Have you given up on business email? Many businesses have. There’s so much spam around that Internet service providers have turned their spam filters up to high, and this means that legitimate email gets caught in the spam trap too.

Here’s how to combat spam filters:

* Avoid using words that spammers use – words like free, special offer, etc. Study your spam. There are fashions in spam, like everything else. If you get one spam message with the subject line “Hi”, you’ll get another 50 just like it. Watch what spammers are currently using as their subject lines, and make your subject lines different;

* Include your complete contact details (including phone numbers), in your message – spammers never do that;

* On your Contact, or About Us page on your Web site, mention the spam problem, and add a note: “Please add our company name to your email program’s Whitelist. If you do not hear from us within 24 hours of contacting us, please call [phone number]. Spam affects us all. Our apologies in advance for this hassle.”

* Follow up. If you sent a message to your mailing list, and the response is less than it should be, send another message. Make it different from the first. If you’re sending out an ezine or email newsletter, send out TWO – the second should have a Web address where your customers can read the online version, if the email version was caught in a spam trap.

[tags]write business email, spam, business communication[/tags]

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