Spam filters are responsible for deleting a high percentage of legitimate business emails from people who have no wish to spam. Here are some tips to avoid spam complaints in your emails or ezine.

Avoid the following triggers in your emails.

1. Excessive use of ALL CAPITALS in the subject line and body of your email.

2. The use of words like "free" (used alone or in combination with words like "trial," "money," "quote," "sample," "membership," "access," etc.) Other more obvious word to avoid include "sex," "XXX," "spam," "$$$," "checks," "money," "extra income," and "as seen on TV." Even seemingly harmless word such as "search engine listings," "cable converter," and "reverses aging" will get you in trouble.

3. Excessive use of exclamation marks "!!!"

Tips for Staying on the Right Side of Spam Filters

1. Use words like "news," "newsletter," and "list" in your subject line.

2. Say how often your ezine is published in the subject line - weekly, monthly.

3. Put date of newsletter in subject line.

4. Put issue number in the subject line.

5. Ensure your newsletter is a proper ezine with some substance in the text.

To help identify spam in your emails/ezines use the following spam checker always before you send anything out. Above all, use your common sense. We know what spam looks like, so avoid anything that resembles it in your ezine.

About the Author
(C) John Lynch ( Learn how to Make Money Online by subscribing to Free 6-part 'Internet Marketing Explained' mini course. Get 6 free Internet Marketing E-books; free autoresponder; and free trial top-notch website. http://www.merchant-account-service.com/internet_marketing_explained.html)

By M6.Net

Spam. You’ve all heard of the crazy pink meat in a can, but what’s it got to do with the Internet? Well, it’s also the namesake for a major problem in the World Wide Web-unsolicited junk email. Problem! We’re talking serious pain in the butt both as a waster of time, space, and money. It is estimated that around half of all email received on the Internet is this sneaky illegal attempt at selling fake consumer goods, pornography, and a whole plethora of ‘helpful’ services. It’s taking up half of all email on the Earth, and it’s costing businesses’ billions in wasted time, as well as filling personal email accounts to the limit so important messages aren’t received. It seems everywhere there’s a leap in technology for humanity, there’s also a group of people who want to stretch the realm of criminal activity to another level.

The good news is that as it’s such a prominent problem, the ‘good guys’ have made it a main priority on their ‘To do’ lists. Software has been created to block Spam and is being updated constantly. Recently Bill Gates, richest human on Earth and self-made mogul of software masters Microsoft, spoke of his aim to eliminate Spam by the year 2006. Obviously a lot of people would be quite appreciative if they could achieve this goal.

Supposedly most of the billions of junk emails originate from about 200 people who are intelligent enough to cover their tracks. They have multiple ways of finding out email addresses and then sending thousands upon thousands of unwanted messages to you and I. It usually costs them next to nil so if even one low-quality product sells they receive a profit. That’s why they do it; just another greed-induced means of getting rich quick without working for it like the rest of us.

Well, there’s a couple main ways of dealing with the Spam dilemma. The main one, and most easy, is to just delete the messages or empty your folder (after moving desired messages to another folder) straight off the server without downloading or ‘looking’ at the messages. This gives the ‘evil’ sender the knowledge that you’re not reading the mail and therefore the traffic you receive goes down dramatically.

Another way to block the Spam is to use software like Magic Mail Monitor (mmm3.sourceforge.net/) or Mailwasher (mailwasher.net/), which work well at destroying the unwanted, pink, tasteless, unworldly email meat by showing you the mail straight from the server without downloading it.

So, show the criminals you’re aware and not ignorant and take the first steps to bringing the Spam Empire down. Protect yourself and eventually the Spam will go where all filth is destined, into the trash.

M6.Net
http://www.m6.net

by Niall Roche
(c) Niall Roche - All Rights Reserved, http://www.spam-site.com 

A blacklist, as the name implies, is a list of people or companies who have met with the disapproval of others. In the online world a blacklist refers to those people who have been marked as responsible for generating spam in a very big way. Blacklists are also known as blocklists.
 
Blacklists are used to combat spam in a very specific way. When spam is reported to one of the relevant spam fighting organizations the IP address the spam originated from is added to a banned or blacklisted IP addresslist. An IP address is the unique location of you or your website on the internet - think of it as your "home address" online. To put it simply every Internet address (domain.com...) has a matching IP address. Any email coming from your website domain also has a corresponding IP address. If your IP address is present on a blacklist then you're potentially wasting your time sending email to customers. 
 
Why are you wasting your time? Modern spam blockers come with the most common blacklists installed and/or allow you  to import updated blacklists into your spam blocker. This allows to you block a huge amount of spam but you may also,  potentially, block legitimate email. Blacklists are not foolproof.

There are two types of IP address:

Dynamic - changes every time you connect to the Internet. Most commonly used for dialup Internet access. Spammers love  these because they're very hard to track and 100% disposable.

Fixed/Static - All websites, most large companies and some individuals use fixed IP addresses. This can cause huge problems if they're reported for spamming.

