Are Your Business E-mail Spammy?

Spammy e-mails get rejected by servers, returned to senders or inadvertently deleted. But when I mention to clients that they need to implement certain details or don’t want (or need) to do certain things in their e-mail so as to avoid being misidentified as spam, they ignore my advice in lieu of doing what they want anyway. Regardless of the ramifications. All for things that have nothing to do with communicating with clarity and professionalism, in fact many times it is quite the opposite. All to often simply because they don’t want to make the minuscule effort to have all the bases covered.

When we are advised of the things we need to consider to avoid having our e-mails get blocked (and be viewed as more professional in the process), we need to embrace this information as it is not one person’s advice, idea or opinion. It is a fact that if you do spammy things, your e-mail risks being blocked by networks both public and private.

Today, I had two clients who I’ve discussed these issues with many times over the years, basically state they didn’t really care about my advice and they will “take their chances.” To risk opportunity in hopes of their competitors lacking the same level of tech savvy is simply not smart business. If they are wrong, what will happen when their competitors e-mails make it through to the intended recipients and theirs do not?

Here is an article on the topic that I posted back in May as a reminder so you can make sure you aren’t sending spamming e-mails and therefore risking lost opportunity.

How To Avoid Looking Spammy

What Does Your E-mail Address Say?

Your e-mail address is one of the first things folks see when you reply to Web site inquiries. What does your e-mail address say about you?

How about:

• …you are tech savvy (by “getting” that using free, throw away or personal accounts just won’t do for business communications).
• …you take your image seriously (by understanding that this gig is all about perception).
• …you are a professional (by having a domain e-mail address that represents your company, products or services with clarity).
• …you don’t shy away from challenges (by keeping any aol.com address instead of using your dot com).

I say it all the time. Perception is the only reality online. Folks will form an opinion about you based on how you use technology. They can tell what is important to you and what isn’t by the efforts you make — or don’t make.

One tool that is critical to any online enterprise, especially for startups or one-man-shops, is your e-mail address. Your e-mail address is what the recipient first sees when your e-mail address lands in their inbox.

What do you think it says about your business when you reply to a Web site e-mail from YourBusiness.com with an address like “iluvpugs@(aol,gmail,msn,yahoo.isp.com)?” Here are a few others I have seen used recently in business communications that have nothing to do with the business or business at hand:

crazycarguy@
mywifesslave@
preferblondes@
dark-horse@

Yeah, I get it — some of those are cute and/or funny — but not for business!

Using e-mail addresses like those above for business e-mail communications reflect not only a lack of tech savvy but a lack of understanding when it comes to the basics of online marketing. Every business should be using their business dot com as their e-mail address.

Doing so is a minimal cost when you think about the marketing and professional perception doing so offers. Additionally, due to all the spam filtering going on, you want to be able to have new contacts get your e-mail address in their address book or white list to ensure your e-mail gets through.

By using your dot com e-mail address, your e-mail will be recognized as an expected contact instead of a spammer. The same goes for gmail.com, yahoo.com and msn.com type free accounts. These accounts are known as “throw-aways” and are used by spammers all the time. If you think about it, what does using a free e-mail account for your business communications say about you and your company?

I can hear the gasps now! Yes, there are are reasons to have a free account. I have a gmail.com account for when I am out of the office. “But I want to use my gmail.com account!” When asked for a good business reason why? Silence… they just want to.

You still can use your freebie account — when you are on the road or away from your computer. These type of accounts do have a place as a back up — but not as the primary if you are serious about how you will be perceived.

Another excuse I’ve heard — “I know AOL and all my friends are there!” E-mailing friends really has nothing to do with building a serious business. AOL, gmail, yahoo, msn — none of these services allow you to use one of the most valuable marketing tools available to you — your dot com as an e-mail address in the FROM: field.

Doing so is very inexpensive and only requires a few setting changes in the e-mail program of your choice. Time to take off the training wheels, get an e-mail program and e-mail like the big dogs if you are serious about online success.

Are You Spammy?

Many times e-mails do not get through to their intended party because they are spammy. Meaning that there are elements in the e-mail that are spam-like and typical of what spammers do when sending their unasked for junk.

Many onliners and businesses alike when sending out e-mails or in-house created newsletters, neglect to take into consideration these issues which can deny their e-mail the best chance of being received.

Typical things such as word choice and formatting of the To:, From: and Subject: fields as well as the body of your message can unknowingly have elements that cause delivery problems. Becoming aware of what you shouldn’t be doing can increase your receipt rate exponentially.

Here is a simple checklist that you need to consider so that your e-mails are not mistakenly viewed as spam and deleted or returned before read:

• Always include an appropriate, short and accurate SUBJECT:. Leaving the Subject: field blank is spammy. Many times spam does not have a SUBJECT: or it is malformed without appropriate text. Many email programs auto delete subjectless e-mail to Junk/Trash. You also want to avoid using the words: stuff, hello, hi, help or new as these terms may trigger spam filters.
• Type your subject with appropriate capitalization and structure. All small case or all caps gives the impression of being spam, (or that you are lazy and lack education — neither is good).
• Refrain from using common terms abused by spammers in your subject and/or first paragraph of your email. You know what they are – you see them every day. Many spam filters track these terms and may inadvertently send your e-mail right to Trash.
• Make sure your name is formally displayed in the FROM: field. Example: Jane A. Doe is correct. All lower case or lack of punctuation here indicates the lack of online savvy typical of spammers and that your e-mail could be spam.
• Refrain from using any formatting just for the sake of doing so. Formatting text into fancy fonts, colors or bolding will trigger spam filters when combined with some of these other red flags.
• Do not embed background graphics, logos, your photo or other gratuitous files in your e-mail. This is a huge red flag as that is how viruses can propagate! E-mails are not meant to be a business brochure.
• When using any sort of spam software or filtering system, before you purge your trash, it doesn’t hurt to take a quick peak to see if any email is in fact from folks you know or recognize whose email was deemed spammy.

So don’t look spammy! Communicate with the written word rather than relying on formatting, and point folks to your Web site for any graphics you want them to view.

You can’t state that you hate spam, but then do spammy things in your e-mail that then causes your e-mail to be returned or blocked. You can’t complain about spam, then complain when ISPs, networks and software are identifying the typical signs of spammers and by you doing the same, your e-mails get deleted with the rest of the spam.

You may not like these guidelines, I hear how “unfair” they are all the time, but in a day when spammers are abusing networks and causing a strain on resources, which in the end the cost gets passed on to us — the consumers, it is in your best interest to use e-mail as the communication tool it was meant to be — sans all the fluff.

By keeping the above issues in mind, you have the best chance of you day-to-day communications getting to the intended person on the other side.

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