1 00:00:10,660 --> 00:00:15,120 Welcome back to another episode of On Your Terms with Sam Vander Wielen. 2 00:00:15,130 --> 00:00:24,520 This is Sam's Marketing Manager, Margo, here to tell you that today we're bringing you an amazing episode with Sam from our Content Archives at Sam Vander Wielen LLC. 3 00:00:24,640 --> 00:00:33,910 We hope you enjoy this short and sweet episode and we'll be back with our regularly scheduled programming of On Your Terms in a few weeks once Sam is back from her time away. 4 00:00:33,940 --> 00:00:35,440 Enjoy the episode. 5 00:00:39,860 --> 00:00:48,530 Hey there, and welcome to this super quick training all about four easy tips that you can implement right away to make sure that you're sending legally legit emails. 6 00:00:48,950 --> 00:00:58,730 So, I get a lot of questions from you guys about what you need to have in your emails, what you need to have in your email service, whether you use MailChimp, or ConvertKit, AWeber, or anything 7 00:00:58,730 --> 00:01:05,030 similar. And you want to make sure that you're sending emails legally because you might have heard of some email laws. 8 00:01:05,030 --> 00:01:08,270 Like in the United States, the CAN-SPAM Act. 9 00:01:08,270 --> 00:01:16,700 Or the GDPR from the European Union, that require you to send emails in a legal way, because otherwise you can actually face hefty fines. 10 00:01:16,700 --> 00:01:20,680 And those hefty fines are not just meant for big, big companies. 11 00:01:20,680 --> 00:01:26,240 They can also be for small companies if you don't do a couple of things the right way. 12 00:01:26,240 --> 00:01:30,230 However, it is super, super easy to make sure that you're sending legally legit emails. 13 00:01:30,770 --> 00:01:40,760 So, I thought today I'd share with you the four biggest and fastest tips to make sure that you are sending legally legit emails so that we can avoid any of those concerns about hefty fees 14 00:01:40,760 --> 00:01:48,560 and fines, and make sure that people don't complain about you to your email service because that affects your deliverability rate. 15 00:01:48,560 --> 00:01:53,660 So, with that, in case we haven't met already, I'm Sam Vander Wielen, attorney turned entrepreneur. 16 00:01:53,660 --> 00:02:03,410 And I help online coaches and service providers legally protect and grow their online businesses using my DIY legal templates and my Ultimate Bundle 17 00:02:03,410 --> 00:02:12,920 program. And in that Ultimate Bundle program, one of the things that I teach people is how to properly, not only set up their email marketing system, but also make sure they're sending legally 18 00:02:12,920 --> 00:02:14,630 legit emails. 19 00:02:14,630 --> 00:02:16,790 So, with that, let's hop into tip number one. 20 00:02:16,790 --> 00:02:19,890 This one is pretty obvious, you probably know this already. 21 00:02:19,890 --> 00:02:27,560 But tip number one is about making sure that you have that unsubscribe link at the bottom of every single email that you send to your email list. 22 00:02:28,010 --> 00:02:35,300 Now, it's not just about having that unsubscribe button, it's also about making sure that it actually works. 23 00:02:35,300 --> 00:02:44,870 So, although you don't need to be hawk eyeing your email list all the time and making sure that every single person who requests to unsubscribe is unsubscribed, 24 00:02:45,560 --> 00:02:55,220 if a problem comes to your attention, you find out that somebody has been unsubscribing from your email list but they're still receiving it, or if you see that people are complaining 25 00:02:55,220 --> 00:03:02,870 about your emails to your email service, then that would be cause for concern and that would be something that you would look into. 26 00:03:02,870 --> 00:03:11,720 You would probably just coordinate with ConvertKit or MailChimp or whoever that you're using to make sure that they are actually unsubscribing. 27 00:03:11,720 --> 00:03:21,590 This is also a good argument for why you actually use an email service and don't try to build an email list and send out an email independently on your own because it would just 28 00:03:21,590 --> 00:03:23,420 be too hard to keep track of. 29 00:03:23,420 --> 00:03:28,550 So, make sure that you have that unsubscribe link and make sure that it actually works. 