out of our email in boxes.

Wrong. I’ve been added to countless artist and arts promoter email lists without my permission, no prior personal relationship and no way to opt out. They think they’re serving up a nice juicy roast … but to me, it’s just SPAM.

The worst part about this is not that I have to press the delete key, that’s easy. The worst thing is that these very well-meaning, creative people are wasting their time and energy when they could really be engaging in a beneficial email marketing program that would propel them ahead on their desired path.

The FTC Web site has an easy to understand, one page Common Sense Guide to CAN-SPAM. For the creative crowd, let’s look at the FTC’s guidelines one by one and relate them to arts marketing and the “gig announcement email.”

FTC SAYS: No false or misleading header information. Your “From,” “To,” “Reply-To,” and routing information – including the originating domain name and email address – must be accurate and identify the person or business who initiated the message.

BEV SAYS: You know those emails you get from your own email address? But its really about fake Rolex watches or pharmaceuticals? When you look at the email header you’ll see that its actually coming from somewhere else entirely. Like Russia. Just last month the man known as the “Russian SPAM King” was arrested in Las Vegas. We’ll see if that helps.

But this guideline also applies to the rest of us. Thank you to all the people who care enough about privacy to use the “BCC” line when sending mass emails from your regular email client. The worst offense, IMHO, is the email that exposes dozens of email addresses in the “to” line. I was once openly cc’d on a mass email that included Janice Ian. It’s not against the law, but please don’t do that. Also be aware that when you use the BCC line and especially when you send email to “undisclosed recipients,” you’re sending up a red flag for junk mail filters.

If you do choose to send email from your desktop or Web based client please don’t make your recipients guess who you are. I’m not kidding. I get announcement emails from “Deb” and “Megan” and “Paul.” I know dozens of Debs and at least 3 Megans and a few Pauls as well. Worse yet, are the ones that haven’t set a “real name” in their email client so the email comes from something like “musicboy324@aol.com.”

Sorry Music Boy, I’m not coming to your gig.

No deceptive subject lines. The subject line must accurately reflect the contents of the message.
Identify that the message is an ad. The law gives you a lot of leeway in how to do this, but you must disclose clearly and conspicuously that your message is an advertisement.

BEV SAYS: This one isn’t all that hard. Most of us aren’t trying to hide the fact that we’d love our fans and followers to come to a music or arts event. Don’t over think it.

Tell recipients where you’re located. Your message must include your address. This can be your current street address, a post office box you’ve registered with the U.S. Postal Service, or a private mailbox you’ve registered with a commercial mail receiving agency established under Postal Service regulations.

BEV SAYS: Get a PO Box or a box at your local UPS store. You’re behaving like a business, so you are a business. Embrace it.

Tell recipients how to “opt out.” Your message must include a clear and conspicuous explanation of how the recipient can opt out of getting email from you in the future. Craft the notice in a way that’s easy for an ordinary consumer – not just your general counsel – to recognize, read, and understand. Creative use of type size, color, and location can improve clarity. Give a return email address or another easy Internet-based way to allow them to communicate their choice to you. You may create a menu to allow a recipient to opt out of certain types of messages, but you must include the option to stop all commercial messages from you.

BEV SAYS: This is where so many musicians and volunteer presenters fall short. If you’re sticking with your email client and BCC messages, then add the line “if you would prefer not to receive future emails from us, please reply to this message with “unsubscribe” in the subject line.” And then actually do it, and let it go. Most of the time it’s not personal, it could be that they don’t want the type of information coming to that particular email account. It’s a good idea to give them an alternative way to update their preferences to give you an alternate email address.

When you use a commercial email marketing service this unsubscribe and update feature is included, and its automatic. You don’t have to worry about maintaining it yourself. Keeping a tidy list means fewer bounces, and a better chance that the people you are reaching are the ones who want to hear from you… your target market.

What’s more important than providing an unsubscribe option is NOT adding people to your list from industry directories – or emails you’ve harvested from others who didn’t use the BCC line.  It doesn’t build good will, and its not worth it. You’re much better off building a list of people who are genuinely interested in hearing from you. I can’t’ tell you how often I’m added to an artist’s list because my name is in the directory of Folk Alliance or FAR-West attendees. Its not endearing, really.

Honor opt-out requests promptly. The law gives you 10 business days to honor a consumer’s opt-out request.  Once people have told you they don’t want to receive more messages from you, you can’t sell or transfer their email addresses to other marketers.

BEV SAYS: Enough said.

“This means you!” CAN-SPAM makes clear – and recent FTC cases have further established – that you can’t “contract away” your responsibilities by hiring another company to handle your email marketing. Under the law, both the company whose product is promoted in the message and the company that actually sent the message may be held legally responsible. The good news is that compliance is easy; the bad news is that at $16,000 a violation, non-compliance is pricey. What’s more, the penalties skyrocket for certain aggravated violations – like email address “harvesting” and “dictionary attacks” – and may even include prison time for serious offenders.

BEV SAYS: The lesson for musicians and artists is that while you may want to farm out administrative tasks so you can concentrate on your creative process, you absolutely MUST understand and direct every aspect of your business. A musician friend told me she lamented to her hairdresser about how busy she was, and the hairdresser replied ” but you’re a musician… it’s not like you have a REAL job.” My musician friend said “no, it’s like I have FIVE real jobs.”

So how do you manage this very important piece of your business plan?

I’m going to approach this a bit backwards. First let’s look at your options for sending out large quantities of email:

1. Keep your emails in the address book of your Outlook, Yahoo or GMail accounts and send BCC emails. (not recommended)
2. Use a Yahoo or Google Group, or create your own announcement list with MailMan. (a bit outdated – people don’t like being forced to have a Yahoo or Google account just to hear from you.)
3. Use a free email management system like Fan Reach from ReverbNation. (better… but you’ll look exactly like thousands of other independents who use it. Besides, I always say you get what you pay for.)
4. Use a credible email marketing program like Constant Contact, Mail Chimp, My Emma, My Newsletter Builder, Vertical Response … there are many out there. (Best idea, you’ll also gain the ability to learn more about your audience)

So if the best idea is to use an email marketing program, yes, that means you’ll have to pay for it. It also means you’ll have some control over the level of service you receive. When you use free services, you get little in the way of support, control or recourse if the system goes down.

We’re talking about the platform you’re using to communicate with your most precious asset, your customers. This is an important investment in your relationship with those who support your ability to do what you love, after all.

And now that you’ve decided to invest in quality relationship building, its time to understand the ins and outs of how to build a list of fans and followers who want to hear from you. Then, you’ll want to build a plan for nurturing those relationships.

And guess what? That’s email marketing at its best.

Marketing, you say? But I’m an artist!

I’m creating a workshop geared toward helping musicians and artists get over their fear of marketing.

Maybe it’s the word “marketing” that makes it seem so sinister to most creatives. The funny thing is, the marketing discipline itself is an extremely creative function. Marketing was my primary creative outlet for the first 15 years of my adult life and I still love it. When planned and executed properly it’s all about relationship building, and understanding that your job is to make it easy for your audience to find you, know you and love you. They deserve that, because what you’re offering can fill their souls and change their lives for the better.

If you had an hour with a marketing expert who understood your creative drive, what would you want to learn more about? Email marketing? Building relationships? Finding your audience? Social media? Blogging? What to provide promoters? Working with the media? Something else?

I’d love to hear about it…