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  • Can CASL become a blessing in disguise?

  • So, I read with a wry smile on my face about the new Canadian Ant-Spam Legislation (CASL) and how many people hate it with a passion.  Don’t get me wrong, I too am not a fan of CASL, however businesses have two options in dealing with it:

    1. Bitch, moan, complain, write letters, lie down and die etc etc – and this may even create a change in the legislation if the feedback becomes strong enough, or
    2. Do something positive to help yourself as a business, owner or executive

    Option one will drain you of positive energy, however if you believe strongly enough in the cause, by all means continue the fight.  There is nothing wrong with that approach, provided that it does not become something that overwhelms you, gets in your way, and prevents you from moving your business forward.

    How to turn CASL into an opportunity

    Option two requires a broader perspective, and one that may challenge you to see the current situation as an opportunity.  An opportunity to see life beyond the world of email as a holy grail, and towards looking for alternative solutions that may help you even more.

    One of the reasons that the legislation has been introduced is because of the excessive volume of emails that enter people’s mailboxes on a daily basis.  In marketing, this can be seen as an over-traded or crowded environment, and since marketing is all about “standing out from the crowd, maybe we should see this as a message – start looking at alternatives that will truly allow you to find ways to stand out from the crowd once more.

    Continuing to email with blind faith is a sure way to extinction, and it is those that grab this opportunity by the throat and find effective and creative ways to cope that will exit the haze that CASL is creating in the best shape.

    Maybe, just maybe, this is our wake-up call as business owners and executives.  When a sailor is faced by a land mass, he does not complain – he looks for ways around the barrier.  So too should we approach this challenge.  Face it head on and find solutions.  The first people that break through will likely create such a dominant lead over those still complaining about the barrier that the complainers will be left in the dust.  You will ultimately unmask the opportunity and make the best of a challenging situation.

    So, ask yourself:

    Am I approaching this issue in a manner that may provide me with an edge in the future, or am I just dealing with the issue to simply cope (or worse, I am just ignoring it)?  Before the advent of digital communication we were all still marketing ourselves and our businesses.  Just like we adapted to the digital world, so too should we be adapting to the challenges that the digital world throws at us, albeit through draconian legislation.

    Marketing strategy is all about finding ways to stand out and be meaningful to your target audience.  Now is the time for you to become a strategist and to find the alternatives that can work for you.  And in your spare time, if you still wish to take up the cause – go for it.  More power to you if you can make this legislation more tolerable.  But don’t allow it to get in your way.  If you only focus on that, the future will pass you by in a flash.

    If you need help in either finding a way to deal with CASL or to identify workable alternatives, feel free to contact me: neville@mastermindsolutions.ca

     

  • 1 comment

    I've already seen a difference in SPAM.

    Reply