30 00:03:28,550 --> 00:03:30,470 And I wanted to give you a little bonus tip with this one. 31 00:03:30,470 --> 00:03:40,340 One thing that I think is really helpful is that when you're sending out emails to people that you make sure that when the unsubscribe link is at the bottom, you can give a little context that says 32 00:03:40,340 --> 00:03:43,170 like, "Hey, wondering why you're receiving this email? 33 00:03:43,170 --> 00:03:52,910 It's probably because you signed up for my -" maybe the name of your freebie, or you've signed up for my freebie, or we've worked together, or something like that, "- but you can go ahead and 34 00:03:52,910 --> 00:03:56,270 unsubscribe here," and then have that little link to unsubscribe. 35 00:03:56,270 --> 00:04:06,140 But I think that it's helpful sometimes to give people context just because people do sign up for a lot of emails and they might initially be like, "I never signed up for this." But then, when you give 36 00:04:06,140 --> 00:04:09,950 them some context as to how they did sign up for it, it might ease their concerns. 37 00:04:10,550 --> 00:04:17,880 So, I think that that's always helpful. 38 00:04:17,880 --> 00:04:22,300 Have you ever felt lost about where to begin with the legal side of protecting your online business? 39 00:04:22,320 --> 00:04:25,860 Some people say you can just wing it at the beginning and get officially set up later. 40 00:04:26,460 --> 00:04:28,200 Not a good idea, by the way. 41 00:04:28,380 --> 00:04:38,220 Whether you're afraid to even start working with clients because you don't want to do something wrong legally and then get in trouble, or your business is growing and you sort of forgot to take care of the legal 42 00:04:38,220 --> 00:04:40,290 pieces, I've got you. 43 00:04:40,290 --> 00:04:43,890 I don't want you to live in fear of the internet police coming after you and your business. 44 00:04:43,890 --> 00:04:50,580 But you do have to do certain things and get certain things in place in order to legally and safely run your business online. 45 00:04:50,610 --> 00:04:57,180 As much as it just feels like an unregulated, wild, wild west online, that is very much not the case. 46 00:04:57,180 --> 00:05:02,230 As an attorney turned entrepreneur and former corporate litigator, I can assure you that there are rules. 47 00:05:02,230 --> 00:05:07,660 There are real steps that everybody who runs or starts an online business needs to take. 48 00:05:07,660 --> 00:05:09,330 And you're not behind at all. 49 00:05:09,330 --> 00:05:11,760 We can get you set up and following the rules right away. 50 00:05:11,760 --> 00:05:13,860 In fact, we can even do it today. 51 00:05:13,860 --> 00:05:18,870 I want to teach you the five very simple steps to take to legally protect and grow your online business. 52 00:05:18,870 --> 00:05:22,500 You don't need an MBA to be a successful entrepreneur and stay out of legal hot water. 53 00:05:23,040 --> 00:05:28,130 But you do need to dot your legal i's and cross your t's in a few key areas that can't be skipped. 54 00:05:28,130 --> 00:05:34,560 That's exactly what I'll teach you in my free one hour legal workshop called Five Steps to Legally Protect and Grow Your Online Business. 55 00:05:34,560 --> 00:05:43,440 Just head to mylegalworkshop.com, drop in your email address, pick the time, and I'll send you a link to watch the workshop video whenever you have time. 56 00:05:43,440 --> 00:05:47,400 This is the best place to begin if you're just getting started legally legitimizing your business. 57 00:05:47,400 --> 00:05:54,120 So, head on over to mylegalworkshop.com and sign up to watch Five Steps to Legally Protect and Grow Your Online Business now. 58 00:05:59,930 --> 00:06:02,440 Okay. So, that's tip number one, the unsubscribe. 59 00:06:02,440 --> 00:06:05,660 Two, is having a working mailing address for your business. 