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                 ** DEMC ** Volume IX No. 6 **
        The Truth About Legitimate Email Marketing!
          Serving the Internet Since November 1995

Quote for today:

"A problem well stated is a problem half solved."
         - Charles F. Kettering
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What's In This Issue - Features

1) Editor's Note: "5 Steps To Combat Email Filters"
2) Email Marketing Insights: "News Fever--Why Big News is Good News for Your Business"
3) Feature Article: "How To Create a eMarketing Kit"
4) SOHO Help Desk: "Secrets of Mini Sites Success"
5) DEMC's - Advertising Information

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1.

Editor's Note:

"5 Steps To Combat Email Filters"

Practically everyday, I speak with a customer or receive an email like this one from Paul Davison of Exec Direct Intl..

"Right now with filters and can-spam if I put the wrong word in my subject line I can't even email my brother on AOL! His hotmail doesn't get it either."

Filters are making email marketers mad and with good reason. According to Jupiter Research 17% of permission email is being erroneously blocked. Jupiter Research predicts that the cost of "false positives" - when legitimate commercial email is blocked as spam by filters - will rise dramatically in the coming years.

What's more ISPs and filter companies acknowledge that a percentage of the email they block as junk is actually legitimate email that's been stopped by mistake. But, ISPs defend their actions by pointing to the demands of their customers. Consumers want the spam stopped and their complaints about spam are a lot louder than their concerns that they may miss an email they requested.

It is increasing spam volumes which have lead consumers to trust and rely on their ISPs to act as the arbiter of what's good or bad email for their inboxes.

For permission email marketers the realization that ISPs control the fate of your email messages' delivery is discouraging to say the least and probably seem more like a nightmare!

So you may ask ... is there anything you can do to get your email past the ISPs filters and into your subscriber's inbox?

The good news is yes, you can take steps to improve the deliverability of your email. The bad news is, it's unlikely you will achieve 100% deliverabilty to your subscribers if you send any volume of email at one time.

In order to work on getting your email delivered the first step is to understand the 3 basic types of filters ISPs use to control email.

Content-Based Filters

The most common type of filter implemented by ISPs and filtering software is related to the content of your message. The body, subject and sender of the message are evaluated for spammy keywords and layout. If your message triggers a content based filter employed by an ISP, your message is going to be trashed.

In some cases, your message might make it to a "junk" folder but in many cases your message will not even be delivered to the recipient. In these instances the ISP just tosses your message and even if your subscriber has you "white listed", your message does not get delivered.

Blacklists Filters

Every email server is identified by a specific sending IP address. A number of Internet organizations compile lists of IP addresses about which they have received spam complaints. ISP administrators use multiple blacklists to filter out email.

Bigger ISPs like AOL maintain and use their own blacklist, while smaller ISPs use a combination of other's blacklists along with their own.

Unfortunately, every blacklist operator has differing views on what constitutes spam. As a results, according to Assurance Systems' research 75% of permission emailers are inaccurately identified as "spammers" by some blacklists.

Volume Filters

An ISP can block or filter your email into a bulk folder based upon volume. Again every ISP's volume determination is different. Some ISPs base volume on the number of messages you send per second, others on how many bounce messages you generate and some on overall incoming bandwidth. A volume filter does not care if your messages are spam or permission based, it simply is a protection mechanism the ISP has put into place to prevent overload.

I know, I know, after reading the details about filters, you probably are even more discouraged. But don't despair! The first step to solving a problem is to define it.

Now here are 5 steps you can take to combat filters and help your email get delivered.

1) Check your message's content for filter triggers.

As most ISPs rely heavily on content-filters to determine if your message is spam, make sure your message is free of filter triggers before you send it. Because each ISP uses a different type of content filter, it is best to check your message's content for deliverability to the major ISPs.

How can you do this quickly and easily?

I'm glad you asked ...

Today I'm pleased to announce a new email filter tester.

Delivery Checker is a free tool that lets you test your messages deliverability to the major ISPs - AOL, NetZero, Yahoo!, AT&T, MSN/Hotmail, Mail.com, Earthlink and Comcast.

With one simple test Delivery Checker will send your email out to accounts at the major ISPs. You'll know within minutes if your message is triggering an ISP's Content-Based Filter. Delivery Checker will also make recommendations on how to fix it.