When an IP address (dynamic or fixed ) is reported for sending spam it's added to a blacklist. There are three different types of blacklists:

Temporary
An IP address placed on a temporary blacklist will have email coming from that IP address blocked for several hours. After a few hours the offending IP address is removed from the blacklist.

Permanent
When an IP address is added to a permanent blacklist any email server configured to block email from this list will never receive email from that range of IP addresses again.

Comprehensive
This is the most damaging of blacklists. Not only does it block a single IP address it also blocks the IP addresses next to it. For example if the IP address 192.156.66.67 was added to a comprehensive blacklist then all IP addresses close to 192.156.66.67 will also be blocked. This can be a huge problem for those website owners using virtual hosting because if your host has ever appeared on a blacklist then you're also on the same blacklist, by default, because of the shared hosting from the same IP range.

It's important for all website owners to check whether or not they're on a blacklist. You'll need your IP address (available from your webhost) and you can check your blacklist status at: www.mail-abuse.org/cgi-bin/lookup 

Blacklists are a necessary evil due to the volume of spam being sent each day but are not an exact science. Take a few 
moments from your day and ensure that your website or email address is not being blocked.

Learn more about fighting spam on http://www.spam-site.com 

http://www.spam-site.com reviews and tests antispam software solutions for the business and end user. Niall Roche is the content author and owner of spam-site.com 

The number one biggest mistake people make with email marketing is people do not understanding the power, nor use the full potential of this application as a medium of communications.

People hate to be sold, but love to buy. Think for a moment, when you hear the story about someone who was sold something, is the ending usually favorable or unfavorable. On the other hand, if you buy something you really like, do you say “someone sold this to me,” or do you say with pride “Look at what I bought!”

Email marketing is one of the simplest forms of dynamic communication today. Everyone has an email address. Some people even have email addresses for their pets. The Internet is a medium that is growing by leap and bounds. “Gillions” of websites and mega gillions of email addresses. They are everywhere: business cards, websites, promotional products, and even on bus benches.

People love information. Especially FREE information. If you are able to deliver information that has a high perceived-valuable, you will find some taker-uppers to your offers. People will respond, it’s just human nature. If you build trust and deliver on your promises, people will listen to you and read your messages. Many, many eNewsletters are read religiously every day, week or month. When the newsletter is late or the publisher misses an issue, they hear about it.

Wait...I see a formula for victory, success and profit if the numbers are half way right. Let’s look at this picture functionally; you’ve got mega gillions of email addresses; and zillions of people who would by almost any product or service if it is packaged correctly. So let me process this, if I can identify a small loyal percentage of the zillions of people and get their email address then maybe I can hold [daily (I don’t suggest), weekly (got to have good stuff) or, monthly (great way to start)] dialogue with my subscribers through an eNewsletter and drop a little knowledge on them (value) to promote my business in a very innocent and professional manner, yet giving them value for their time spent with me. I like that idea!

Over time, some people will tell others people about my eNewsletter and then people who I don’t know nor have a relationship with will want to become a part of my mailing list because of something they heard from someone else about me. That works for me. I become the host of my own fan club. If you are not into viral marketing, you are missing the proverbial boat. This is powerful stuff! It is very simple and easy to get email addresses and see your mailing list grow 10 -20- or 100 fold. Just ask for them! A little love goes a long ways.

The next step is developing a compelling message with an appealing/eye-catching user interface for your subscribers and then send them out an email message on a regularly schedule basis. The articles can be long or short. Short is better in most instances, until you master the concept. Use common sense for your industry and market niche. Remember the old adage from business school, “sell to Bob the way Bob wants to buy.” Don’t make it hard or difficult. Listen to your customers and give them what they want and what you promised.

Use your writing skills to position yourself as an expert in your field or profession. What’s going on? What do people in your realm of the world or business like to hear, see, do or have a general interest of? Find a topic or something you enjoy writing about. The last thing you need is another job. If you find an area you like or have a passion for, it will be easier when you sit down and put your pen to paper.

There is help for those who can’t or don’t write very well. There are many content providers from which you can purchase content for your eNewsletter. Where there is a will, there will become a way. In case no one before me told you, you will need to develop a convincing title that is likely to catch your audience’s attention or appeal to a need they have. Value, value, value. Everyone enjoys listening to that same radio station WIIFM (What’s In It For Me). Speak to your subscribers in a way that addresses the issues that are important to them and use testimonials whenever possible.

With the number of people you meet everyday you could quickly and easily create a database of thousands of names that could easily grow exponentially into many thousands of names and email addresses if you put action behind your plan to get started. A growing list of small and medium sized firms and civic associations are making huge amounts of money and collecting liberal donations by putting the power and potential of email technology to use to build and enhance their relationship with their members and communities.

Not everyone is your customer. You can do quite well with a small population of loyal subscribers who like you, trust you, and respect you. There is software that makes it possible to quickly and easily create appealing email messages, build and manage large email lists, send personalized targeted messages, and track you success.

The potential is to provide high perceived-value in the customer’s mind to establish TOMA (Top of Mind Awareness). Ideally every 8-14 days you should sent a new message to your target audience. Remember it may takes 7-8 tries just to get invited on to their safelist. Some people will read every issue of your eNewsletter strictly from their junk email folder. People are stingy about letting you into their life. With so many messages coming from so many different directions daily, you have to compete to make a serious impact to get some of their precious time.

