Everybody and their mom (well, maybe not their mom) is talking about GDPR compliance. Let’s start here: I’m not an attorney. This email isn’t giving formal advice at ALL and is intended to clarify the way you can understand concept of web compliance in general.
First, there’s tons of things you can be compliant with – and an attorney will tell you which parts of the alphabet soup you should care most about…
- GDPR – The latest and most famous right now.
- CAN-SPAM – This is technically not an in-force law, but everyone should be CAN-SPAM compliant.
- CISPA – This is, I think, Canada’s version of CAN-SPAM.
- PCI – This is a type of compliance that’s required of certain payment gateways and web softwares for online checkouts.
- HIPAA – This compliance comes up a lot for any type of business that deals a lot with sensitive information (think doctors, etc.) My best takeaway about web compliance to increase transparency across the board.
Transparency, after all, is all a part of the whole like, know, and trust thing – you know?
For my business, transparency shows up a few ways…
#1 – SET EXPECTATIONS AT THE BEGINNING.
I clearly telling people that when they download my free video that they also get subscribed to my email list where I send updates via email.
#2 – HAVE TERMS & CONDITIONS ON YOUR WEBSITE.
I’m not forcing you to do this, but it’s totally the right thing to do. My friend Bobby Klinck is an Intellectual Property Attorney who helps entrepreneurs like us – he has a free guide “The Ultimate Website Guide: The 3 Key Policies You Need To Protect Your Online Hub.” I highly recommend downloading this here – it’ll give you the groundwork for what you need to know.
#3 – FILL INFORMATION GAPS.
For me, every time there’s a miscommunication between me and my client, I find out what that is, and then I find a way to make sure it’s communicated to all people in the future. Should you update your Service Agreement? Maybe! (Definitely.) So if miscommunications ever happen in your business, how can you go out of your way to give people that information? Think of your service like a cereal box. Cheerios isn’t excluding certain Nutrition Facts. (Unless there’s a Cheerios scandal I’m unaware of…) Anyway, what you see is pretty much what you get when you sign up and buy a box. What are the Nutrition Facts of your product or service, and how can you be send the message more clearly?
#4 – ESPECIALLY FOR VIRTUAL SERVICES – MEASURE YOUR VALUE.
For my hourly clients, we actually track every minute of work done on a team level in Freshbooks. So, at any given moment, my clients can simply log in to see how time is being spent. For monthly clients, you should track accomplishments or measure success to show your value. Measuring your value will improve your client retention and, simultaneously, build some of that trusty trust.
#5 – DON’T BE AFRAID TO SHOW A LITTLE LEG.
I take extra steps to be personal with my clients. Sometimes, it’s TMI – like that time I got a stomach flu mid-podcast recording on Danielle Klemm’s show and I tweeted about it. ??? But sometimes, it’s genuinely because I want you to feel like you know me. My quirks tell a lot about who I am – so you shouldn’t shy away from showing your many sides to your clients either.
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