The hype surrounding the impact of this legislation has died down, but the importance of complying will never go away, as long as this law stays in effect. Most marketers are aware of the law, but anyone responsible for the operations of email marketing should have all aspects of this law down pat.

One of the most frequent questions we get at BrightWave Marketing from clients and prospects is "Can you make sure we are CAN-SPAM Compliant?" Most clients want to make sure they are compliant but don't care to know the specifics.

However, the basics of compliance are fairly easy and essential to review and audit on an ongoing basis, so we can't leave it out of the annual audit components.

If you have not already done so (and you really should), sign up for some of your company's emails with personal accounts and go through the motions as a recipient would to make sure you truly are CAN-SPAM compliant in practice, not just in theory.

This is what you need to check for:

Accurate From and header information. Make sure you have an accurate from line -- your company, your CEO or something or someone that is valid and recognizable by the folks who opted in to receive your emails. You might as well use this as a time to also reconsider the From Line strategically as well. Does this drive open rates? Additionally, is the email address a standard and valid one in the From line? A safe bet is newsletters@company.com or customerservice@company.com.

Clear subject lines. Does this subject line reflect what is in the body of the email? You want to ensure (and enforce) that the subject lines are not deceptive in any shape or form. For example, don't even tease with a promotional offer if the email does not include any promotions. This also is one the most important aspects of engaging readers and prompting them to open and read your email.

Provide recipients a clear and working opt-out method -- and one that actually removes unsubscribe requests promptly. Go ahead and actually unsubscribe one of your accounts and keep track that you do not receive an email again outside of the 10 days that are allowed for unsubscribe removals. I know I often receive emails from companies I have unsubscribed from well after the 10 day grace period. Be sure that this is not the case for your emails.

Identify commercial email as an advertisement or business solicitation. This is a touchy one and a part of the CAN-SPAM Act that is often not followed. If your primary goal of the email is to sell, then you should consider it an ad. If it is dual purposed and the email seems to have a majority of the content devoted to commercial/sales purposes, consider it an ad. If you are not sure if your email is considered an ad, include the disclosure to be on the safe side of the law.

Include a valid physical postal address. This should be the easiest thing within the CAN-SPAM Act to implement. Amazingly, this is one that many companies fail to include. If your company has multiple locations, include the headquarters address. The FTC has said PO Boxes are acceptable at this time.

Finally, remember that it's illegal for you to sell or transfer the email addresses of people who have opted out, even in the form of a mailing list, unless you transfer the addresses so another entity can comply with the law.