According to a recent study conducted by Ferris Research, a market and technology research
firm specializing in messaging and, Spam will cost U.S. businesses over $10 billion in
2003.
Spam not only clogs our servers and in-boxes, but it also costs us hours and hours of lost
time in productivity.
Although the estimated cost of Spam focuses mainly on lost productivity, this picture may
be much broader than you realize.
Some of the more popular email providers, such as AOL (America Online), Yahoo! and
Hotmail, are now utilizing filters to cut down on Spam. These filters are dumping Spam
and/or bulk mailings into a separate location. Although this may cut down on Spam in your
in-box, these filters are also dumping some legitimate email messages.
What's more, some hosting servicesnot only filter the email messages, but they're also
blocking entire hosting companies. For example, the blocking host may have gotten some
Spam complaints about a few marketers that host with ABC hosting company. (Keep in mind,
ABC hosting company may host thousands of sites.) Rather than block the offending
marketers, the blocking host decides to blacklist the entire ABC host.
What this means is if you try to contact someone and their hosting company has blacklisted
your host, your email will not go through -- it will bounce right back to you.
If you suspect you may not be receiving all of your email, contact your host and ask them
if they're using Spam filters or have blocked entire hosting
companies.
How Much Will Spam Cost Your Business?
How much time do you spend sorting through the Spam in your email each day? Add it up
sometime -- I'll bet you'll find you spend a lot more time than you even realized -- time
that could have been spent on your business.
If you're publishing an ezine or sending out any form of opt-in mailings, how many
subscribers are actually receiving your mailings? Most-likely, not nearly as many
subscribers as you may think. How many lost sales has this cost you?
How many messages, such as information requests, customer support requests, etc., have you
not received due to filtering?
How many messages have you replied to that your customers or potential customers have
never received due to filtering?
As customer service says a lot about your business practices, how many customers will you
lose?
The list goes on and on. But the point is this, Spam is costing you dearly.
Protecting Your Email Address
So how can you defend yourself? Well, it depends on which side you're on -- how to protect
yourself, and/or how to make sure your messages are getting through.
In order to protect yourself against Spam, you first need to understand how your email
address is obtained.
There are many unethical businesses online that collect and sell email addresses.
They use robots that travel from link to link in search of email addresses. Their
customers are led to believe that these email addresses belong to individuals who want to
receive mailings. However, much of the time, this isn't the case.
Never purchase a list of email addresses from anyone other than a reputable company. The
only company I can recommend is Post Master Direct. http://www.postmasterdirect.com
To protect your email address from these robots, instead of displaying your address on
your site, use a feedback form. Not just any type of form, but a form that doesn't display
your email address within the hidden form fields. The only form I can recommend is Master
Feedback. You can pick up a free copy here:
http://willmaster.com/master/feedback/index.shtml
Anytime you're filling out a form online and you're asked to provide your email address,
make sure you review the site's "Privacy Policy" to ensure that your email
address will not be sold or shared with a third party.
Protecting Your In-box
To protect your in-box, you can use a Spam filtering software program. Although there are several available
online, the best one I've found is Mail Washer. This program will enable you to view all
the email on your server without actually downloading it into your
email program. Once you've reviewed your messages, you can create filters and bounce the
Spam messages back to the sender. Although you can pick up the program free, consider
supporting the developer and register the software for a small fee. http://www.mailwasher.net
Avoiding The Spam Filters:
If you're sending out a mailing to an opt-in list, there are a few steps
you can take to make sure your message won't trip the Spam filters:
1) Avoid using trigger words, such as Spam, fr*e, r*move, etc. Although the list is far
too broad to list here, you can learn more by reading the following articles:
Spam Filters Run-Amuck by Timothy A. Gross
http://www.iprofitsystems.com/articles/spamfilters.html
CLIP & SAVE guide to avoiding Spam filters by Debbie Weil
http://www.imakenews.com/wordbiz/e_article000094161.cfm
2) Avoid using JavaScript within your messages.
3) Avoid using "bad" words.
If you'd like to ensure your messages are getting through, consider opening email accounts
with the popular providers. You can send your mailings to these accounts and monitor their
reception. If your mailings land in the dump, you can make some adjustments or even
contact the company.
If you would like to test your outgoing email messages to ensure they won't trigger a Spam
filter, Ken Evoy offers a great service called SpamCheck. This free service will enable
you to send a copy of your publication, or any email message, to a specific address and it
will return a report of possible words that will trigger the Spam filters.
Send your publication including the subject and body to:
mailto:spamcheck-websource@sitesell.net
Conclusion
The Spam problem continues to get progressively worse. Although there isn't a simple
solution to the problem, the information provided in this article should assist you in not
only avoiding Spam, but also avoiding the filters for your legitimate mailings.
It's really a shame we're even in this position. However, we cannot allow Spam to continue
to infiltrate our businesses. We must take the necessary steps to ensure our success.
Shelley Lowery
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