tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20873433.post-1153160816832180732006-07-17T18:25:00.000Z2006-11-28T10:00:38.033Z<span style="font-family:arial;">Spam, or unwanted e-mail, has become a real pain in the backside. Run a mail account without some form of spam filter and you could end up with 30-40 e-mails a day trying to sell you the latest alternative to Viagra, a cheap mortgage or, ahem, help your body grow in stature – if you know what I mean! </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">According to the BBC, UK spammers account for less than 2% of all junk e-mails. The vast majority comes from the US. Industry expert Spamhaus estimates that by the summer of 2006 spam will account for 95% of all e-mails sent.<br /><br />But just as spam has become a pain to receive it is also wreaking havoc on legitimate e-mailers who are trying to tell the world about their wares.<br /><br />If you involved in sending any multiply-addressed e-mails, ezines or other electronic newsletters to the outside world it is getting harder and harder to get your message through.<br /><br />But there are a number of ways that you can help yourself.<br /><br /><strong>Use a dedicated mass mailing company</strong><br /> If you are involved in sending out ezines or electronic newsletters the first step is to make sure that you are using a dedicated mass mailing service. Pasting in 300 addresses into Outlook Express and hitting the send button could result in your mail going nowhere.<br /><br />The reason is that mail servers will detect the fact you are sending out 300 e-mails at once, deduce that this is spam and can it.<br /><br />A dedicated service, like </span><a href="http://www.mymailout/"><span style="font-family:arial;">www.mymailout</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;">.com (which we use for the CiB ezine) sends its e-mails out in small batches and is also registered with many mail servers as a legitimate mass mailer. That way, your mail is more likely to get through.<br /><br /><strong>Avoid key word “triggers”<br /></strong> If there is one thing guaranteed to stop your mail getting through it’s using words like “special offer”, “free”, “once in a lifetime opportunity” and the like. Load your ezine or mail with marketese and it will hit the floor. Even the most innocuous e-mails can be stopped, as Scunthorpe City Council discovered - think about it! I have even seen a corporate “profanity filter” reject an e-mail that I was sending, even though there was apparently nothing that should have triggered it. Even the phrase “lap top” has been known to cause mail to go in the spam can – even if you don’t dance with it.<br /><br /><strong>Use a spam checker</strong><br />Although not infallible, you can use either an online or PC-based spam tester to check your content before you send it out. This will check for the above trigger words. Take a look at http://spamcheck.sitesell.com/ or http://www.lyris.com/resources/contentchecker/index.html<br /><br /><strong>Include the name of your ezine in the subject line</strong><br />Even if your mail does get through the spam filter the recipient could delete it on sight. Make it very obvious what it is by including the title in the subject line and the end user is less likely to hit the delete button.<br /><br /><strong>Choose your timing<br /></strong>Think about it. If you come in on a Monday morning and find you have received 100 e-mails over the weekend what are you going to do? Delete the non-essential ones. I prefer to do my mass mailings on a Wednesday, as people are less likely to be taking a day off or have a mountainous in box. I also mail out about 10.30 or 2.30 – away from the “first thing” peak or just after lunch when people might be more accepting of mail.<br /><br />Check to see if your mail includes other e-mail or web addresses that belong to known spammers<br />This can trip you up – go to </span><a href="http://www.dnsstuff.com/"><span style="font-family:arial;">http://www.dnsstuff.com/</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;"> and use the spam database look-up tool to see if any of the domains contained in your e-mail are listed as potential or known spammers.<br /><br /><strong>Keep the bulk of content on a web site, not in the e-mail</strong><br />Think about it. Your e-mail is less likely to trigger a spam filter if it only has a few, well-chosen lines. Use your email to provide a short summary of what you wish to say and put the bulk on a website that you then hyperlink to.<br /><br />While these rules are not infallible they will go some way to help stop your ezines and newsletters hitting the mesh before they reach the intended recipient. You can also read more about spam at http://www.spamhaus.org/.</span>Steve Nicholshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03564402221894277279noreply@blogger.com