Warning: Your Email is Invisible
By
Mark
Joyner CEO, Aesop.Com
What I'm about to show you will increase
the number of people that read your email significantly. (I'm talking about
legitimate opt-in or one-to-one emails here, not spam.)
Many email clients will allow you to filter out "junk" based on a set of
rules. For example, anything that starts with "ADV:" or includes such text
as "this email is sent in compliance with..." can be filtered out and sent
directly to your trash file.
If you're like me and get tons of email every day, this can be quite useful.
I just don't have time to read about every time some South American pharmacy
is running a special on Viagra.
The problem is that these rules are not always accurate. That is, sometimes
these "junk email" rules filter out important email as well.
Surprisingly, these rules are not very forgiving at times. If I were to write
such rules I would do so under the assumption that it is better to let some
spam slip through than to erroneously filter out something important. But,
we're not so lucky. Many of the junk filtering rules are valid, but others
are not.
You should comb through any of the automated follow up emails or newsletters
you send out and remove anything that might trigger a spam filter. Since
some of these rules are quite arcane, it is probably best to send the email
to yourself and receive it with a client that has junk-filtering rules turned
on. I've found that the Outlook junk filtering rules are the harshest, so
you might try that. If the email is not filtered, you're probably OK. If
it is, play with it until the email is accepted.
Here are some things to look for that you may not expect. The following will
trigger junk email filters in Outlook and keep your email from being read:
"FREE"
When in ALL CAPS anywhere in your email. You shouldn't use ALL CAPS for anything
anyway, though, if you can avoid it.
"sales@anydomain"
If this is in the from address. Believe it or not!
"extra income"
When found anywhere in the message.
"for free?" or "for free!"
When found anywhere in the message. This one is really silly. I can think
of quite a few uses for this phrase outside of junk email...
Of course, there are quite a few other rules that will trigger junk email
filters, but these are ones that could easily trip you up. Just remember
to test the mail yourself to make sure. Doing this will significantly increase
the number of people that actually read the mail you send them.
About the Author:
Article by Mark Joyner, CEO of Aesop Marketing Corporation and creator of
1001
Killer Internet Marketing Tactics - a *must have* tool for anyone serious
about doing business on the Internet.
