have a love-hate relationship with my e-mail spam filter. On the one hand, I love the reduction of junk mail in my inbox each morning; but on the other hand, an e-mail I want to read can easily end up in my junk bin.

Sometimes the most frustrating part is when blatant junk mail wheedles its way through my spam filters, while legitimate e-mails from customers or friends are occasionally blocked.

At Nubrek we send out a regular newsletter to customers, prospects and vendors. In it we talk about new product offerings, new employees and other information that is helpful to our customer base.

It's important that this e-mail not be filtered out as spam, as we often reference this information in customer and prospect follow-ups. This brings up an interesting question, How can we make certain our e-mail messages get through?

How spam filters work

Spam filters examine incoming e-mail messages and assign each one a spam probability. Spam filters are not Internet-based per se. Each company or e-mail server can deploy its own solution. Yahoo Inc., Google, and AOL LLC, for instance, have their own e-mail spam filters.

On the whole, spam filters are pretty good. But it's important to remember they make arbitrary decisions. These filters often assign a spam probability to distinct words, phrases and attributes of e-mail messages.

For example, words and phrases like "Viagra" or "get rich quick" boost the spam probability, while straightforward discussions bring the probability down. If intended recipients are listed in the blind copy field rather than the addressee field, the spam probability rises.

Think like a spam filter

In researching this topic, I googled phrases I thought would give me keys to outsmarting sophisticated spam filters. Each search returned dozens of links about the pains and frustrations of spam as well as information about new and improved filters. The bulk of interest regarding spam is in how to stop getting it. I did, however, come across a few great Web sites and acquired some insider tips.

One easy step is to check outgoing messages for the following trigger words I found on Inc. magazine's Web site at www.inc.com/magazine/20030801/marketing.html

Newsletter, Internet, mortgage, offer, live, pics, protect, now, free, solution, work, news and credit.

If your e-mail messages contain them, they will have a higher probability of being blocked.

You can also send your document as an image, making it harder for a filter to discern its content. However, some filters block large pictures automatically.

Helpful resources

Lyris Technologies Inc. has a free spam checker on its Web site: www.lyris.com/resources/contentchecker. Simply enter the text from your next e-mail newsletter and Lyris will give you a spam rating.

I entered several paragraphs of text and received this message: "Based on Spam Assassin's criteria, your message scores 0 points. That means that your message will likely be delivered without incident if your list is confirmed opt-in."

If you want to send information to your customers regularly, you might want to use ChangeDetection's free service ( www.changedetection.com). With this, you post your document on your Web site, and your subscribers automatically receive an e-mail notifying them of updates to your page.

This approach has a drawback, though: An e-mail appearing on a customer screen is much easier to read than a document accessed by a link that may or may not get clicked.

AOL blocks about 95% of newsletters. But if you contact AOL each time you send out yours, it can validate that your e-mail is not spam and allow the message to pass through its filters.

Also, AOL and Yahoo, working with Goodmail Systems Inc., offer subscription services that allow you to buy your way past spam filters into consumer inboxes: At the cost of $0.0025 to $0.01 each, you can send e-mail guaranteed to reach intended, consenting parties. To set this up or for more information, go to www.changedetection.com.

While many argue that the age of free e-mail marketing is coming to a close, there are viable products and services providing professional help with e-mail marketing. These consultants are expert at navigating through spam filters to make sure messages reach intended recipients.

Lyris' MTA Monitor will send your e-mail content to accounts at over 40 Internet service providers all over the world and will let you know if your messages are being blocked at any of them.

Words to the wise

I'm not a proponent of spam. Nor are most of the other folks using the Internet. Nubrek and many other companies have opt-in e-mail policies.

We don't send mass unsolicited e-mail. That's it. (If we get your e-mail address from a friend or associate, we may send you a personal note, but we don't buy addresses and blast e-mails to them.) We also provide an opt-out link at the bottom of each of our newsletters.

If you have a large recipient list, be cautious. You could be reprimanded or blacklisted by your e-mail provider if it receives complaints accusing you of being a spammer.

In 2003, Congress enacted the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing (CAN-SPAM) Act. It provides rules to restrict commercial spam.

Some CAN-SPAM restrictions on sending commercial e-mail follow:

• No false or misleading header information is allowed.
• No deceptive subject lines are permitted.
• All e-mail must have an opt-out method.
• Advertising must be identified as such and include sender's valid, physical postal address.

Violators are subject to fines of up to $11,000. For complete details on CAN-SPAM, visit www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/canspam.html

And good luck. Remember, many of your customers and potential clients want to receive your e-mails. Taking extra care to ensure this happens is well worth the time and effort.

Joel Rydbeck, Chief Technology Officer of Nubrek Inc., brings his strong background in e-commerce and business process automation to the merchant services industry. Nubrek offers eISO, a Web application for ISOs that tracks leads and provides automated residual and commission reports. For more information on eISO or to view a free demo, visit www.nubrek.com/eiso.html E-mail Rydbeck at joel@nubrek.com