60 00:06:05,660 --> 00:06:10,940 So, this does not have to be the mailing address that you use to register your business or something like that. 61 00:06:10,940 --> 00:06:15,080 It just has to be a place where your business can receive business mail. 62 00:06:15,080 --> 00:06:21,500 So, whether that's your home, if you feel comfortable doing that; if you have an office space, obviously you can use that. 63 00:06:21,500 --> 00:06:22,710 A lot of people use a P.O. 64 00:06:22,710 --> 00:06:30,710 Box, that's what I do for this purpose because my email list is going out to thousands and thousands of people, so I don't necessarily want my address there. 65 00:06:30,890 --> 00:06:37,130 So, P.O. Box, you can get a similar type box at, like, UPS or FedEx store. 66 00:06:37,730 --> 00:06:42,710 Some people who work at co-working spaces can use those as mailing addresses. 67 00:06:42,710 --> 00:06:47,180 Whatever works for you, it just needs to be a working mailing address. 68 00:06:47,180 --> 00:06:54,770 Don't make the address like 123 Fake Street, that is a cause for alarm when it comes to the Can-Spam Act of 2003. 69 00:06:54,770 --> 00:06:57,860 And you can face hefty fines for that. 70 00:06:57,860 --> 00:07:01,040 Tip number three is to have your business name there as well. 71 00:07:01,040 --> 00:07:10,940 So, if you've watched any of my legal trainings in the past, you know I'm a big advocate for making sure that you do everything in the name of your business, because that's how, ultimately, we protect you 72 00:07:10,940 --> 00:07:12,560 as a person. 73 00:07:12,560 --> 00:07:22,250 So, when we register our businesses, we form our businesses, maybe create an LLC, the whole point of doing so is that we separate you and your business so that we keep you and your 74 00:07:22,250 --> 00:07:31,880 personal assets, anything that your personal name is attached to, like a bank account, your house, a car, or something like that, boat maybe, we want to keep that 75 00:07:32,240 --> 00:07:33,800 separate. 76 00:07:33,800 --> 00:07:43,460 And what I'm always talking about is making sure that we are actively taking steps everyday in our business, in our contracts, in our website, and now in our emails to make sure 77 00:07:44,360 --> 00:07:49,490 that people know that these emails are being sent on behalf of your business and not on behalf of you personally. 78 00:07:49,490 --> 00:07:52,440 This isn't like your personal email, personal blog. 79 00:07:52,440 --> 00:08:02,030 So, having your little copyright symbol at the bottom, the copyright, the year, and your business name, maybe just including your business name at the bottom, something like that. 80 00:08:02,030 --> 00:08:05,830 And if you've registered an LLC, having that LLC moniker. 81 00:08:05,830 --> 00:08:13,850 So, mine would say Sam Vander Wielen LLC there on the bottom of the email to make it clear that this is coming from my business and not from me. 82 00:08:14,780 --> 00:08:24,740 Last but definitely not least, the fourth and final tip here for making sure you send legally legit emails, is, making sure that you're only sending them to people who actually asked 83 00:08:24,740 --> 00:08:32,480 for them. So, we're not sending emails to people who, like, randomly emailed us one day, or somebody you met at a conference, or whatever. 84 00:08:32,480 --> 00:08:42,260 I sometimes end up on people's email list where I'm like, "I did not sign up for this at all." And then, I realized I had a very tangential interaction with them and they threw me their email 85 00:08:42,260 --> 00:08:43,730 list and that is not okay. 86 00:08:43,760 --> 00:08:46,880 It instantly puts a bad taste in my mouth. 87 00:08:46,880 --> 00:08:51,800 So, we want to make sure that we are sending these emails only to people who have asked to receive them. 88 00:08:52,070 --> 00:08:56,330 And then, we're making sure, because of tip number one, they can get out of it if they want to. 89 00:08:56,540 --> 00:09:01,400 And we are also only emailing them content that they've asked for as well. 90 00:09:01,400 --> 00:09:04,400 Now, this doesn't mean that you can't talk about other things in your business. 