Can you still make money from email marketing?

I guess we have all pretty much worked out the basics of a decent email campaign, along the lines of

Attention grabbing headline
Carefully worded body text with clear call to action
Offer value
Build relationship and hope that your list gets to know, like & trust you
Sell valuable products down the line and receive a hard won commission

BUT...
All that comes to nought if your prospect/ subscriber doesn't actually receive the email! And unfortunately, that is becoming more and more the case.

Today's spam filters are becoming (excessively) aggressive. Personally, I use an premium online mail service at mail dot com. I made the change from Incredimail some time ago as the task of backing up my emails was becoming a pain in the but. Now my emails are floating in the cloud and someone else runs enterprise level back up – end of problem (or is it?).

The thing about this system is that I can amalgamate up to 10 email accounts into the one interface and even have them go to separate folders if I want. In other words, I don't have to log into 10 email accounts, only one.

Great time saver no doubt. But take my Gmail accounts. Because I don't log into the Gmail interface I never see the spam folder. I took a peek in there just the other day and was horrified at just what was in there – stuff I really want to see! Will I die without it – probably not. Is it useful – most definitely.

So, if we legitimate marketers with real value to offer think of ourselves as the modern equivalent of The Pony Express (the mail must get through) we seriously need to maximize our chances of our message actually being delivered to the intended inbox (never mind actually getting it read and acted upon!).

So, what can we do to help ensure that email marketing HAS NOT crashed and burned. I want to share with you what I'm doing in this post.

Avoid “spammy”words in emails
The following is a list I put together and tend to refer to in my solo ads business. I doubt if it's comprehensive but a good guideline nonetheless:

1. Words such as "guarantee(d)", "free," "opportunity," "multi-level marketing," "compare rates" "free installation." "no charge." "Click Here" "money" "porn" "xxx" "casino" "Nigeria"

2. Long links with a lot of characters

3. Missing your-Company Name, Your Name, Website address, Country, Street Phone number on the email footer.

4. EXCESSIVE CAPITAL LETTERS (i.e. BUY MY STUFF)

5. Excessive punctuation !!!, ???, $$$

6. Excessive use of $$, and other symbols

7. Misleading subject line. Always match your subject line to your email content and never use spam tactics like Re:

(this is a big one simply because you never want to use a tactic to get subscribers to read your email that will inevitably make them get mad or leave them with a bad taste in their mouth after they read the body of your message)

8. Multiple "click heres"

9. Too Many Colors or, more specifically, Sales Colors (red, yellow, green)

Whitelist
More and more email servers are setting up roadblocks to avoid unwanted emails cluttering your inbox. Unfortunately, they can also treat mail you actually want to receive as "spam".

Fortunately, you can "whitelist" URLS with your email server to make sure they get delivered.

I've made a list of how to whitelist with 5 of the main providers. If your provider isn't listed, you should pretty much be able to work out how to whitelist desired emails from the info provided.

Additionally. If you want your prospects and customers to receive your emails (of course you do) – you need to make them aware of this information.

AOL
Gmail
Hotmail
Yahoo
Mozilla Thunderbird

AOL
If you are using AOL, you can ensure that mail is delivered to your inbox by setting your Mail Controls. Here's how:

1. Go to Mail Controls
2. Select the screen name we're sending your email to
3. Click Customize mail Controls for this screen name

For AOL version 8.0:
Select allow email from all AOL members, email address and domains.
1. Click next until the save button shows up at the bottom
2. Click save

If you haven't received an email from the desired address yet:

Please add the "From address" to your AOL address book:
1. Click the Mail menu and select Address Book.
2. Wait for the "Address Book" window to pop up, then click the Add button.
3. Wait for the "Address Card for New Contact" window to load.
4. Paste the desired email address into the "Other E-Mail" field.
5. Make the desired address the "Primary E-Mail" address by checking the associated check box.
6. Click the Save button.

If you have already received an email from the desired address:

If the desired address is in your AOL Spam Folder, please open the email and then click the This Is Not Spam button. Next, please add the desired address into your Address Book as described above.

GMAIL
If you haven't received a message from the desired email address yet, add the email address to your Gmail Contacts List:

1. Click Contacts along the left side of any Gmail page.
2. Click Add Contact.
3. Copy and paste or enter the desired email adress into the primary email address dialog box.
4. Click Save.

How to check if the desired email is in the "spam" folder:
1. Click Spam along the left side of any Gmail page.
2. Check-mark the box next to the desired email.
3. Click Not Spam button along the top.

HOTMAIL
If you are using Hotmail, add the desired email address to your Hotmail Safe List. Here's how:

1. Open your mailbox and click "Options" (upper right hand corner).
2. Click the "Junk E-Mail Protection" link (top of page).
3. Select the "Safe List" link (2nd from bottom).
3. In the space provided (labeled "Type and address or domain", enter the desired email address.
4. Click "Add"
5. When you see the address you entered in the Safe List box, click OK

If you have received a message from the desired email address:

1. If the desired email is in your Junk E-Mail Folder, open the email and click the Not Junk button.
2. Next, check to see if the desired email address is in your Blocked Senders list.
If you see the desired email address on this list, select it and click the Remove button.
3. Finally, if you have not done so, add the desired email address into your Safe List as outlined above.

YAHOO
To ensure your desired email is delivered to your Yahoo inbox (not the Bulk Mail or Junk Mail folder), you can instruct Yahoo to filter it to your inbox. Here's how:

1. Open your Yahoo mailbox
2. Click Mail Options (upper right hand corner).
3. Click filters
4. Next, click add filter (may also be add link)
5. In the top row, labeled From Header: make sure contains is selected in the pull-down menu.
6. Click in the text box next to that pull-down menu, then enter the desired email address.
(Please select the email address from the list provided, if available).
7. At the bottom, where it says Move the message to: select Inbox from the pull-down menu.
8. Click the Add Filter button again.

If you have received a message from the desired email address:
1. If the email is getting stuck in your Yahoo Bulk Folder, please open
the email and click the Not Spam button.
2. Next, check to see if the email address is in your "Blocked Addresses" list. If you see the desired email address on this list, select it and click the Remove Block button.
3. Lastly, please set up a filter as outlined above.

MOZILLA THUNDERBIRD
If you haven't received a message from the desired email address yet:
You will need to add the desired email address to your Thunderbird Address Book and configure your Junk Mail Controls to white list your address book.

1. Click the Address Book button.
2. Make sure the Personal Address Book is highlighted.
3. Click the New Card button. This will launch a New Card window that has 3 tabs: Contact, Address & Other.
4. Under the Contact tab, copy and paste the desired "From" address, add the desired email address into the Email dialog box.
5. Click OK.

If you have received a message from the desired email address:
1. Please check your Junk folder to see if desired emails have been mistakenly placed there.
2. To prevent this from happening in the future, you need to mark the desired email as not junk. Do this by right-clicking on our newsletter and choose "Mark -< As Not Junk".

White list your Personal Address Book:
1. From the main drop down menu, select "Tools -< Junk Mail Controls..."
This will launch the Junk Mail Controls window that has two tabs: Settings and Adaptive Filter.
2. Under the Settings tab, update the "White Lists" module by selecting Personal Address Book from the pull down menu and then check mark the box next to "Do not mark messages as junk mail". Click OK.

On the next screen, click the “Approve Sender” check box next to the email from the desired email address
Click the “Approve Selected Senders” button

But, what to do if you're already blacklisted!!!

Would you even know?

There are a number of useful services on the web you can use to check this out.

Just Google “how do I find out if my email address is blacklisted” or similar.

That's pretty much what I had to say – hope it helps

What are YOU doing in YOUR business??