Wham spam, thank you maam

Why did my email not get &#$ delivered? Have you ever said that to yourself? I have and it's one of those huge topics in email marketing right now that you really need to understand before you start creating that amazing email offer that will turn your compoany into the next Google. Ok ok, maybe not Google. How about the next great paper airplane factory that you started in your parent's basement? That will do.

Before you send out that email which explains why your paper airplaines are better than your friend across the street (or your grandma's), you need to test that email out. Larry Chase has an excellent email newsletter and he provides some awesome resources for this task:

• Bl@cklist Checker: Check to see if Grandma has had your IP blacklisted
  
• Sp@mCheck Tool: Use this free resource to check if your emails will get past those nasty ass spam filters
• Messaging News: Get all of the latest news on email deliverability here and see what's written on how well that great 3D fly-by you made in Flash for an email that was supposed to look like Top Gun but with a paper airplane. Also check out Trim Mail for more exciting news (zzzzz).
• Also check out: Lyris, W3C Validator to test your content
  

This is just the tip of the iceberg so if you want to get down and dirty, good luck with that. I recommend using the Spamcheck tool to ensure that your email has been optimized and doesn't have stupid words like "Free!" and going with a good email ASP. Let them worry about deliverability for you while you worry about selling your crappy paper airplanes.

Chad H.

PS - Thanks again Larry Chase
PPS - Here's a good article from ClickZ on tips to improve deliverability

Technorati tags: spam, ham, email deliverability, Larry Chase