Emailhead

Dr-411 Owner Faces 55 Years for Stealing Email Addresses

William Bailey, Jr, of Charlotte, North Carolina, faces a maximum possible sentence of 55 years in jail and $2,750,000 in fines if found guilty of illegally accessing the database and downloading contact details of 80,000 members of the American College of Physicians (ACP) in Philadelphia.

Bailey runs a website called dr-411.com, which sells professional organization member databases, including addresses and email addresses for doctors, dentists, lawyers and real estate agents, according to Sophos, a threat management company.

"Criminal spammers are supported by the unethical email list providers who have sprung up like mushrooms around them. Spammers need long lists of qualified email addresses to send their unwanted marketing messages to, and so are always on the lookout for unscrupulous agencies who may assist them," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos. "Those people who are prepared to work with spammers carry the stench of spam around with them, and if found guilty should be punished appropriately. The public demands firm action from the authorities to investigate cases like this."

Unsubscribe Link Only Universally Adopted Email Best Practice

Email marketers have yet to adopt widely accepted best practices -except those required by the CAN-SPAM Act, according to an EmailLabs study (PDF). Inclusion of a working unsubscribe link, required by the CAN-SPAM Act, was the only best practice to be universally adopted.

The company analyzed whether emails incorporated best practices, such as a design that takes into account the preview pane and blocked images, and whether or not they included a link to a profile update, a link to a privacy policy and a forward-to-a-friend button, among others. The top three most widely ignored practices involved including a subscription or administration center, providing a site-search function in the email itself, and including a forward-to-a-friend link.

By industry, travel companies - including airlines, hotels and booking agents - had the highest adoption rates of the 18 best practices considered in the audit, scoring six top ratings and none of the lowest ratings. Financial marketers like credit card companies, mortgage brokers and banks - who rely on trustworthy emails to be delivered to the recipient's inbox - performed the worst of all market segments.

Other adoption trends among the market segments:

-- Travel marketers are increasingly using the subscription link function, allowing customers to easily update their email and personal information.

-- Publishers increasingly optimize their messages for preview panes and blocked images, and incorporate a subscribe link in the email to make it easy for people who've received the original email from a friend to subscribe.

-- The financial services market adopted the least best practices of all the industry segments audited.

Don't Piss Off the Customer

Good Email Insider article today that discusses the shift from simple systems centered on the "authentication" of email marketers' IP addresses to an email marketer's "reputation" now being the chief determinant of whether their emails will get through.

My favorite common sense opinion in the article comes from George Bilbrey, general manager of deliverability services for Return Path: "In the end, if you treat your customer right, you'll have a good reputation." And the requirements are pretty simple, he went on: "If you're using authentication and sender ID, and you keep your complaints low and you're not getting spam traffic queries... you'll be okay... Anyone who is using authentication and has developed a good reputation will have their mail delivered."

That about sums it up. We can complicate the issue with other declarations: ask for permission, authenticate, don’t send too many emails, give customers something of value, etc. But here’s the Business 101 point of view: don’t piss off your customers.

AOL Adopts Goodmail, 15 ESPs Follow

Goodmail Systems on Monday announced that 15 major email service providers have agreed to use its email accreditation service after AOL quietly launched Goodmail's CertifiedEmail last week after months of controversy, DM News reports (via MediaBuyerPlanner.com). More are likely to get on the bandwagon since 15 of the 25 major players, such as Epsilon Interactive and ExactTarget, have already signed up.

The ESPs that have signed up to offer Goodmail's CertifiedEmail to their corporate customers include BlueStreak, Acxiom Digital, e-Dialog, Epsilon Interactive, ExactTarget, Exmplar, Harte-Hanks Postfuture, Premiere Global Services, Responsys, Silverpop, SmartDM, TailoredMail, Yesmail, Whatcounts, and Zustek.

Those ESPs account for 50 billion email messages a year, according to John Ouren, SVP of sales and business development for Goodmail. "We've got what we estimate to be 70 percent of the leading full-service providers. And in terms of the top 25, we're in discussions with everyone else," he said.

The CertifiedEmail system consists of two components. First, an accreditation and reputation monitoring service validates that senders are legitimate corporations managing the best opt-in email practices with the lowest consumer complaint rates. Second, approved senders have their messages individually stamped with a unique cryptographically secure token that ensures consumers that the messages are from the represented sender.

Kids' No-Email Bill Killed

The Georgia bill that would have established a kid's do-not-email registry died last week, writes Multichannel Merchant (via Mediabuyerplanner.com). Similar bills in Connecticut, Iowa, Wisconsin, Hawaii and Illinois have been killed as well.

