Spam
Filters Run-Amuck
- Is Your Message Getting Through?
Warning:
If you publish an online newsletter or mail to any opt-in
list (including your customer list), it is critical that
you read this...
From
Timothy A. Gross, Executive Director - Educated Media, LLC
Dear
friends;
I'm
sure you already know that your opt-in lists (of customers,
subscribers, etc) are someof the most valuable assets of
your business.
You've
probably also heard that there are some Spam filters programs
and scripts that may stop recipients from receiving certain
email messages sent out.
Spam
Filters Are Blocking Your Non-Spam Emails
What
you probably don't know is how insanely broad-based
and indiscriminately these program filters tag messages
as spam and delete them automatically.
It's
one thing to talk about this in vague terms; It's another
to see the facts. This article is not intended to debate
the merits of spam filters or the nuisance of spam.
I've
never had much interest in debating how things "should
be" in business... I simply work at having the most
accurate understanding of how things actually are
to best serve my marketing clients and customers.
Here's
The Reality Of The Situation
As
spam email continues to increase and become more problematic,
more and more attempts will be made - at both individual
and group levels - to filter these messages.
Unfortunately,
in order to for these filters to block out a good percentage
of spam, they are deleting non-spam messages as well. "Throwing
the baby out with the bathwater", so to speak.
The
filters look for certain words like "XXX, porn,
Bizop, $$$, things like that, and delete them on the
(probably valid) assumption that they're spam.
However,
They Don't Stop There...
Below
are the actual "Spam Filter" terms built in to
Mcafee Spam Killer. To see it in action (and to watch a
lot of mail you wanted to receive get "zapped and deleted",
download it at www.download.com .
| Here
are some chilling examples of what words and phrases
can trigger a supposed "Spam Filter" and get
your email deleted! (offending phrases are highlighted
in blue) |
| "Grandma,
guess what, I won a free cruise"
(ZAP) |
| "Thanks
for considering me for the job opening. It was great
meeting with you, and thank you for your
time and interest."
(ZAP) |
| "Honey,
remember when I told you that before you saw me next
I was going to lose weight?
Well guess what... (ZAP)
|
...So
apparently, it's now considered Spam to tell your Grandma
that you won something, to thank a potential employer for
meeting with you... Or even to tell your husband you're
going to look sexy for him when he gets back from his trip.
(smile)
Business
Email
Now
let's look at what Mcafee Spam Filter (as an example) will
zap in responsible opt-in subscriber/customer email correspondence:
| Business
Email Correspondence Zapped: |
| "Here's
the top risk factors of heart attacks you requested.
For more important information, visit
our website." (ZAP)
|
| "We
hope you've found this new information on battling depression
to be helpful. In a crisis situation, call the Suicide
Hotline at 1-800-SUICIDE.
" (ZAP)
(That's right... Putting "1-800" in your
email will get it deleted!) |
| "Thank
you for your purchase. You can
call toll free to our customer support free hotline
if you have any problems."
(ZAP) |
| "And
remember, it's satisfaction guaranteed.
" (ZAP) |
| "...sent
out by request only. If this message
has reached you in error..." (ZAP)
|
| "Here's
the information you requested,
I hope it..." (ZAP)
|
| "This
online newsletter goes out by subscription only. If
you wish to cancel your subscription, click
here to be removed."
(ZAP) |
| "I
have a 100% Free gift
for you as a thank-you for being a valued customer."
(ZAP) |
Uh...
So you can't help people avoid heart attacks, keep them
from preventing suicide, or send them a 100% free gift as
a personal thank-you. What's the world coming to? (smile
again)
Are
You Starting To Get The Picture?
Unless
you actually have a list of "spam triggers" in
front of you to use as a reference, it can be fairly hard
to get a message through to someone who has a spam filter
in place, whether the filter has been installed voluntarily
by the end-user, or whether their ISP or Service Provider
has one in place for all their users which functions
automatically.
A
more comprehensive list of "trigger words" is
listed below. First, let's talk about how this affects you
and what you can do about it.