You can use the tool freely and check the deliverability of all your email messages before you send them. http://www.sendfree.com/dchecker.html

Delivery Checker solves the content filtering problem.

What's more you can offer Deliver Checker on your site absolutely free.

That's right, if you want to make Delivery Checker freely available to your ezine subscribers, to your site visitors or to your group members you can. Just sign-up to get your free Delivery Checker test form http://www.sendfree.com/dchecker

Check out Delivery Checker and let me know what you think. I bet you're going to find it is an invaluable tool for beating the ISP's content filters!

2) Keep a clean list.

Offer an easy and obvious link for unsubscribing from your list and quickly delete any individual who asks to be removed.

Make a change of address form convenient to your subscribers. As email addresses have a short life span, you want to make sure your subscribers can update their information as needed.

Eliminate undeliverable and bad addresses immediately. Your list host or list mailing software should delete addresses which have a hard bounce after one or at most two failed attempts.

A clean list decreases the volume of messages you send, thus reducing the chances of an ISPs volume filter catching your email.

3) Follow best email practices.

Yes I've said it before, but I'll say it again as it is so critical. Double verify your list subscribers with confirmation emails. Single sign-up lists with just IP stamps often generate spam complaints. As a result of these complaints your sending IP address is likely to end up on a blacklist.

To illustrate how quickly complaints can cause filtering problems, lets consider how AOL maintains their blacklist. The AOL blacklist is based upon users clicking a "This Is Spam" link in their inbox. If your messages generate too many "This Is Spam" reports, your email gets blocked.

Another tactic you might consider is asking subscribers to reconfirm yearly. Reconfirmation, cleans your list of old unresponsive subscribers who may complain down the road because they've gotten tired of your messages. Plus having a smaller list helps you avoid those pesky volume filters.

4) Deliver what you promise.

You should be up front with potential list subscribers about both the content and frequency of your messages.

Your emails should provide the information for which your subscribers signed-up. If your subscribers sign-up for updates on shoes, you need to send shoe information. If your subscribers sign-up for updates on wine, you need to send wine information. Sending unrelated content is likely to lead to complaints.

In addition if you advertise your newsletter as weekly, only send out email once a week. A Double Click survey found that close to 2/3rds of consumers define spam as email that comes too often, even though that email may have been permission based or from a company with whom they've done business.

If your subscribers are being overwhelmed by your email, because they think it comes too frequently, your email will be labeled and reported spam.

As discussed, spam complaints lead to blacklisting and the filtering of your messages. So be honest and careful with your subscribers to avoid this fate.

5) Use a reputable emailer to deliver messages to your list.

(SendFree, http://www.sendfree.com is a great choice! )

You should request from your list host the IP addresses of their mail servers. Check the IP addresses for proper reverse DNS lookup. And investigate to see if the IP addresses are blocked by numerous blacklists as spam sources. You can run these test on an IP at - http://www.dnsstuff.com .

Keep in mind practically all permission email marketers are likely to be on at least one blacklist. You want to make sure that your list host is not blacklisted by many.

I would strongly recommend that you do not send your messages yourself using a desktop mailer. As desktop mailers lack a properly configured IP which is a sure way to trigger filters.

Should you have the resources you may want to invest in your own server and software for delivering messages to your list. But keep in mind this is a more expensive and complex option.

To wrap up, if you've been frustrated by ISP filters hurting your email marketing results, take steps to stop the problem. Follow the guidelines I've outlined for combating filters and use Delivery Checker to test your email messages deliverability before you send them. You can still make email marketing work and work well for your business with proper execution.

Abbie Drew
DEMC Editor
mail@demc2.com

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2.

Email Marketing Insights:

* Exclusive *

"News Fever--Why Big News is Good News for Your Business"
By: Kevin Nunley

When are you more likely to stay up for the 10:00 news, or constantly flip the channel back to MSNBC? What makes you keep your radio tuned to your favorite news program? What makes you go out and buy a copy of the newspaper? Breaking news, of course!

When it seems like nothing interesting is going on in the world-- no wars, no crisis, no actors running for office- most people don't seek out the news. They listen to it if it's convenient, but they don't get "news fever," that undeniable urge to stay glued to NPR or read the paper cover to cover every morning.

But, as you know, during the last few years, people have been in an almost constant state of "news fever." Maybe it started with Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky. Maybe with the George W. Bush v. Al Gore election business. Who can say? Who cares? As long as it continues, business owners and entrepreneurs like you are set to benefit.

