How To Make Sure Your Emails Get Through To Your Opt-in Leads

Sending volume mail is one of the most powerful marketing tools available, but like most powerful tools, it has the potential for abuse or even the perception of abuse. One of the ways to make certain that your recipient receives your emails is to follow standard Internet protocol to make certain the recipients of your email never think of it as spam. Definition of spam: Spam is any unwanted email. Any endorsement, information, or solicitation sent to a person, via email, without their former consent.

There are many examples of spam. This includes any email message that is sent to a recipient who had formerly signed up to receive newsletters, product information or any other type of bulk email, but later opted-out by demonstrating to the sender that they did not want to receive further email would be considered spam. Any email message sent to recipients that have had no previous connection with the organization or did not agree to receive email by the organization is also defined as spam. Spam is also considered email messages sent to a recipient lacking a way for a person to Opt-out or request that they do not receive future mailings. Any email message that does not have a valid email address in the reply-to line is spam. Emails that talk about how you can earn $1000s per week from home is spam. Any email message that promotes an adult web site is spam, unless the recipient has specifically requested information from that web site. An email message that contains "ADV ADLT," or "ADV ADULT" in the subject is considered spam. Any message that the recipient feels they received unsolicited is spam.

Now that you have a clearer understanding of what spam is - what is not spam? If you send an email that, the recipient requested from the sender or the sender's organization. However, be warned, that just because someone has signed up to receive information on a particular product through email, this does not mean that you can send them information on a different product. You can send the recipients email information or promotions from a partner organization if they have agreed to your offer. Regrettably, spam is not as clear-cut as you have read in this article. Most emails sent out do not fall into any of the categories defined above; rather they fall into the gray area of spam where one person may think the message to be spam while another may not. What it comes down to is that if the recipient says it is spam, it is. This is why you need to make sure that when you send your emails to those recipients on your targeted lists that they have clearly stated they want your product. When your recipients say they no longer want to receive your information or product do not continue sending them emails hoping to win them back.

The following problems will occur if you or your organization sends out spam: Upset customers, many people get angry about spam and will stop conducting business with your organization. You can be listed on anti-spam blacklists (a list that names a variety of organizations that have been labeled as spammers). Your ISP will block all incoming mail if your company is listed on anti-spam blacklists. When this happens, it is a guarantee that your email will not reach your recipient. You can lose Internet access if a few of your recipients complain to your ISP. Then your ISP will shut you down completely. If some of your recipients are angry you can find yourself facing numerous lawsuits. How can you protect against landing on a blacklist or possibly losing your Internet business? Here is a list of suggestions for you to consider:

"¢ Keep an opt-in only list

"¢ Make your opt-out clause obvious

"¢ In every email that you send out, make sure that the customer knows how to get off your list.

"¢ If you only send email to your list occasionally, people may forget that they opted-in to your list.

"¢ Use your company name in headers

"¢ Create aliases for complaints

"¢ Use a warm list

"¢ Coordinate your mailings with your ISP

"¢ Contact your ISP before you send out a large mailing so that they will understand what is happening when they see the burst of email traffic from your site.