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Sending Millions of E-mails to: Hotmail, Yahoo, Gmail. How to get Whitelisted and not Blacklisted?

by Andrew Davis
7 replies
Hello everyone! Thanks for reading.

My friend and I have been working on our own online company for nearly 2 years now.
It is a Social Network: http://iorbix.com/
Should be released for Beta Testing this week.

Since we will be a Social Network, we will be sending Thousands of E-mail messages per week, and would reach to eventually, Millions per month once we are growing well.

So my question is to you Experts, and all those knowledgeable about this field:
How can we avoid being Blacklisted?

and not only that...
How can we become White-listed by the Major E-mail Service Providers? (Hotmail, Yahoo, Gmail).


Our Server Hosting Company gave us the following advice so far: (The Rep is talking on behalf of the Feedback from Microsoft, about getting white-listed).
They also say that you can fill out Email Delivery Optimization: Email Deliverability Manager from Return Path. This is the only whitelist that Hotmail uses.
That link redirects to here: Improve Email Deliverability, Avoid Blacklists with Email Delivery Solutions from Return Path

Does anyone know about/use this service?
Is this the only way you can really become white-listed by Hotmail, Yahoo Etc...?

I'm guessing that some of you Marketing gurus around here, must have sent Hundreds of Thousands, or Millions of e-mail messages to Clients.

Our normal e-mails will Not be for advertising, they will be in the Form:
Andrew sent you a new Message
Andrew sent you a new Comment
Andrew added you as a Friend

These will be Notification e-mails, not trying to get people to sign up or buy something.


According to this Page: Email Delivery Optimization: Email Deliverability Manager from Return Path
Fees & Pricing
To be Certified, we may need to start off with the Annual fee of: $440
Then Upgrade to: $1,375, then $2,750, as we grow.
What is the difference between Safe and Certified?

Safe senders have proven to be trustworthy and responsible entities that meet the rigorous standards required by the program. By becoming a Safe sender, you are identifying yourself to the receiver world and receive preferential treatment at over 300 million inboxes. Some Safe senders, whose email performance ranks you among the "best of the best", receive the expanded benefits of Certified as well. IP addresses on the Certified list provide the additional benefit of preferential treatment at over 1.8 billion inboxes worldwide including Yahoo! and Hotmail and leading cable providers and ISPs. View all the program benefits, including having images and links automatically enabled at Hotmail and Yahoo!

So do you guys think we should be paying these fees just to be white-listed as this site is claiming?

Can't we just "Keep Clean" and build a good reputation, and be white-listed without paying for it?

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I have one more Question set.

If we also wanted to Invite Thousands-Millions of people to our Social Network service, via Contact Importer (Where our users fill out the Addresses of their friends, and we send those Friends Invites to their E-mail).

Is this Considered Spam?

How can we send these Invites without being Blacklisted?
Does anyone know the "Detector" limits for Yahoo/Hotmail/Gmail?

Meaning, (if I send 100 e-mails over 120 seconds, we will be marked as a Threat/Spam.)

Where can I learn the best information about these limits? Please lead me where I can learn more about "Email Marketing safely".

Thanks very much for your time and your help!
#blacklisted #emails #gmail #hotmail #millions #sending #whitelist #whitelisted #yahoo
  • Profile picture of the author Andrew Davis
    Hi,
    No one has any knowledge on this Topic?

    My partner and I are still deciding whether or not we should pay to be Certified on a White-list for E-mail services.

    We would like to make this important decision by tomorrow, any feedback would be appreciated.

    (I didn't see any rule against Double posting, sorry if I broke any rule here).
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    Owner of: TrinSite, iOrbix, DesignCoverPhoto, KeywordCompetition ...and other Businesses


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  • Profile picture of the author Profit-smart
    You need to work with a company that specializes in this sort of thing; not just some techies with a server farm.


    I would contact Aweber directly; I do know their software can be integrated no problem with membership software/scripts, blogs, etc..

    It's not stretch to use their platform to confirm new accounts - and thus send out your newsletters.
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  • Profile picture of the author webpromotions
    I've heard decent things about ReturnPath's service, but I wouldn't stress too much about an email volume of 'thousands per week' as you mentioned. Even millions per month...as long as you get there gradually, you'll have established a decent sending rep on your own by the time you hit that volume.

    Just subscribe to each services feedback loops (you'll get notified whenever someone reports you as spam), and of course practice good sending procedures (double opt-in, only sending what your customers expect, etc), and you'll be fine.

    My main membership site currently sends between 2 and 2.5 million emails DAILY, and Gmail isn't a problem...I even do pretty darn good w/ Yahoo and Hotmail.

    The ISP mails are the toughest...Comcast, Bellsouth, etc.

