5 Legal Requirements Every Email Newsletter Must Have

You may not know it, but there are a number of things that are legally required in every email newsletter that you send out. While most email services automatically address these, it's still important to know what they are and why they're enforced in the first place.

Here are the 5 legal requirements that every email newsletter must have, which have been excerpted from my Social Media Promotion For Musicians book

"While it may seem that it’s entirely up to you about what’s contained in your email, be aware that every mass email blast that you send now requires several things by law. These are:

1. Easy opt-out: You have to provide an easy way for subscribers to unsubscribe if they want. Once a subscriber opts out, you then have 10 days to stop sending them messages (although most expect it to happen immediately), and the unsubscribe option needs to be available for at least 30 days after the e-mail is sent. Most ESPs will automatically remove the address to a “do not send” list if the subscriber chooses to unsubscribe.

2. Identify your topic: The subject line of your e-mails has to clearly and accurately identify the content of the e-mail. Any misleading or bogus subject lines are construed as spam.

3. Return address: You have to include a legitimate return email address, as well as a valid postal address. Some ESPs even make you include a phone number. If you don’t want people to know your home info (I don’t want to broadcast it myself), open up a PO box, and get a Google Voice number if a phone number is required.

4. No email address harvesting: You can’t collect addresses from chat rooms, discussion forums, or blog comments. Once again, people must opt-in and give you permission to send something to them.

5. You can’t offer a reward for forwarding: You can invite subscribers to “forward this newsletter to a friend,” but you can’t entice them to do so with offers of money, coupons, discounts, awards, or additional entries in a giveaway. 

Remember that spam is a serious business. It’s not only bad form, but you could be held legally liable as well."

You can read more from Social Media Promotion For Musicians and my other books on the excerpt section of bobbyowsinski.com.

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5 Tips To Get Bloggers To Write About Your Music

It used to be that just one good review in a magazine could sell loads of albums. Even a bad review could be really good for business if it was in a publication like Rolling Stone.

That's all changed since magazine reviews have become pretty irrelevant as the music world has moved online. Now its the music blogs like Pitchfork or Stereogum that can make the difference not so much in sales, but visibility to a new audience.

Sometimes those larger blogs are tough to break through, but the smaller bloggers still provide more of a one on one chance to state your case.

But how do you approach bloggers in the first place? There really is a right and wrong way to do it, so here are 5 tips to get a blogger interested enough in what you're doing to actually post about it.

1. Read the blog for a while to become familiar with the theme and feel. You can turn the blogger off completely by sending something cold without knowing the backstory of the blog.

2. Make some post comments without any overt marketing. Just try to move the conversation along on a few posts. The idea is for the blogger to recognize you as someone who contributes regularly and adds to the conversation. 

3. Only after the blogger becomes familiar with you is it safe to reach out about what you’re doing. If you're a regular reader and contributor, the blogger is much more likely to read a press release or take a listen to your music. 

4. Sometimes asking a question about your project gets a response. While many bloggers are too busy to answer every email, many go out of their way to accommodate a regular reader and contributor. As a result, it's perfectly okay to follow up after you've sent something to the blogger and there's a good chance he'll answer. 

5. Never hard sell, just inform. Hard sell is a turnoff in general. Don't do it. It's okay to state the relevant information, but keep the superlatives like "Best band ever!" out of the equation.

If you want additional tips and tricks about promoting yourself or your music online, check out my Social Media Promotion for Musicians book. You can read excerpts at bobbyowsinski.com.

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Chuck D's 5 Tips For Music Industry Survival

Chuck D has been one of the most influential rappers ever, acting as a spokesperson for the state of the urban black man through his powerful lyrics in Public Enemy. In a series of tweets, Chuck lays out his tips for music industry survival. These apply to everyone trying to make it in the business.

Rule #1: Don't let other people's money distort your goals. Their shit has nothing to do with you. Be thankful and work with what you got. 

Rule #2: Don't spend more than you make.What you don't know you'll have to partner up or pay for. What you save is what you make. 

Rule #3: Celebrity and artists are two different things. You can be a celeb, but that's like winning the lottery. Make yourself valuable to something. 

Rule #4: It's easy to make recordings now but learn how to perform your art very well. So well that when people see you they undeniably have no words. 

Rule #5: Always top yourself. Put the AWE in audience. If the crowd feels they can do better than you, why would they take the time and money to be bothered?

Sadly, Public Enemy seems to have fallen out of fashion these days, as boasting about how great you are seems to top social commentary. Still, Chuck's words about the music business are wise and worth taking heed.

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5 Tips For Fan Motivation

The other day I spotted a nice post on Hypebot regarding turning your fans into marketers. It came from Sanjay Dholakia, CEO of Crowd Factory, who posted about motivating your fans in such a way that they become guerrilla marketers for your brand. "How To Turn Your Superfans Into Guerrilla Marketers," written by Dholakia, is a quick intro to the concept of the "superfan" or "your tribe" and how they will market for you if they're rewarded appropriately.

In brief, these are his 5 tips for superfan motivation (my take in italics):

1. Offer exclusive content. This can be behind-the-scenes videos, song remixes or outtakes, special invites to shows or after-show parties, or any number of other possibilities. The fact of the matter is, a true fan loves even the smallest detail, and that can be used to your advantage.

2. Raise the rewards as sharing increases. The more the fan markets for you, the more he/she is rewarded, which increases the motivation yet again.

3. Provide a platform for expression and reward that activity. This is necessary for growing your tribe. Your fans need a forum both to talk to you and to each other.

4. Recognize loyalty with prizes and public status. A shout out from stage, on a blog, tweet, Facebook post or just about anywhere else goes a long way to maintaining that loyalty.

5. Help them do good. Help your fans give and volunteer for a good cause.

The first four items are points that I have espoused both on this blog and in my book, Music 3.0: A Survival Guide For Making Music In The Internet Age. They're the basis for the tribal concept of fans as set out by Seth Godin, and are necessary to maintaining and growing any fan base. The 5th point is new in that it also adds a charity element to the others. People enjoy giving to and volunteering for good causes, which can add extra luster to your brand that can go beyond the benefits of the other 4 points.

Follow these simple tips and you'll find that not only will you keep your fans, but they'll help recruit even more for you. 

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Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

You should follow me on Twitter for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

Check out my Big Picture blog for daily discussion of music, recording, and production tips and tricks.