Current bills in Michigan and Utah have established children's do-not-email list and threaten email that contains legal adult content. They let parents and guardians register minors' "contact points" and email addressed as off limits to adult material. The bills also allow parents to sue, scaring away marketers in those states from making pitches containing product references such as automobiles and airplane glue.

E-Mailers Cool Down on Goodmail, Lawmakers Heat Up

Though the controversy over AOL’s use of Goodmail CertifiedEmail has subsided in the e-mail industry, nonprofit and advocacy groups — as well as a state lawmaker in California — continue to express concerns, DMNews reports.

The latest opposition came last week from California state Sen. Dean Florez, who called for a closer look at the program.

“It seems to me that AOL is setting a horrible precedent here,” said Florez, a Democrat. “The whole idea of Net Neutrality gets wiped away, and we are left with an Internet of haves and have-nots.”

Florez told DM News that he wants Yahoo and AOL technical experts to explain how Goodmail and its fees will work at a March 28 hearing. He also wants AOL to explain the program before it rolls out in April. Yahoo plans to implement a CertifiedEmail program in a few months as well.

Anti-Spam Gadget Debuts

One of the first anti-spam hardware appliances for individuals (and the only one that requires no monthly fee) debuts in two weeks, writes the New York Times (via MarketingVOX). Spam Cube, a plastic cube four inches on a side and available in white, black, silver, pink or yellow, sells for $150 and is installed between an Internet connection and router or computer. It intercepts all incoming email and compares it with a constantly evolving database of spam knowledge.

SpamCube developers say unlike anti-spam software or web-based applications, Spam Cube won't slow down PCs, and there's no software to install, troubleshoot or update. Spam Cube's artificial-intelligence circuitry will, over time, allow it to fine-tune its database to counter evolving spammer tactics.

The company says that, at the outset, the Spam Cube ought to achieve 90-95 percent accuracy and over time accuracy will improve to 98 percent.

Five Simple Steps to Creating Successful Email Blasts

Got a hot new product on the market? A special deal for loyal customers? An event your clients won't want to miss? Well-timed email blasts -- one-time emails sent to your house list -- effectively inform your customers and clients of important news, product announcements, or special offers.

Do it the right way and you can increase customer loyalty, awareness, or ROI. But if you miss the mark, you can harm -- even destroy -- your hard-won relationships.

Follow these 5 steps to creating successful email blasts.

Step #1. Value
The only reason to send an email blast is to offer something of value to your readers. Ask yourself the question "will they care?" and answer honestly. Discounts on products or services, special events (particularly when there will be free food), or releases of new products in which your clients have already expressed interest, make strong fodder for an email blast.

Step #2. Powerful subject line
Rather than tacking the subject line on as an afterthought, consider it the most important part of the email. Give your readers an idea of what the email contains and why they should open it.

If your email follows the suggestion in Step #1., the subject heading should be easy to write. Simply convey the value: "One-day sale to loyal customers begins tomorrow;" "Invitation: Hear Stephen Covey In Person;" or "XYZ Software: significant upgrade available now to current users."

Keep in mind that it’s illegal to use deceptive subject lines.

Step #3. Punchy text
Be crystal clear in your own mind about the offer, include as much of it as you can in the subject line, then give only the most important points in the body of your email. Don't weigh your email down with too many specifics. If there's more info you're dying to include, you can link to it.

Step #4. Don't overdo it
Sending email blasts too often, about things that don't affect your clients, or that simply repeat the same message, is the best way to get them to stop opening your emails altogether. So don't inundate your house list with announcements unworthy of their time.

If your CEO wins an award from the local Chamber of Commerce, that's very nice… but your clients won't care. Save that for a quick note at the bottom of next month's newsletter.

Step #5. Follow email best practices
A. True story: I receive email blasts from a company I respect, containing useful announcements of upcoming events. Recently, they hired a new marketer -- and she includes the email address of everyone to whom she sends the email, right there in the "To" field.

That means that, depending on the content of your email (say it's a pitch to some hot leads you picked up at a conference), you may be giving away sales leads to competitors (bad). And it means that anyone who receives the email can see everyone else's address -- which brings up all sorts of privacy issues, and which will seriously alienate your readers (fatal).

B. An email blast is a marketing message and needs conspicuous notice that the message is an advertisement or solicitation. You should only send emails to people who have opted-in to receive email marketing messages. It must also contain a way for people to opt-out from future mailings, and must also contain a valid physical postal address.

C. Keep track of your lists. If you have an email newsletter that someone has opted out of, make sure the person down the hall in sales isn’t sending that person blast emails.