Sending tips: email and text that land, and stay legal
A practical guide for people who follow up one-to-one. Last reviewed October 2026. This is general information, not legal advice. Rules change and vary by state, so check with an attorney for your situation.
Why ProspecTrak keeps you in the safest laneProspecTrak never sends anything for you. You send each message yourself, from your own inbox or phone, to people you've talked to. That's one-to-one outreach, which carries far less risk than mass blasts from a texting platform or email tool. The rules below still apply, so read on.
1. Email that reaches the inbox
- Send from your real business mailbox (Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, etc.), not a free Gmail or Yahoo address, and never a bulk tool for one-to-one follow-ups.
- Make sure your domain is authenticated. Ask whoever set up your email to confirm SPF, DKIM and DMARC are in place. Gmail, Yahoo and Microsoft all check these now, and Gmail began rejecting non-compliant mail outright in November 2025.
- Keep it short and plain. A few sentences, written like a person. One link (your ProspecTrak link), no attachments, no big images. Plain text beats designed newsletters for follow-ups.
- Use their name and their company. The templates in ProspecTrak fill these in for you. Personal emails get opened and don't get flagged.
- Write an honest subject line. No fake "Re:" or "Fwd:", no ALL CAPS, no "FREE!!!".
- Go slow. A few dozen personal emails a day from one mailbox is normal. Hundreds a day of near-identical emails from a new mailbox looks like spam to the filters.
- Watch your complaints. If more than about 1 in 1,000 people mark you as spam, inbox placement drops. Gmail treats 0.3% as a hard line. Email people who expect to hear from you.
- Clean bad addresses. If an email bounces, fix it or remove it. Lots of bounces hurt your sender reputation.
- Follow up two or three times, then stop. Your call sheet shows who opened. If someone never opens after a few tries, give them space.
About open trackingEmail security scanners and link previews sometimes "click" links automatically. ProspecTrak filters known scanners and previews so they don't count as opens. If you see an open seconds after sending, it may still be a scanner, so look for repeat opens or a button click before you call.
2. Email rules (CAN-SPAM)
The federal CAN-SPAM Act covers commercial email in the US, including business-to-business email. The essentials:
- Use an accurate From name and email address, and a subject line that matches what's inside.
- Include your business's valid physical postal address (a P.O. box or registered mailbox works).
- Tell people how to opt out (a line like "Reply 'no thanks' and I won't email you again" works for one-to-one follow-ups) and honor it within 10 business days.
- If the email is an advertisement, it shouldn't pretend to be something else.
- You're responsible for email sent on your behalf, including by an assistant or team member.
Tip: put your address and opt-out line in your email signature once, and every message you send from ProspecTrak's templates is covered.
3. Texting rules that apply to everyone
Do
- Text people you've actually talked to, or who gave you their number.
- Say who you are and your company in the first text.
- Text during business hours in their time zone. Federal rules limit solicitations to 8am to 9pm, and some states are stricter. 9am to 7pm is a safe habit.
- Honor any opt-out right away, in whatever words they use ("stop", "no thanks", "don't text me"). Since April 2025 federal rules say any reasonable way of opting out counts, and you have 10 business days to honor it. Mark them Not interested in ProspecTrak so nobody on your team texts them again.
Don't
- Buy or scrape lists of cell numbers and text them.
- Paste the same message to dozens of people in a few minutes. Carriers watch for that pattern and filter or block it, even from a personal phone.
- Text late at night or very early, even to people you know.
- Keep texting after someone asks you to stop.
Texting at volume? That's a different setup.If you send texts through a platform (not your own phone), US carriers require your business and use case to be registered (called A2P 10DLC). Unregistered traffic gets filtered or blocked. ProspecTrak's copy-and-send-from-your-phone approach is for one-to-one follow-up, not campaigns.
4. Texting consumers (B2C)
Homeowners, open-house visitors, network-marketing prospects and anyone else contacted as an individual.
- Marketing texts sent with automated or mass-texting tools require the person's prior express written consent. That's a clear, signed (or e-signed) agreement to get marketing texts from you. A one-to-one text you type or paste and send yourself is lower risk, but it's still marketing, so get permission first: "Can I text you that link?" works.
- The National Do Not Call Registry covers cell phones. Don't cold-text people you don't know.
- States add their own rules. Florida, Oklahoma, Texas and others have "mini-TCPA" laws that cover texts. Texas began treating texts as telephone solicitations in 2025, and Florida limits them to 8am to 9pm. If you text people in other states, their state's rules apply.
- When someone gives you their number at an event, on a sign-in sheet or by scanning your QR code and reaching out, keep a note of how and when. ProspecTrak's notes field is a good place.
5. Texting businesses (B2B)
- Email first, text second. Email the business, then text once they've replied, you've met, or they've given you their cell.
- A business owner's cell is often a personal number too. When you're not sure, treat it like a consumer number and follow the B2C rules above.
- Main office lines are generally better for calls than texts, and many can't receive texts at all.
- Cold-texting a business owner's cell you found online is the riskiest thing on this page. Don't make it your strategy.
6. Door hangers, cards and QR codes
- A QR code doesn't need consent: the person chooses to scan it. That's what makes door hangers and cards such a clean channel.
- Never put hangers or flyers in or on a mailbox. Federal law reserves mailboxes for postage-paid mail. Use the door handle.
- Respect "No soliciting" signs, gated communities and HOA rules, and check your city's rules on door-to-door solicitation.
- When a homeowner scans and then calls or texts you first, you're replying to them. That's the best kind of lead.
7. What not to put on your page
- No income claims ("make $5,000 a month"). The FTC watches these closely, especially in network marketing.
- No health or cure claims for products.
- No fake urgency or fake reviews. Real deadlines and real customer quotes only.
- Your company's own compliance rules still apply on top of these.
Sources
FTC: CAN-SPAM Act compliance guide · Gmail, Yahoo and Microsoft sender requirements (MailReach, 2026) · FCC consent revocation rules (Kelley Drye) · State-level TCPA updates, 2025–2026 (Byte Back) · SMS marketing rules in 2026 (Insider One) · A2P 10DLC overview (Twilio) · FCC one-to-one consent rule overturned (Mondaq)
General information only, not legal advice. Last reviewed October 2026.