Committing to read, review or just look at your email is a serious act of loyalty on behalf of your customer. Your opt-in mailing list of people who love you, trust you and have done business with you before can generate a substantial consistent income for years to come.

Don’t get it twisted; they’re doing you the favor. If they don’t like what you have to say, or the way you say it, they will just click delete, quicker than a heartbeat. The real potential is to be the favored eNewsletter that people look forward to reading issue after issue, take actions from, refer to their friends, make your sales swell and expand the size and scope of your business while allowing you do the one thing you do best, talk passionately about your organization or subject of interest.

Speak in your eNewsletter about how you bring value, solve problems, save money, reduce time and effort, or provide solutions to problems your customers face. Humor also works. The question becomes in your customer’s mind; why should I give you my fat wad of cash for your itty-bitty bag of what did you say it was? With today’s technology it is really simple, easy, and affordable to set-up and start a successful email marketing campaign that requires little effort on your part. You can also track your results and manage your email lists as about 37% of all email address change over any given year.

Something very important, kindly respect people’s privacy. Be upfront and straight with them as to how you handle their personal information. Trust is very fragile. If they ask to be removed from your list, make it easy. Leave the tricks to unsubscribing them or keeping them on your list to the magicians. It is bad behavior for a web marketer to refuse to unsubscribe any user or make it difficult.

Don’t waste your time with people who don’t want to hear from you. Your reputation and credibility is too important. Frankly, there are bigger fish to fry and other people who need what you offer. Stay focused.

Ask permission, keep it simple and giving value is the formula for making the power and potential of the Internet and email marketing deliver results that increase sales to overflow your barns. It is the hardest easy work you can ever do.

Ntsikelelo is an active Internet Marketer. He is a pioneer, with over 9 years of talent in website design, management, marketing, and promotions. He is the owner and operator of three highly successful web properties: quickeasycontact.com, blasttemplates.com, and needanotary.net. He is a recognized writer, speaker and educator on Internet and Computer related subjects, and Real Estate Finance topics.

Among the many problems email brings with it is the main one ... email is time-consuming. So time-consuming in fact that you are left with fewer hours in your day in which to make a profit or spend with your loved ones.

You can literally consume three or five hours per day reading and replying to email. The question you need to ask yourself is, 'Could I do something better with that time?' If the answer is 'yes', consider some of these options:

1. Identify spam BEFORE it hits your inbox and delete it. This can be done by using a free software program that downloads file headers before downloading the whole file ... you delete the unwanted files from the email server before downloading email to your inbox.

2. Set up a system of folders in which to store your email. Folders, like any filing system enable you to prioritize by importance, sender, topic and so on. This can lead to a great time saving.

3. Set up Rules that will manage your incoming email by storing it in relevant folders, replying automatically, or doing some other time-saving activity. Rules Wizards provided in most email software programs will carry out various activities on receipt of email. That includes sending an automatic reply.

4. Use different email addresses with Rules in order to carry out different functions eg, subscribe to a newsletter or obtain a copy of a product catalogue. This is also another time saver.

5. Outsource part or all of your email system to a specialist Applications Service Provider. This could be simply outsourcing your newsletter to a professional writer and email distribution channel or doing the work yourself using someone else's email system

6. Upgrade your free or bundled email software client to a specialist professional program that has much more grunt and will do much of the work for you easily and efficiently

7. Design and use templates for common email activities such as advising a debtor that payment is overdue

With relatively little effort or a small monetary outlay (you'd be surprised how small), you can improve email management considerably leaving you free to do other more productive tasks or spend more time with family, friends etc.

If you haven't got your email under control, don't let the gremlins control your life for another day. Do something today to win back your life. Download our free 17 page ebook to find out how to Save Valuable Time.

Copyright 2005 Robin Henry. Robin Henry is a human resources specialist who helps businesses improve performance through implementing smart technology and processes.

Accusations of spam can be so harmful to your business that every effort should be made to prevent it.

However, simply requesting a surfer to enter an e-mail address into an online form on your website is not a guarantee of not being accused of spam. 

Here is what could happen:
One of your competitors could visit your website and enter the name of a well-known anti-spammer. When your autoresponder sends out the latest copy of your newsletter or mini-course to this person, he will become very angry. 

It is no good protesting your innocence. Since he didn't ask to subscribe to your newsletter, he will claim that you are spamming him. While you are arguing your case with your Web host, your competitor will be taking your profits.

Here's how Double Opt-In works

When a subscriber signs up for your newsletter online, he or she receives a confirmation e-mail to which they must respond if they are to be added to your list.

The confirmation usually involves simply clicking a link or hitting the reply-to button.

Taking these precautions can prevent a lot of trouble and ensure that your opt-in subscribers really want your information.

© 2003 John Lynch


For Free E-books on how to succeed in Internet Marketing, Affiliate Programs, Online Auctions go to: www.merchant-account-service.com/