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Jan 26, 2005 1:15 am |
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My thoughts on Constant Contact re: Ezine service |
Scott Stratten
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I wrote a newsletter on this topic recently:
It's an uphill battle nowadays, trying to get your emails and newsletters out to your target market. Filters, triggers, etc.. make it that much harder to get a message to an intended, and permission-based recipient. But did you know that you might be listed in a spamming database, just from the place you picked to send out your emails? Keep reading where I show you proof... Not wanting to get too techno-geek on you, every time you send out a newsletter, it's has an IP address attached to it. If you use a 3rd party company to send out your ezine, you get an IP address from them, since they are the ones actually sending it out. You can have the most iron-clad, double permission-based newsletter list in the world, but as soon as some meathead decides to use the same service as you and starts spamming, that IP address gets put into a database where email providers consult to determine what is and is not spam. If you're IP is put in, you could be sending emails that are being put in a black-hole. You don't know they're being blocked, your clients/subscribers don't know you're sending anything. How do you find out if you're on that nasty list? First you have to determine what your IP address is for your newsletter. Open a recent issue in your email (I assume you're a subscriber to your own newsletter! I've subscribed to this one twice, because I enjoy it so much ;-) Now, I know in Outlook you have to open the newsletter, then go to View --> Options and you get a window open that shows message settings, and at the bottom it shows your newsletter "header" where all the techno-gunk is about that particular email. Mine has a line that says: Received: from localhost.localdomain (ezezine.com [69.10.143.72] Since EZezine.com is the company I use to send out my newsletter, that makes sense. Now I run it through a IP lookup service. Come and see the results here: http://www.dnsstuff.com/tools/ip4r.ch?ip=69.10.143.72 As you scroll down that list, you'll see no red highlights, meaning my fantastic provider, www.EZezine.com is not listed as a spam-house anywhere. Now look at a recent IP from a client of mine that uses Constant Contact for her distribution: http://www.dnsstuff.com/tools/ip4r.ch?ip=63.251.135.74 Yeouch! 17 places where she is considered to be a spammer. And we wondered why she had a low "open-rate" for her newsletters. If you can't figure out how to look at yours, drop me a line and I'll help you. Moral of the story: It's not good enough anymore to have a perfect permission-based list, you now need to police your provider. Especially if you're paying a good amount of coin for the service. That's why I love mine www.ezezine.com not only are they angelic when it comes to spam databases, they have the best rates out there. And nope, I don't make a pretty penny off of plugging them. I firmly believe in shouting from the rooftop when I find a great thing. Sincerely, Scott Stratten, President http://www.Un-Marketing.com Bringing customers to you... (905) 844-9421 PS - Please pass this on to anyone who sends out a newsletter.
Private Reply to Scott Stratten (new win) |
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