Avoiding Blacklisting: Making Sure Your Email Gets Through

Avoiding Blacklisting: Making Sure Your Email Gets Through

by Karen Fegarty
http://www.blacklistmonitor.com

We all know that email is probably today's most popular way to
advertise. Every day our inboxes are filled with messages from
people who want our business--whether we asked for the contact or
not. Email is today's biggest communication factor; but why
shouldn't it be? It's all but free to use, and it's almost
instantaneous.

But there is one problem with advertising via email that you may
not think of very often: blacklisting. All it takes is one
complaint, and your ISP or domain name can be put on someone's
black list. If you're on the black list, your emails are not
getting through--and neither is your advertising message.

So how big of a problem is this? Well, AOL, one of the world's
biggest Internet service providers, winds up blocking a whopping
80% of messages to its subscribers due to blacklising. Your
email could be the most legitimate message ever sent, but if one
person forgets they signed up or decides to complain, you could
be blacklisted. And for your business, the resulting slump in
sales can be devastating.

What is a blacklist, exactly? A blacklist is a database of
known Internet addresses (or IPs) used by individuals or
companies sending spam. Various ISP's and bandwidth providers
subscribe to these blacklist databases in order to filter out
spam sent across their network or to their subscribers.
Companies like AOL, MSN, and Yahoo all have very strict policies
on spam, so many well-intended, legitimate emails never get
through.

So how can you be sure you haven't been blacklisted?
Unfortunately, you really can't be 100% sure. You may be on
someone's black list and not even know it, and be added to and
removed from black lists at the drop of a hat. The only way to
prevent being blacklisted unfairly is to use today's technology
to keep track of it all. There is cutting-edge software
technology available that checks all the major black lists like
Spamcop, MAPS, and SPAMHaus to ensure your domain or ISP hasn't
been added.

Taking a few moments to understand and solve your potential
blacklisting problem can mean a world of difference in your
bottom line.

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Author Karen Fegarty is with MailWorkZ the creator of Black List
Monitor-- advanced service that continuously checks all the
major blacklists for you, and then some. Don't be treated
unfairly! Keep a handle on who may have you blacklisted. Get
a free trial and find out more at http://www.blacklistmonitor.com.

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