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Guides / Starting a business / Pre-send checklist

What you need before you send your first marketing email.

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Hitting send on your first newsletter or launch announcement feels big. Before you broadcast to your list, check these five essentials to protect your domain reputation, stay on the right side of federal rules, and ensure your emails actually get opened.

Check these five requirements before your first broadcast.

  1. Send from your own custom domain name. Never send bulk marketing emails from a free @gmail.com or @yahoo.com address. Free webmail addresses fail DMARC checks when routed through email marketing platforms and land in spam folders. Learn how to connect your domain in our guide to set up SPF, DKIM and DMARC in plain English. [screenshot: Settings panel showing verified custom domain with green status badge]
  2. Add a valid physical postal address to your footer. Under the FTC CAN-SPAM Act compliance guide, every commercial email must include a valid physical postal address. If you run your business from home, you do not have to publish your personal front door: a registered U.S. Post Office box or a private mailbox at a commercial mail receiving agency (such as a UPS Store) fulfills this requirement.
  3. Confirm affirmative permission from every recipient. Every person on your list must have asked to receive marketing updates from you. Never buy an email list, scrape addresses from social media, or add people simply because you traded business cards. Unsolicited marketing emails trigger spam complaints that damage your sending domain permanently.
  4. Include a working, one-click unsubscribe mechanism. The FTC guide requires a clear explanation of how recipients can opt out of future emails. In Hollerpost and other modern email tools, every campaign automatically includes an unsubscribe link that processes opt-outs instantly without making readers log in.
  5. Set up an automatic welcome email. When new subscribers join your list, greet them within minutes while your business is fresh in their minds. A timely welcome email sees higher open rates than any standard newsletter. Copy proven text templates from our welcome email series for new businesses.

You do not need complicated legal boilerplate in your email footer. A friendly, compliant footer only needs three simple elements: why they are getting the message, your postal address, and an unsubscribe link.

Compliant email footer example 
You received this email because you signed up for updates at sunnybakery.com.

Sunny Bakery LLC
123 Main Street, Suite 4B
Oakland, CA 94612

No longer want to receive these emails? Unsubscribe here: {{unsubscribe_url}}

Three common mistakes new businesses make on their first send.

Watch out for these three pitfalls.

  • Importing old personal address books. Just because someone was in your personal Gmail contacts five years ago does not mean they consented to commercial newsletters. Send a personal one-to-one note asking if they would like to join your new announcement list.
  • Sending from a "no-reply" address. Never send your campaigns from no-reply@yourdomain.com. Customer replies are valuable feedback, and receiving inboxes treat active two-way conversation as a strong signal that your emails are wanted.
  • Waiting until your list is large. Do not wait until you have 500 subscribers to send your first message. Sending to your first 15 or 25 subscribers builds your sending habit and warms up your domain gradually.

Ready to send your first marketing email?

Hollerpost handles unsubscribe links, automated welcome emails, and custom domain signing. Send your first campaign for free today.

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