- Be
aware of trigger words and phrases that can get your message
deleted in ALL of your correspondence. Pay close attention
to opt-out phrases (to be removed...), there are a lot
of variations of those that'll get you zapped. Unfortunately,
the clear opt-out instructions of legitimate newsletter
publishers are the exact wordings that are set to trigger
Spam Killers.
- When
in doubt, don't send your entire newsletter by email (which
may contain "trigger words"). Just email your
list and say, "Your newest newsletter issue is available
to read by click here. In this issue, we show you 7 ways
to get a better nights' sleep, and 3 methods of getting
extra energy in the afternoon. Click here to read it now.
(In other words, you'll probably get higher readership
if you "tempt" your readers with what they'll
get, instead of just saying, "click here for the
newest issue".
- An
alternative is just to be extremely careful in your newsletters
and mailings regarding specific words, phrases, and opt-out
notices. Don't mention free gifts, toll-free numbers,
special offers, don't say "visit our website",
use an unusual unsubscribe statement, and proceed as usual.
If you're in the Bizopp, weight loss, or
MLM field, you you have even more challenges. Those
actual words are on the list, as well as related ones.
;-)
- Be
very aware of 3rd party opt-out notices if you're doing
Joint Ventures, cross-promotions, or opt-in email advertising!
You may write a well-crafted letter that avoids all potential
spam trigger words, work out a Joint Venture endorsement
with someone else's list, and have them mail your offer
to their list with a heading the ad that triggers spam
filters like artillery fire:
| "This
is not a spam email.
(1) To be removed,
click here.(2)
Free gift (3)
and free consultion
(4) if you respond now". |
That disclaimer/notification box triggered
4 separate spam filters in McAfee Spam Killer, as noted
above.
- Warning:
If you do any paid advertising to opt-in lists, do NOT
expect the list owner to be familiar with the spam filter
words and phrases listed here (I've checked).
I
hope you've found this article useful... I received an email
from a newsletter subscriber previously who was emailing
me to thank me for my newsletter being so helpful, and he
casually mentioned that his spam filter had deleted my newsletter
email automatically, but that luckily he "recovered"
it and read it.
I'm glad he emailed me to let me know.
Most
people who don't receive your emails due to spam blocking
NEVER see it. And if they do, they're not going to go to
the trouble to warn you that you were blocked by a spam
filter.
How
many emails of yours are "missing in action" due
to spam filter deletion? It's hard to say. But what's obvious
is that spam filters will become more prevalent and aggressive
in the future. If you can avoid the problem by following
the simple steps I've listed above, you'd be crazy not to.
If
you have any personal experience on this subject, I'd love
to hear it. Email your comments to feedback@iprofitsystems.com
A
more complete list of Spam Filter triggers is below. There
are different ones for email subject lines, "To:"
field, and body text. I've omitted the obvious ones that
you shouldn't have to worry about, like "free porn"
and obnoxious things of that nature.
Here
is a sampling of the filters for the "Header"
field. If ANY of the following words/phrases are found by
McAfee Spam Killer, your email is history.