How can you benefit from breaking news? Well, let me tell you how it works. As I mentioned already, whenever there is breaking news--for the last couple of years it seems like every day brings another breaking story--people get "news fever." When this happens, they buy more newspapers, listen to more radio, watch more television news. But they don't just pay attention to the breaking news. When they get "news fever," they don't want to stop with the top stories. They want to hear or see every bit of news they can get.

This means that news programs, papers, and publications are on the lookout for interesting stories more than ever. It also means that if your business, product, or service receives publicity, people are going to pay that much more attention to it.

Don't wait until the big news breaks to send out your press release. These days, you can guarantee that big news is happening all the time. In fact, news networks and publications have become so used to the barrage of big news they've had to cover over the last couple of years, they are working hard to make anything into a top story.

This also comes at a time when most news staffs are smaller than ever with each member working longer hours. Make your story sound good, show how it will appeal to their kind of audience, and you can just about bet you'll get in the newspaper, on TV, or on radio.

Look up the web sites of media in your town, region, or those who cover news in your industry. Most have an email address or fax number they use to receive press releases. Make sure your release has some usable information and isn't just an ad.

Make a habit of sending out frequent press releases to media across the country. If there is nothing newsworthy going on with your business, do something to make it newsworthy. Take advantage of "news fever" before it starts to cool!

###
Kevin Nunley provides marketing advice and popular promotion packages. See his low-cost direct marketing and PR deals at http://DrNunley.com. Contact him at mailto:kevin@drnunley.com or 603-249-9519.

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3.

Feature Article:

* Exclusive *

"Email Marketing Systems to Help Boost Exposure and Profits... The Second System - eMarketing Kit"
By: Denise Ryder

There are TWO credo's that immediately come to my mind when I think of email marketing strategies. I want to share them with you and I really want you to write them down on a sticky note and keep them somewhere you will see them constantly.

Here they are...

1. How can I use this tactic so that I am always adding to or building a list?

By asking yourself this question you are putting yourself in a proactive state, which is fantastic! Many people are more reactive when it comes to their marketing efforts and reacting is like the little mouse running in that wheel in a cage, he spends all that time running and running and never gets anywhere. Its the same with people who are reactive, they spend all that time reacting and not getting anywhere with their marketing results.

2. You CAN'T market to a ghost

Hits to your site doesn't mean "jack" if they don't buy and if you don't have a tactic in place that will enable you to follow up with that traffic. If you can't capture an email address and a name, then all you are doing is marketing to ghosts.

There are 1000s of sites out there that don't have an effective way of capturing an email address and a name so that they can follow up and build a relationship with. Many of these sites are affiliate sites and because of the way they are set up you aren't able to make any changes to them. The way around that is to build your own theme-based site, add in your email marketing systems and of course your affiliate programs. It sounds hard, but it isn't and it shouldn't surprise you that all this is the exact strategy that the top affiliate profit earners use.

With that said, let's look at another system to have in place for the purpose of email marketing.

What we are going to do is put together a free eMarketing Kit which will consist of four items:

1. A newsletter subscription A newsletter is a fantastic way to follow up with a prospect and of course to further the development of trust and rapport with prospects, or as you have no doubt read about... "relationship marketing."

2. A Sponsor Announcement This can be an ad for your affiliate program or anything else that you are marketing.

3. An eCourse/Report Another list building tool for you, whether you go the eCourse route or the Report route the key points to remember is that: 1. the piece is information based and is going to help the prospect. 2. Load it into an autoresponder so that you can capture the name and email address.

4. A viral marketing tool This can be an ebook that is customized with your name, site address and/or email address. A prospect can have it for the cost of their name and email address and in return they can use it on their site. Now you have a name on a list and of course you are leveraging your marketing efforts through them. Take it one step further and offer your prospect the choice to customize your ebook with their information for a small fee and you have just added an income stream into the mix. Now how cool is that???

You write a "sales page" (yes, even for a freebie kit like this) and have the items in place with little graphics, lay it out so it looks professional and not just slapped together. Set up "A" pop-up and place it on your site and an enticement and of course write classified ads directing people to your free eMarketing Kit and you are away to the races.

