October 2002

Email Technique
They Zap You For Trying to Be Good

All good, legitimate and responsible e-newsletter publishers know that you should make it as easy as possible to unsubscribe from your ezine. The list management companies demand it. The spam cop vigilantes demand it and you are wasting your time and money sending email to people that don't want it anyway.

Now we find out that many spam filters are deleting legitimate e-newsletters because they see the term "to unsubscribe" in the email. This may seem ludicrous to you, but there is a reason they are using this simple minded method to cut down on spam. It's because spammers often put a fake "unsubscribe" link in their emails that either does nothing or confirms the email address so they can sell the address for more money to their spammer buddies.

You've got to keep an eye on these things over time so that you can get a higher percentage of your emails delivered. I subscribe to Ezine Tips at http://www.ezine-tips.com to keep up on the latest.

In "Great Speaking" ezine I currently use the phrase:

"see bottom if you no longer wish to receive "Great Speaking"

Some people use the term "to remove yourself" however, I think the spammers will pick that one up and start using it pretty easily.

Even your own list management company can get you into the same position with other spam filters. Most list management companies require that they put in an automatic unsubscribe area on all your outgoing mail. If they say "to unsubscribe" in the message, you will most likely get filtered somewhere. Show them this article and lobby for them to change their wording on their automatic unsubscribe notice.

Upcoming topics for this section:

• Email strategy

• HTML email

• Plain Text Email 

• Link tricks

• Getting subscribers fast

• How to make money with your zine

• How to gain clout with your zine

• How to maximize the signups on your website

Back to October 2002 Index page