Email Spam a Big Problem, but are the "Solutions" Worse …

When I got my first email offering a pill for penis enlargement, I called my doctor thinking he had let the cat out of the bag. A few months later, if you haven't got an email offering this or a similar product such as weight loss solutions, prescription drugs, or pornography, then you probably don't have an email address.

Everyday, my email box is flooded with this type of spam. It is annoying, it is time consuming, and it takes up valuable resources that should be used to send legitimate email. I agree spam is a problem and someone needs to find a real solution. I just think many of the "solutions" in place don't benefit the consumer.

As most of you know, I run several websites that offer a weekly newsletter subscription. I am very careful to send newsletters to readers that request my offer, and am very quick to remove users that want to unsubscribe. I record the IP address of every subscription I get for my records. I also monitor email bounces each week and quickly remove them so I am not using up valuable resources on email addresses that no longer work.

It is hard to be accused of being a spammer when you keep detailed records and only send your newsletter to customers that request it.....or is it? This is where the companies offering the spam solutions come in.

These companies are in business because spam exists. If they can rid the web of spam, they rid themselves of a job. Besides, it is nearly impossible to rid the web of real spam. The spammers sending you emails offering stock tips, prescription meds, and other items use sophisticated methods to hide their identity and make it impossible to block all the emails they send. They use injectable steroids computer viruses to send email from computers around the globe using a multitude of ips and domain names.

Instead of finding a solution to real spam, some of these companies spend their time policing the small business sending to a list of opt in subscribers. You know what it takes to be accused of spam? A few of your subscribers can decide they no longer want to get your email and instead of opting out, they just click the "Junk Email" button in their email program. You can also get an upset customer that signs up for your newsletter and decides to click the "Junk" button to get even.

Well, this should be no problem. After all, you have the registration info including the IP address showing when the customer subscribed. This should be enough right? Wrong.

I send out over 20,000 emails each week. I have been fortunate to have only been accused of spam once a few years ago. In the instance I was, the "Spam Solutions" company refused to release the email address of the person accusing me of sending spam. If they would have, I could have most likely provided that person's full name, address, and IP address.

The problem was since they refused to let me know the address reporting me, I had no idea what email address to remove from my list. The "Spam Solutions" company suggested I just delete my list and start over.

Yeah sure, that's an option. I'll delete 20,000 subscribers that want to get my newsletter because some bozo decided to hit the "Junk Email" button.

Luckily, I had a good relationship with my web host and was able to show I was running a responsible list so my account with them wasn't effected.

I believe you have every right to send emails to customers that request them, but you have to do it responsibly. There is a lot to know about managing an email list. First of all, you need to pick a good email service to send your emails. I highly recommend Turnkey Internet. They aren't some fly by night operation associated with spammers. They have been around a while and specialize in email. When I started using this service more than a year ago, my deliverability rates skyrocketed. If you have the time and skills to manage your own list responsibly, then Turnkey Internet is the perfect service to use.

You also need to understand how to manage and confirm your subscribers, how to send your email, how to manage bounces, and unsubscribes. If you choose to learn these things the hard way, I can guarantee you are going to be accused of spam along the way.

The best alternative is an ebook written by Corey Rudl of the Internet Marketing Center. It has been updated in 2006 by IMC's new CEO Derek Gehl. It features everything you need to know in order to run your email list responsibly and profitably.

Good Luck with your business,

Brent Crouch

Posted by: Brent Crouch on 18 Apr, 20072 Comments »