| Subject
Line Filter Terms |
| Contains
$$$ |
"100%
free" |
| Contains
word "ad" |
apply
now |
| Earn
$ |
earn
extra cash |
| explode
your business |
double
your income |
| eliminate
debt |
extra
income |
| f
r e e |
fast
cash |
| financial
freedom |
financially
independent |
| free
gift |
free
info |
| free
membership |
free
offer |
| home
based |
homebased
business |
| income
from home |
increase
sales |
| increase
your sales |
incredible
deal |
| info
you requested |
information
you requested |
| internet
market |
limited
time offer |
| make
$ |
opportunity |
| web
traffic |
weight
loss |
| online
marketing |
save
$ |
| Body
Text Filter Terms |
| 1-800 |
1-888 |
| 100%
free |
100%
guarantee |
| remove |
:remove |
| accept
credit cards |
as
seen on tv |
| be
considered spam |
be
your own boss |
| below
is the result of your feedback form |
buy
recommendation |
| call
toll free |
cash
in on |
| click
here for removal |
click
here to be removed |
| click
here to remove |
collect
your $ |
| confidentiality
assured |
credit
card # |
| custom
quote |
dear
homeowner |
| dear
fellow entrepreneur |
debt
free |
| deleted
from further communication |
earn
extra income |
| email
marketing |
excluded
from our mailing |
| f
r e e |
featured
on tv |
| for
permanent remove |
free
consultation |
| free
cruise |
free
free free |
| free
yourself |
further
transmission |
| future
mailing |
future
promotion |
| get
out of debt |
get
your free sample |
| great
internet services |
hair
loss product |
| home
based business |
home
business opportunity |
| home
shopping |
homebased
business |
| increase
your revenue |
information
you requested |
| joke
of the day |
life
insurance quote |
| limited
time offer |
lose
inches |
| lose
weight |
mailto:remove |
| mailto:unsub |
making
money online |
| message
has reached you in error |
message
is being sent in full compliance |
| message
is sent in compliance |
money
back guarantee |
| money
on the internet |
no
obligation |
| one
time mailing |
onetime
mailing |
| one
time message |
online
promotion |
| please
respond with remove |
r
e m o v e |
| reached
you in error |
receive
this message in the future |
| received
this email because |
received
this email by mistake |
| received
this in error |
received
this message in error |
| receiving
this special offer |
receiving
this email because |
| receiving
this message because |
receiving
this special offer |
| reduce
body fat |
removal
information |
| removal
instructions |
remove
as the subject |
| remove
in subject |
remove
in the subject |
| remove
me in the subject |
remove
on the subject line |
| remove
request |
remove
you from our mail |
| remove@ |
removed
from any further mail |
| removed
from future offer |
removed
from our in-house mailing |
| removed
from our list |
removed
from our mailing |
| removed
from this mailing |
respond
with the word remove |
| satisfaction
guaranteed |
special
offer message |
| subject
line of remove |
this
is not a spam |
| this
is not spam |
this
message is not spam |
| this
message is sent in compliance |
to
be deleted from our database |
| to
be removed click |
to
be removed email |
| to
be removed from future mail |
to
be removed from our database |
| to
be removed from our email list |
to
be removed go to |
| to
be removed mailto |
to
be removed please click |
| to
be removed reply to this message |
to
be removed send an email |
| to
be removed send email |
to
be removed send mail |
| to
be taken off |
to
remove from mailing |
| visit
our web site |
visit
our website |
| webmasters
only |
with
the subject remove |
| work
from home |
you
have won |
| you
wish to be removed |
your
business on the Internet |
| your
email removed |
your
time and interest |
The following are filter words for the "To:" address
of an email. In other words, if you have a subscription
list of just email addresses and you arbitrarily set the
name of the senders as "friend" or "everyone",
some spam filters will block your mail. In other words don't
do a mailing linke this:
"Friend"
<subscriber1@iprofitsystems.com
"Friend" <subscriber2@iprofitsystems.com
etc., etc
| "To":
Email address Filter Terms |
| everyone |
fellow
marketer |
| friend |
netmarketer |
| nobody |
winner |
On a final note: You CAN customize McAfee
Spam Filter to only delete email based on your own criteria,
and you can delete whatever built-in filters it comes with,
but please don't email me to tell me that the program can
be a useful tool when 'tweaked right".
The
purpose of this report is to discuss how to avoid having
your business emails automatically deleted by others,
not how to customize a spam killer program to work better
for you personally.
Disclaimer:
This report is in no way meant to "bash" McAfee
Spam Killer specifically over any other spam filters available
on the market. It was referenced in this report as an example
and point of reference.
To
your success, Timothy A. Gross - Executive Director, Educated Media, LLC
Related
Articles:
How
To Trick Spammers By Bouncing
Back Fake "Undeliverable" Email Notices So They
Remove Your Email Address
The
TWO WORDS That Can Answer Many Of Your Biggest Online
Marketing Challenges
How
To Get More Done In Less Time
The Best Trick I Know To Improve Your Productivity
