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Are Your Emails Gettting Through?
Written by Charlie Cook
If sending email to a mailing list is part of your markting or business building strategy, you want to make sure your messages are reaching your audience. Are your readers getting your emails? Due to the proliferation of sp@m, ISPs (your web access and email provider) have added content checkers to try to reduce the flow of unwanted mail. In principle this is a good idea. In practice, lots of sp@m is still getting through and many lgitimat emails, possibly including yours, are being blocked.
You may assume that since your content is lgitimat and because you only send messages to 0pt-in readers, your prospects and clients are getting all of your emails. Bu presently sp@m filters are blocking emails that include words such as:
hre
n0w
lgal
questi0ns
lgitimate
ordr
bu1k
chck
mi11ions
st0ck
f0rm
markting s0lution
rmove
opp0rtunity
cl1ck hre
Even to send this article to the people whove requested it, Ive had to write carefully and creatively to disguise these words to get them through the sp@m filters.
In an effort to eliminate junk mail, most email providers have sp@m filters in place, and, smart as these are, they dont know you are not a sp@mmer if it includes what it considers to be suspicious words. Some filters automatically dump suspicious email into a bu1k mail folder, others block them entirely.
Chances are you dont consider yourself a sp@mmer. You dont blindly send mi11ions of emails a day to people who dont want your information. You do respond to client inquiries and send information to people who request it. Even if you only send email to people who have double optd in for your ezine, you can have your newsletter or message labeled as sp@m if youre not careful. 10-30% or more of your emails may be getting filtered by overzealous ISPs.
Usually, use of just one offensive word wont get your email blocked, but repeat it or use it in conjunction with another offensive word and your recipients wont receive your articles or notes.
I hate junk email as much as the next person. But if the recipient has requested your ezine or an email response, they should get it. In there effort to eliminate sp@m, the ISPs are beginning to infringe on lgitimat communication and commerce.
What You Can Do
Review available lists of words that ISPs consider suspicioius. Ive posted one list of some innocuous and common words that if used together or frequently can get your email blocked at: http://www.marketingforsuccess.com/wordstoavoid.html
Use one of the online content checkers to see which remaining words could create problems with sp@m filters such as:
Ezine Chck http://ezinecheck.com/check.html
Lyris http://www.lyris.com/contentchecker/
Where possible, replace offensive words. If you need to use a word like markting because its the best word for the job, you can get creative with, as I did above, but some sp@m filters block emails containing odd characters.
No strategy for getting by the ISP filters is foolproof, but every effort you make to eliminate potentially problematic words will increase the likelihood that the people who want to read your emails will get them. Take a minute to check your email before you send it and youll increase the number of people who read it and respond to it.
2004 © In Mind Communications, LLC. All rights reserved.
The author, Charlie Cook, helps service professionals and small business owners attract more clients and be more successful. Sign up for the Fre Marketing Plan eBook, 7 Steps to get more clients and grow your business at http://www.marketingforsuccess.com
ccook@marketingforsuccess.com
Additional Articles by Charlie Cook
8 Common Marketing Mistakes
Are You Marketing to Your Potential
Creating Marketing Fireworks
Creating Sales Conversations
Frugal Marketing
Getting Lucky with Systematic marketing
How to Get the Right Clients and Avoid the Wrong Ones
Is Your Marketing Message Holding You Back
Let Your Mistakes Improve Your Marketing And Your Profits
Moving Beyond Marketing Rituals to Increase Profits
Overcoming Your Biggest Marketing Obstacle
Use Product Research to Position Yourself as the Expert
What Is the Most Effective Way to Advertise
What Is Your Marketing Really Costing You
Why Some Web Sites Sell and Others Dont
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