Back when I worked in big companies, it was a fairly regular occurrence to get an official-looking invoice for overdue payment that upon closer inspection was fraudulent. Sometimes it was for copier toner, other times for a directory listing or other common supplies. Now the scam has gone high tech.

I believe in knowing what I’m paying for (I prefer not to be described as “cheap” thank you) so I always looked into what I was signing off on. That’s how I uncovered the scam and learned just how persistent and unscrupulous these companies can be.

• The invoices are often to the attention of a former employee
• They always look very official
• There was always a sense of urgency
• The invoices keep coming even if you call the source and confront them

If I was like the many small business owners who do not keep close tabs on their domain name registrations and are too busy to read the fine print, I’d have paid over 4 times what I should have to renew those domain names AND I would have transferred them to a disreputable registrar.

Like spam, the phantom invoice scam must work or it wouldn’t keep appearing. I caution you to keep an eye on your domain names and pay attention to the details.

Gmail’s popularity has been growing rapidly since it launched it’s free service. Based on the fact that you shouldn’t have to delete any emails, Gmail has come up with a great email tool and they’ve now extended their experiment to Gmail for your domain. That’s right you can you use Gmail to access your email@yourdomain.com. All you have to do is register with Google and once they give you an account, you can you start using Gmail for free. While this service is still in beta version, Google is only providing 2 gigs of storage per inbox and may not respond to your request right away, but their service is free and very easy to use. Sign up for your Gmail account and take part of their beta test.

The growing concern for spam has resulted in stringent anti-spam filters and strict rules and regulations by email service providers for delivering emails to their users. Thus with these new measures how can you be sure that your newsletter doesn’t end up in the junk filter?

The following tips are suggestions of what you need to consider when writing your newsletter or mass email. Following these tips will increase your chances of delivery and will lessen the likelihood of unknowingly violating any of the CAN-SPAM (Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing) laws, which came into effect in January 2004.

Collect emails carefully

When meeting new customers or prospects, inform them that you send out a newsletter and ask for their permission before adding them to your list. Providing your website visitors with the option of signing-up for your newsletter is a must, but take it a step further by supplying your website with archived newsletters. These will not only add precious content to your site, but will also let your users decide if they are interested in signing up. Once your visitors have signed up, do not forget to send a confirmation email.

Keep in mind red flag words

Avoid using tricks that are used by spammers. Using ALL CAPS, excessive amounts of “click here”, dollar signs, and exclamation marks and other words such as Free, Credit, guarantee, Million dollar and Viagra should not be used in your newsletter body or your subject line.

Use a legitimate from name and from email

Prominently display your company name and your email address and use a legitimate reply-to email address.

Use accurate and descriptive headings

The CAN-SPAM act prevents you from using misleading subject lines in your email campaigns. This does not mean that you have to describe everything that is in your email, but your subject line needs to be relevant.

Use a valid reply-to address and an unsubscribe mechanism

The CAN-SPAM law stipulates that your campaign should either have a return-to address through which someone can unsubscribe or another “Internet-based mechanism clearly displayed”.

Avoid excessive use of images

Although creating a beautifully designed postcard may seem like a good idea, if your newsletter or email is composed of images only, it will most likely be sent to your junk filter.

Finally, remember to keep your emails short and sweet. Everybody is bombarded with emails everyday and in order to ensure that your newsletter doesn’t get lost in the crowd, keep your users in mind.

A better approach is to “encode” your email. We’ve been using Automatic Lab’s Email Address Encoder successfully for many of our clients. Simply fill out the form and the email is encoded for you. Best of all, the tool is free.

Create alternative emails
In order to reduce the amount of Spam, only use your business email for business purposes and communication with close friends. When signing up for a newsletter, registering a domain name or filling out a contact form, use a hotmail or gmail address. These are very easy to set up and can be checked once in a while.

Read privacy policies
Before signing up to a newsletter or submitting your email to a website, read their privacy policy carefully. If the website does not have a privacy policy, don’t give them your email.

Do not reply to spammers
Many spam emails provide you with a link which allows you to unsubscribe. Replying to spammers only confirms that your email is real and results in more email.

Don’t buy products from Spammers
A recent report from eMarketer states that 11% of people buy their products from spammers. The people who claim to hate spam are the ones supporting that practice and buying from them.

Our word of advice is the following. Don’t be fooled by spammers and do not correspond or purchase their bargains. If spam doesn’t work, it will stop.