Last week, I posted an article that shared an email I send to potential buyers of my domain names. The purpose was to give readers an idea about what to write when contacting potential buyers, but there wasn’t information about email protocol, aside from the marketing advice.

A commenter that goes by unknowndomainer made a comment about the CAN SPAM Act, and I think it’s important enough to highlight in a separate article.

According to Wikipedia, “The CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 (15 U.S.C. 7701, et seq., Public Law No. 108-187, was S.877 of the 108th United States Congress), signed into law by President George W. Bush on December 16, 2003, establishes the United States’ first national standards for the sending of commercial e-mail and requires the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to enforce its provisions.”

People in the US who send commercial emails must abide by this Act or face potential financial penalties. If you are in the US, or if you are sending emails to US-based businesses, I think it’s very important for you to read up on the CAN SPAM Act and be knowledgeable about what you can and cannot do when sending emails.

For me, I generally add a line at the bottom of the email to let the recipient know that it’s a one time hand-sent email and that they weren’t added to any mailing list. In addition, I generally include my company’s mailing address as well, to ensure compliance with the Act.

I am not a lawyer and can’t advise on who needs to abide by the Act or what exactly needs to be included to prevent violations, but you should know about the Act and know what’s in it before you send out emails.

I am always tweaking the emails I individually send to end users, and I want to share the latest iteration. Please keep in mind that I individually send these emails to hand selected recipients who I think would be good prospects for the acquisition. It’s similar to what I do when I want to buy a domain name.

There are a few things to note:

• I try to address the email to the person receiving it (no “Hi,” but “Hi John”).
• I include a link to my website so they can see who I am and that it’s not a scam.
• I add some urgency with the mention of the auction  possibility.
• I don’t list the price so I can receive offers and open a dialog
• Subject is usually [DomainName – Opportunity] or along those lines.

Let me know what you think of the email and if you would change anything.

Update: For the sake of this post, I am discussing the marketing side of selling a domain name rather than the legal aspect of sending emails. I am not an attorney and can’t advise you on legal issues, like the CAN SPAM ACT in the US, or any other legal issue related to sending email in any jurisdiction.

I want to share some advice on finding some great domain names that you can sell (or broker to) an end user buyer . This particular buyer can either be someone you’ve sold a domain name to in the past, or a company that you knows buys domain names based on sales reports or your own personal research.

Be mindful that you really need to know what constitutes a good domain name, must have a good sense of domain valuation, and must be good with communication to be sure that you close a deal and aren’t left with a domain name that isn’t worth what you paid for it.

There are several steps to this, and obviously each is important: