VIPPROFITS EMAIL MARKETING GUIDELINES

To ensure the high standard of our and our affiliates marketing practices, we require that you abide by the following email marketing rules. All affiliates have to understand that all communication must be consensual! VIPprofits has a zero-tolerance policy for SPAM.

The guidelines are as follows:

1. The subject line of an e-mail must be honest and not misleading or deceptive.
2. Permission of new subscribers must be opt-in, via an empty checkbox, before mailings commence.
3. A valid return e-mail address and the physical address of the sender should be clearly identified. Marketers are encouraged to use their company or brand names in their domain address and prominently throughout the message.
4. An e-mail should clearly identify the sender and the subject matter at the beginning of the e-mail.
5. All commercial e-mail (except for billing purposes) must provide consumers with a clear and conspicuous electronic option to be removed from lists for future e-mail messages from the sender. The removal process must be easy to find and easy to use.
6. There should be alternative methods for terminating a subscription. Mailing list administrators should make an "out of band" procedure (e.g., an email address to which messages may be sent for further contact via email or telephone) available for those who wish to terminate their mailing list subscriptions but are unable or unwilling to follow standard automated procedures. For example, information on the advertised web site should take into account alternative method.
7. If a company sending commercial e-mail has multiple distinct brands or affiliates, notice and opt-out should be provided based on the likely perspective of the average consumer. Each separate brand or affiliate, as the consumer is likely to perceive it, must offer notice and a process for removal from marketing lists in all commercial e-mails (except for billing purposes).
8. Marketers should not acquire e-mail addresses surreptitiously through automated mechanisms (such as robots or spiders) without the consumer/customer’s informed consent. This includes a prohibition on dictionary attacks or other mechanisms for fabricating e-mail addresses without providing notice and choice to the consumer.
9. Acquired lists must be used for their original purpose. Those who are acquiring fully verified opt-in lists must examine the terms and conditions under which the addresses were originally compiled and determine that all recipients have in fact opted-in to the type mailing list the buyer intends to operate.
10. “Remove” means “remove.” The electronic remove feature must be reliable, functional, and prompt.
11. Undeliverable addresses must be removed from future mailings. Mailing list administrators must ensure that the impact of their mailings on the networks and hosts of others is minimized. One of the ways this is accomplished is through pruning invalid or undeliverable addresses.
12. E-mail lists must not be sold or provided to unrelated third parties unless the owner of the list has provided notice and the ability to be removed from such transfer to each e-mail address on the list. Related third parties include other brands/subsidiaries within the same parent company as well as outside affinity partners as a reasonable consumer is likely to perceive them.
13. A commercial e-mail should contain the sender’s privacy policy, either within the body of the e-mail or via a link.
14. Terms and conditions of address use must be fully disclosed. Mailing list administrators must make adequate disclosures about how subscriber addresses will be used, including whether or not addresses are subject to sale or trade with other parties. Also, conditions of use should be visible and obvious to the potential subscriber. For example, two lines buried deep within a license agreement do not constitute adequate disclosure.

We believe that spam is one of the most significant threats to the future development of the Internet. Spam is an ever-growing problem that needs to be eradicated not just to protect consumers, but brands and businesses as well. If you follow the above guidelines you will achieve greater results since you will invoke greater trust in a potential client.

VIP Profits management

On 16 December 2003, at the federal level in the US, President Bush signed into law a Bill titled ''Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act of 2003'', or the ''CAN-SPAM Act of 2003''. The CAN-SPAM Act requires unsolicited commercial e-mail messages to be labeled (though not by a standard method) and to include opt-out instructions and the sender's physical address. It prohibits the use of deceptive subject lines and false headers in such messages. The FTC is authorized (but not required) to establish a "do-not-email" registry. State laws that require labels on unsolicited commercial e-mail or prohibit such messages entirely are pre-empted, although provisions merely addressing falsity and deception would remain in place. The CAN-SPAM Act takes effect on January 1, 2004.

Download the CAN-SPAM Act 2003 (PDF)