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#70 · Info products vs agencies in 2025 (& why I do both)

youtube ↗Cold Email

How can I ensure my automation scraping social media platforms complies with GDPR and other regulations when selling to European clients?

Great question. I'm not a lawyer, so this isn't legal advice, but I've thought through the risk-reward balance. Regulations like GDPR, CAN-SPAM, and similar laws worldwide mainly target large-scale spammers sending millions of junk emails a day. They're less likely to go after someone sending a few hundred highly personalized, value-first outreach emails, especially when the data comes from LinkedIn where users have implicitly consented to being contacted. My personal litmus test is similar to wearing a helmet while ice skating: if you're not experienced, extra precautions help, but they can become cumbersome. I've found that targeting European markets works fine if you play it by ear and accept the risk; otherwise, focusing on the U.S. market avoids most regulatory hassle, pays more, and lets you scrape freely.

gdprscrapingcompliancecold email

Related answers

youtube ↗AI & Automation

What are the legal and privacy concerns of automating tasks like sending emails, scraping web pages, and connecting APIs, especially regarding terms of service and potential fines in the EU, Canada, US, and elsewhere?

The laws governing automation in the EU are essentially the same as those in Canada, the US, Australia and other British Commonwealth nations; there’s no major fundamental difference. The issue is that the laws are written vaguely, and people tend to apply that vagueness to themselves. When you automate systems you inevitably connect APIs, scrape web pages, and do other things that violate the terms of service of the websites and businesses you work with—scrapers are generally disliked, and while agents are changing things a bit, the basic reality remains. It’s similar to jaywalking: if you examined every law in your jurisdiction you’d likely find you’re breaking some rule somewhere. I’m not telling anyone to break the law, and I’m not a lawyer, so I can’t give legal advice. All I can share is my own experience, which has always been a risk‑to‑reward calculation.

legalityprivacyautomationterms-of-service
youtube ↗Marketing

What is the GDPR equivalent in Canada?

There is a GDPR equivalent in basically every major country. In Canada it’s the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). It specifically covers email communications, and you need clear opt‑in mechanisms and proper consent. I’m not a lawyer, so this isn’t legal advice, but it’s the main privacy law you’d need to follow.

gdprcanadaprivacy
youtube ↗Lead Generation

How do you solve client acquisition for B2C businesses (e.g., travel agencies, med spas) when lead scraping tools target B2B data, and should you use a marketing agency instead?

It's a great question; many in Maker School ask about cold emailing med spas, which is odd because you'd be emailing soccer moms. I focus on B2B because businesses put personal info on platforms like LinkedIn, making scraping easy—LinkedIn forces work experience and company URLs, letting you scrape URLs and emails (e.g., Nick@leftclick.ai). B2C data is harder to get and lower‑ticket, so I avoid B2C. For B2C outreach you need ads (PPC, Facebook, Google) to attract interest, then capture leads. My experience with B2C is either running PPC for them or helping them run PPC, then building systems to capitalize (speed‑delete systems). Alternatively, reframe the B2C as B2B: position the med spa to offer corporate discounts to businesses, then target those businesses via LinkedIn scraping. For example, search LinkedIn for med spas, get the business URL, extract an email like Ryan@viomedspa.com, and pitch a corporate package discount instead of direct consumer sales. This turns a B2C problem into a B2B one, enabling scraping. Solving B2C client acquisition is non‑trivial.

leadgenb2bb2cscraping