91 00:09:04,670 --> 00:09:14,210 Like, I sell legal templates, but I email out business tips, behind the scenes, personal stories, stories about my journey of leaving the law and becoming an online 92 00:09:14,450 --> 00:09:16,760 entrepreneur. That's okay. 93 00:09:16,760 --> 00:09:26,150 But it wouldn't be okay if I, all of a sudden, started emailing everybody on my email list who signed up to hear about legal tips and business stuff and behind the scenes about 94 00:09:26,690 --> 00:09:33,170 vitamins. If I started telling them like, "You guys have to buy this vitamin," first of all, it's outside my scope of practice. 95 00:09:33,170 --> 00:09:37,450 I'm not qualified to be giving that kind of advice, but it's also not what they signed up for. 96 00:09:37,450 --> 00:09:46,430 So, you want to, generally speaking, sit within your categories and you want to talk about what you can talk about in your email list. 97 00:09:46,430 --> 00:09:49,370 So, just to review. That's the unsubscribe button, number one. 98 00:09:49,370 --> 00:09:53,150 Two is having a working mailing address for your business at the bottom of your email. 99 00:09:53,720 --> 00:09:56,960 Three is having your full business name at the bottom of your email. 100 00:09:56,960 --> 00:10:05,240 And four is sending this email only to those who have asked for it and staying within the content scope that people have signed up for. 101 00:10:05,240 --> 00:10:14,780 If you want to learn more about making sure that you're not only sending legally legit emails, but you're sending legally legit contracts, you're forming your business properly and protecting your content, 102 00:10:14,780 --> 00:10:23,270 getting paid, growing your business, and scaling your legally legit empire, as I call it, then I invite you to learn more about my Ultimate Bundle program. 103 00:10:23,270 --> 00:10:33,080 That is where I offer you ten of my most essential DIY legal templates, like all the contracts and website policies you need, plus access to 23 on-demand video trainings 104 00:10:33,080 --> 00:10:36,560 about everything I just mentioned, including email marketing. 105 00:10:36,560 --> 00:10:43,250 So, I do teach you inside of the Ultimate Bundle much more in-depth how to go through and make sure that you're setting up your email list properly. 106 00:10:43,250 --> 00:10:48,320 You're taking people onto your email list properly so that you don't end up in any legal hot water. 107 00:10:48,320 --> 00:10:58,100 And, of course, there is a GDPR training there to teach you exactly how to set up the GDPR email and the consent that you need and making sure that you have all 108 00:10:58,340 --> 00:11:01,100 the steps in place to legally protect your business. 109 00:11:01,100 --> 00:11:06,680 So, you can head to samvanderwielen.com, my website, to learn more or join my Ultimate Bundle. 110 00:11:06,710 --> 00:11:10,490 You can also browse and shop my DIY legal templates a la carte. 111 00:11:10,730 --> 00:11:12,200 Thanks guys. I'll see you later. 112 00:11:15,660 --> 00:11:18,450 Thanks so much for listening to the On Your Terms podcast. 113 00:11:18,450 --> 00:11:23,120 Make sure to follow on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you like to listen to podcasts. 114 00:11:23,130 --> 00:11:30,120 You can also check out all of our podcast episodes, show notes, links, and more at samvanderwielen.com/podcast. 115 00:11:30,150 --> 00:11:37,140 You can learn more about legally protecting your business and take my free legal workshop, Five Steps to Legally Protect and Grow Your Online Business, at samvanderwielen.com. 116 00:11:39,010 --> 00:11:44,310 And to stay connected and follow along, follow me on Instagram @samvanderwielen, and send me a dime to say 117 00:11:44,310 --> 00:11:54,850 hi. 118 00:11:54,850 --> 00:12:01,330 Just remember that although I am a attorney, I am not your attorney, and I am not offering you legal advice in today's episode. 119 00:12:01,330 --> 00:12:06,100 This episode and all of my episodes are informational and educational only. 120 00:12:06,100 --> 00:12:10,390 It is not a substitute for seeking out your own advice from your own lawyer. 121 00:12:10,390 --> 00:12:13,240 And please keep in mind that I can't offer you legal advice. 122 00:12:13,240 --> 00:12:15,300 I don't ever offer any legal services. 123 00:12:15,300 --> 00:12:18,250 But I think I offer some pretty good information.