-----NOTE-----
I know that people hate pop-ups but they do work. The unfortunate thing is that many went over-board with them and because of that it ruined it for the rest of us who use pop-ups properly. One pop-up is ok - try it and see how your return rate is.
------------------

This whole system takes about 30 minutes to maybe an hour tops to put together.

If you want to see a eMarketing System in place like this already then go to - http://www.profitspace.com/ib/instantboost.html Follow through the steps and learn how you can use this very same system on your site as well.

There you have it. A system that is so easy anyone, regardless of their level of internet experience can put together. It just takes 4 enticements that are easy enough to find and you're off to the races ;o)

###
Denise Ryder is a Marketing Coach writing from her home office in Northern Ontario (Canada). She is publisher of (ProfitSpace Newsletter ) and eCoach for The Marketing Brief a newsletter service that helps people build a list of their own. Download her report "How to Turn a Simple Sign Up Process Into An...Unstoppable Income Stream!"

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~/~ SOHO Help Desk ~\~
http://www.demc.com

"Secrets of Mini Sites Success"

Share a tip or answer a question and you'll get free exposure in DEMC!

You'll find today's Help desk contains a whole host of questions from DEMC readers who are looking for your help. Plus a subscriber shares his mini site success secrets.

Take a minute to review the questions and feedback below and then email me with any resources, thoughts, opinions or answer you may have.

Thanks in advance for sharing you small business expertise.

=== Help Request ===

From: Peter J. O'Lalor

Hello,

I am new to the internet marketing world. My business is simple; a recently published book. I don't know if people even see my site.
http://republicanvirtue.50megs.com/

Question(s):
1. What is an FFA?
2. Is there inexpensive ways to monitor how many people see your site?

Thank you
Peter J. O'Lalor

Send your answer to: mailto:helpdesk@demc2.com

=== Help Request ===

From: Stephen Othuke Agbaka

Hey friends! I am a lyricist and I have recently completed a series of lyrics that I would like to circulate. I need to know how to find a partner to help me promote and sell my work.

Thanks,

Stephen Othuke Agbaka
Lyricist

Send your answer to: mailto:helpdesk@demc2.com

=== Help Request ===

From: Codrut Turcanu

Has anyone exchanged "thank-you" pages with other publishers to GET a BOOST in their subscribers?

I'd like to know ...

1. what RESULTS you got using the above JV tactic?
2. how many subscribers do you GET daily to your eZine?
3. how many publishers do you swap with?

Thanks,
Codrut Turcanu.
http://www.BizMarketingSecrets.com

Send your answer to: mailto:helpdesk@demc2.com

=== Mini Sites Success Tip ===

From: Valerian Dinca

"Secrets of Mini Sites Success"

Creating a mini site is the hottest ways to market on the net right now. Usually a mini site means one or more pages focused on the same theme. The purpose of a mini site is to attract visitors, to present the product and to ask them to buy. Because mini sites aren't very large and do not use special graphics, anyone can create one.

Here are some tricks that will help you to achieve success with mini sites:

1. Choose a domain name which is descriptive.
Having a descriptive name, immediately lets people know what your site is about, and they can easily recall it later. In addition, a domain name that contains keywords will improve your site's ranking in the search engines.

2. Avoid the one page mini sites.
If you intend to use search engines to get traffic you will need multiple pages in order to get a decent ranking. The idea is to fill 3 - 4 pages with useful content

3. No external links.
Your intent should be to keep the visitor on your site. Do not give him the chance to go away through an external link.

4. Link to it from another site.
A link pointing to your mini site means that somebody is interested in it. Many search engines won't index your site if it is not linked to from another site. To avoid this problem, have another website link to your mini site.

5. Lead the visitor to the point of sale.
Making a sale is the most important part of your site. You want to convert as much traffic into sales as possible. Your copy should emphasize the benefits of your product. Don't be neutral, your recommendation is more convincing than any other factor. And do not forget to invite people to order. Do not hesitate to say "Order Here Now".

###
Valerian Dinca has been around long enough to know what works and what doesn't. Go to <http://www.valerianplanet.com> a site devoted to providing news and information of interest to online marketers.

===

If you have a valuable tip, promotional idea, question or answer you would like included in an upcoming issue of DEMC, all you have to do is submit it by email to - mailto:helpdesk@demc2.com

Be sure to include your SIG and contact URL with your post as we'll be sharing any viable ideas/information in an upcoming issue of DEMC E-Magazine.

======================

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