Can I send out e-mails, without it being considered spam?

Hi Everyone,
I remember reading somewhere that you are able to e-mail someone one time with an offer, advertisement, etc...I was just reminded of this when I just received an e-mail inviting me to join an online Christian business community which has just launched (and which I didn't give my e-mail address to.) I was looking to sign up with AWeber the other day, and it looks like they strongly disapprove of any unsolicited e-mails whatsoever. I really would like to be able to e-mail a list of churches, youth groups, Christian schools, to let them know about my business, but don't want to be reported for "spam". I'm ready to take my business to the next level, and feel that reaching out through e-mails is a very important part of that. I do have some people sign up for my mailing list, but nowhere near the amount of people I need to reach. I have also just started a very simple affiliate program for churches and Christian schools, and would like to be able to get the word out, no pun intended, LOL! Please help me by letting me know exactly what I can and cannot do, also, if anyone can suggest an e-mail program that would be great too. Thanks so much for any help, and I hope everyone enjoys the Super Bowl today!

Faith

Faith... A good place to start is by knowing the law: CAN-SPAM ACT

I would think that as long as you are not being deceptive and are truly offering something of value, as well as an opt-out selection, that you could likely do some mailings.

The difficulty arises if and/or when some of your recipients complain to either the FTC and/or your host. Worse case, the FTC can file criminal charges and/or your host can cancel your account.

Thanks Seo_AM,
Hopefully It would never become a worst case scenario, I'm going to start writing some nice, straightforward e-mails, then pray that many, many churches will link to me, buy from me, etc...

Faith

You could always become a jail-house minister.

In your case I would not worry too much about anyone getting upset.

Very funny LOL!

Faith

It might be best to discuss this with your web hosting company before sending out your emails.

The thing is, you WILL end up on several spam blacklists. There's just no getting around this. The bad part is that if you are on a shared hosting server, everyone else on that server will be penalized by your mailing, because your IP is also theirs, which means that THEY are also on numerous blacklists, and their legitimate emails will be blocked from being received by many ISP's.

By talking to your host first, you may be able to avoid all of this by placing your site on a dedicated server or VPS.

Larry Dozier