E-Mail Deliverability
Issue 90, Summer 2005

Dear Friends,

I'm hard at work completely re-writing and revising The E-Mail Marketing Handbook to bring it up-to-date, enabling you to understand how e-mail marketing is done in 2005! In this issue of Web Marketing Today Premium is one of the core chapters, "Getting Your Bulk E-Mail Delivered." It covers one of the most important challenges that e-mail marketers face.

I hope you are enjoying your summer. If you haven't already, please fill out my brief demographic survey of subscribers. If you tried before and failed, I've fixed the problems some had experienced.

Thanks again for your confidence and encouragement.

God bless you,
Dr. Ralph F. Wilson

P.S. Next week I expect to send out the article links gathered from June 2005 resources.

P.P. S. When the book is complete, I'll send all of my paid subscribers the download codes for the PDF version of the Second Edition of The E-Mail Marketing Handbook. But it'll be another month or so before it's all done.

Getting Your Bulk E-Mail Delivered

This article is an excerpt from chapter 8 of the forthcoming Second Edition of The E-Mail Marketing Handbook. The chapter has been entirely re-written. It comprises 18 single-spaced pages and 7,000 words, describing in understandable (and only occasionally technical) language, how to increase the percentage of your bulk e-mails that get through spam filters to arrive in your recipients' mailboxes.

The author considers the six most common approaches to spam filitering and what (if anything) you can do about each of them. Then he outlines in detail word-trigger systems, specifically the new SpamAssassin rules that govern how e-mail is tested and determined to be or not to be spam. Words and phrases that flag spam in subject lines and message copy are listed. The author discusses collaborative network spam identification systems, as well as whitelists, blacklists, sender certification programs, SPF records, and e-mail delivery auditing services. Finally, he summarizes all this into 21 specific recommendations, which incorporate the newest SpamAssassin tests, all designed to help legitimate e-mailers increase their bulk e-mail deliverability. Read the Chapter.

Here is the table of contents for this chapter:

SpamAssassin Subject Line Cautions

Words and Phrases that Trigger SpamAssassin

Sender Certification

Whitelisting by Individual ISPs

1. Use Capitalization Carefully
2. Avoid HTML Messages that are Primarily Graphics
3. Beware of Trying to Trick the Spam Filter with HTML Obfuscation
4. Be Careful to Use Good, Standard HTML
5. Watch Your Hyperlinks, URLs, and Domain Names
6. Use Large and Small Fonts Judiciously
7. Avoid Suspect Spam Phrases
8. Be Careful with Subject Lines
9. Carefully Word Your Unsubscribe System
10. Don't Mention Spam Law Compliance
11. Check Your List for Spam Flag Addresses
12. Monitor Challenge/Response Systems Requests among Returned E-mails
13. Ask Subscribers to Put Your Address in their "Whitelist" or Address Book
14. Monitor Blacklists
15. Use an ASP Hosted Service
16. Use a Delivery Auditing Service
17. Don't Send Bare HTML E-mails
18. Use Confirmed Opt-in (Double Opt-in)
19. Purchase a Habeas or Bonded Sender License
20. Publish an SPF Record for Your Domain(s)
21. Use a Spam Checker to Test Your Message

For each of these topics, the author provides detailed explanations, instructions, and rationales, with appropriate references to other articles, software, and services. Read the Chapter

New Ecommerce and Web Marketing Articles

Each month our team of link editors scours dozens of online periodicals and resources to find key information on e-commerce and Web marketing. With so much new literature available to you, how do you find what you need quickly and painlessly? Here's a selective and searchable database of article and resource links to help your research and keep you up-to-date in the field. (Links gathered in a given month are usually available during the second week of the following month.)