    One thing to consider that might help in the long run - inform your users to make SURE they check their bulk/spam folder, and if they find your email(s) there, instruct them on exactly how to hit the 'not spam' button. Not sure about Yahoo and Hotmail, but I believe that Gmail kind of gives your sending server(s) a brownie point or 2 every time someone does this.

    In regards to your 'invite' question...I have no idea if its legally considered spam or not, but I sure as hell know I hit that 'report as spam' button as fast as I possibly can whenever I get one of those stupid invite or 'tell a friend' things.

    Just because I might have sent you an email a year or 2 ago doesn't give you the right to import my addy into every online invite system you come across.
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    • Profile picture of the author webpromotions
      Forgot to mention...

      Make sure you set up proper SPF records and domainkeys for your mail server(s). Takes only a few minutes...and those 2 steps alone will help significantly w/ your delivery rates.
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      • Profile picture of the author Ray Erdmann
        I would suggest getting in on a free webinar put on by a company called "Streamsend", based out of Sacramento, CA.

        Its host, Louis Chatoff, has years experience with working with all major ISP's and knows his sh** when it comes to helping small businesses w/their email deliver-ability, especially to Microsoft/Hotmail, Yahoo and AOL addresses!

        The link is here: Email Marketing Webinar - Deliverability


        Hope that helps?
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        "Whether you think you can or not...you'll always be 100% right!" |

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  • Profile picture of the author Jay F
    All of the major providers have in-house postmasters. Contact them directly and be diligent about following their guidelines.

    Postmaster | Yahoo! Postmaster Help
    Bulk Senders Guidelines - Gmail Help
    MSN Postmaster

    Good luck.
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    I'm working on some new things. So, nothing to promote just yet.

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    • Profile picture of the author Andrew Davis
      Hi everyone, thanks very much for the helpful replies!

      --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

      @ Profit-smart:

      The sentence I quoted for the "Rep" was actually based on the response he got from Microsoft itself. So it seems that Microsoft is telling us to use that service.
      I am surprised they don't have something more "Direct" of their own, so I thought I should ask you guys about this.

      The Hosting company we are using, is actually within the Top 5 if not the Best in the world I've found, and that particular Support guy seems to be a guru so far as the other assistance he has given us. (Level II Systems Administrator)

      I wasn't sure if this Company he refereed me to was some partner company, or something of the sort.

      I'll definitely be looking into "Aweber" today, I took a glace at it, but I don't think it has to do with "White-listing" or "Certifying" our sent E-mails.

      I think Aweber is more of a Software/Tool to Aid your Emailing tasks.

      Will check this out better, Thanks!

      --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

      @ Doug English

      You really covered everything nicely for me here!

      1)
      Originally Posted by Doug English

      as long as you get there gradually, you'll have established a decent sending rep on your own by the time you hit that volume
      This is what my partner and I was discussing today, and hoping to be a reality.

      So basically, we can start by paying for the White-listing service, to get Mails though (Hotmail is currently giving us trouble without it).

      Once we have built our reputability, we won't be needing to pay for the service again,
      I guess 1 year of subscription should be enough time, right?


      2
      Originally Posted by Doug English

      Just subscribe to each services feedback loops (you'll get notified whenever someone reports you as spam)
      Do you have the direct link of these "feedback loops" for at least Hotmail, Yahoo and Gmail?
      I never heard of these before, sounds great!
      I'll be searching around to find out about them.


      3
      Originally Posted by Doug English

      One thing to consider that might help in the long run - inform your users to make SURE they check their bulk/spam folder, and if they find your email(s) there
      Yup, we've certainly been aware of this important fact, and we Will implement this.


      4)
      Originally Posted by Doug English

      Just because I might have sent you an email a year or 2 ago doesn't give you the right to import my addy into every online invite system you come across.
      I hear you, we'll be careful about this aspect, and go into more research about safety practices.


      5)
      Originally Posted by Doug English

      Make sure you set up proper SPF records and domainkeys for your mail server(s)
      I haven't heard about this before, but we will research this thoroughly!


      Originally Posted by Doug English

      My main membership site currently sends between 2 and 2.5 million emails DAILY
      Whoa! You rock!!
      You must have an awesome business running, keep it up!

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      @ Ray Erdmann

      Thanks very much for that link!
      We'll be reading up and learning more about "Streamsend" today.

      --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

      @ Jay F

      Thanks greatly Jay!
      We'll be sure to review all the guidelines per service, and take lots of note.

      --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

      Thanks again everyone, you have all been very helpful to us!
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      Owner of: TrinSite, iOrbix, DesignCoverPhoto, KeywordCompetition ...and other Businesses


      Only $20! - >> Get your own PROFESSIONAL Facebook Timeline Cover << - Best Price - Best Quality
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