CASL: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Are you ready and fully compliant for Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation?

CASL was born in a bid to join the rest of the G8 in helping legislate how businesses and entities send commercial electronic messages (CEMs) throughout Canada. CASL covers all electronic communications between brands and receivers save for fax. But what does the new law mean for your inbound marketing efforts here in Toronto or throughout the country?

Good: Transparency & Global Initiative

Trust lies at the core of any relationship between brand and consumer, and spam is a huge detriment to trust.  Spam can lead to the downfall of an inbound marketing strategy. And this means CASL is, at its core, good for business.

Testing 1, 2, 3: the forgotten key to your Internet marketing success

Testing is the hidden key to your Internet marketing success

I’ve worked on a lot of online marketing initiatives over the past decade or so, working with everyone from 1-person law firms, to big marketing agencies, to some of Canada’s largest corporations. And many have been very successful. But even the most successful campaigns could have been better.

Here’s where I see marketers and agencies missing a huge opportunity for better results from their Internet marketing.

[Read more…]

Are Email Addresses the Real Currency of the Web?

I’ve been thinking about email a lot lately.

Partly, how I use it, but more about how it relates to building an audience.

But, first, a short story.

Over the years, I’ve become somewhat of an email nazi (see link for Seinfeld reference).  When it comes to personal email habits, I’m a big believer in attempting to process your inbox to zero on a regular basis.

As a result, my inbox has become my own little save haven. These days, most of the emails I receive are not junk. (My @gmail account, which is a catch-all account is another story).

Okay, here’s my point. [Read more…]

Web site opt-in: generate converts; not just conversions

The music industry is well known, now, for riding the short bus to the digital future. But where the major labels have been failing, some independent artists have been excelling at online marketing, and often even seasoned digital marketers can learn a thing or two from them.

[Read more…]