Forum Moderators: rogerd
I run two websites for the same subject through which I have interacted with a large number of people. Many have applied for online consultation in a specific niche area. Most of these people haven't paid online because the payment was on a different page but I have stored their forms.
I've got many of these email address over the last three years. Now I'm considering starting a newsletter around this subject from a third related web site. My query is:
Can I take the liberty of adding all these people to my proposed monthly newsletter? Would it be in line with the generally accepted norms for email marketing? In such a scenario will the forms received by me, with their headers be sufficient evidence that I have interacted with these people? I'm especially concerned since the web site used will be a third one. I don't want to be charged with spamming.
Thank you for your help.
If you go ahead with the mailing, I'd be very clear as to how the recipient can opt in or opt out, preferably with a simple click on a link. (One of my pet peeves is an opt-out link that takes me to a page where I have to enter the email address I want opted out. I've got dozens of email addresses, aliases, and a few catch-all accounts, so unless I do a header analysis of the incoming mail I may have no clue what to enter.)
I don't like newsletters, but if I was into a topic, and had invested some energy into it in the past, I wouldn't be angry for getting sent things, but I would definitely appreciate being told how I got subscribed and why.