This post is provided to you as a resource and does not constitute legal advice. I am not a lawyer, I claim no expertise, I can only tell you what I have been told, and I believe to be true. If you have questions, I suggest that you do contact a lawyer who is familiar with this issue as there are strict laws in Australia about spamming.
What you need
The first step is to go and collect emails, and you need at least 1,000 to make it worthwhile.
The first point
This must be stressed is that you must legally have an unsubscribe option that is easy to use and works appropriately. It must be working for at least 30 days after you sent the email newsletter it must go to the person that authorised the newsletter, and it must be actioned within five (5) days.
Also
It is better that people unsubscribe and you action it rather than they mark your email as spam. If they label it as spam big email suppliers like Microsoft, Google and other spam filter providers, if they see that many people are marking your email newsletter as spam will mark you down in the spam filters, and most of your emails would then be sent directly to the spam folder so they will almost certainly not be read.
So let’s begin
Now my understanding is that if people are your customers that you can send them a newsletter and these people are interested in your products and services, so they are likely to read them.
So the first step is to get a list from your existing client's email addresses into the system.
Please go to cash register reports.
Then go to customers.
Once there select
Customer List (Excel)
Now run the report, and it will give you a listing of your customers and their email addresses. So we have a start.
Add to this list
Run some special offer, a contest, eg a free second change at lotto, a chance at a free cake, and they buy a gift voucher from you, etc. Make them to either drop in their business card which probably will have an email address or fill out a small form with a question that winners will be notified in your email newsletter only and then ask them if they want to subscribe to your upcoming newsletter to find out about more contests.
Also if a person gives you, an email address on a business card, then its okay to send them an email newsletter.
Plus if they are in a business that you supply goods that they require like a tap supplier, you can send an email newsletter to a plumber about taps but a solicitor even though they use taps too in their office, you cannot send without permission.
If you want to know more, here is a list of examples of several scenarios
Overall
Email marketing is the cheapest and one of the most effective forms of advertising you can get.
