Port Blocking - Every communication over the internet uses a port or channel to complete the communication. For services like FTP (21), HTTP (80), and SMTP (25) they have been assigned specific ports to use universally so that communication is completed smoothly. So if a port is blocked that communication cannot take place. If you are on an ISP's network where they do the Port Blocking then the only ways you will be able to send mass mailings is through the use of a third party.

There are of course several different types of Third Party solutions. Safelists are probably the most well known and there are thousands of them out there to choose from. I can provide you with links to the ones I use if you wish. Safelists can get expensive and have the draw back of every member sending every member advertising.

If you have your own domain you may have another solution available in the form of Autoresponders. Many web hosts allow for unlimited autoresponders and they are a good method of getting your emails out to large numbers of people. Just be sure that your ads meet all current can-spam rules or you may lose your account.

Filtering - This one is a little harder to see. Your bulk mail program may seem to send find but your emails may never go anywhere and you'll never know. If you are not on a network that blocks port 25 then your safest means of sending large amounts of email is to use a program that does not go through your ISP's SMTP server.

Again there are many programs out there that claim to do this by one means or another. They basically all turn your computer into a mini SMTP server. I have tested several and decided to use a program called Post Cast Server.
There are two versions of the server free and pro. The pro costs $49 and has a couple of features that make it a better product. I use the Group Mail program from Infacta in conjunction with the Post Cast Server however, you can also get Post Cast which combines an email management system and the server.

Now don't get me wrong I use the  Veretekk  system regularly and do recommend that everyone keep doing so. However, I don't rely on that system to do all the work for me. I also gather leads from several other sources and since I am asked fairly often how I do things I thought I would add a list of the lead sources and tools that I am using here for others to read about. But please remember that I do not claim to be an authority on marketing and this is simply the way that I do it. There are many ways to do almost anything.

The first place I would go for leads would be FREE FFA.com and get my own page. This will give you the names and addresses of an average 600 plus people per day for no cost. The second place I would go is SimplerLeads.com a free account there gets a gauranteed 30 plus leads per day (usually closer to 60). The place I go to get most of the leads I use besides Veretekk is Key2net this is a free service for the first 30 days, but for $29.95 a year you get 2000 leads a day. That's a minimum of 60,000 a month and if you really want leads for a gold upgrade ($10 / month) you can more than double that. Another good source for some Free FFA Leads would be Wise City FFA, sign up for free and then send an email to support for the Free Pro account.

Note:

There are also a number of other FFA's and Safelist networks out there but my experience has been that more than half of the email addresses gathered from those sources are worthless and the free accounts on most Safelists are too restrictive to be of much use. Signing up for pro and exec accounts can get extremely expensive very quickly.

Okay you've got the leads now what? You still have to be able to process them. And as anyone that has been sending bulk email for a while knows all too well there are going to be a lot of bad email addresses in any list you get. There are of course a number of ways you can handle the bad ones depending on your preferences.

You can set rules / filters to isolate the bad ones and delete them after they come back.

You can use tools to help reduce the number of bad ones that go out in the first place remembering of course that the only way you're going to eliminate them is not to do bulk mailing.

If you use the Professional version of Group Mail there is a free plugin that will check the validity of your list emails before sending them allowing you to delete the known bad ones before sending. If you do not want to pay for the professional version there is another program that I use Smart Email Verifier that does a very good job of identifying bad addresses for me.

As noted above I use the professional version of Post Cast Server which will write any bad addresses it finds to a text file. I load this text file into the exclusion list in Group Mail so that I don't try sending mail to those addresses again. Another trick I use is that I have a mailbox set up in Outlook for bad email addresses (bounce messages)I have also set up rules to filter the messages to this box. After I send a bulk mailing I go through the bad mail box and make sure that the bounces aren't for full mailboxes (deleting the ones that are) but are in fact bad addresses. Once I know I don't have any full mailbox messages in the bad folder I export the folder to a txt file. I then use Xtreme Xtractor to pull the addresses out of the text file and then upload them to the Group Mail exclusion list.

Using the above methods and tools I have reduced my bounce rate from the 30% - 50% range down to about 4%.

Here are links to three free services that are a must. They are very similar in result but use different test criteria. Using these two tools in conjunction with each other will greatly increase the likelihood that your email will make it through the SPAM filters (all but the worst).
E-Zine Check

Increase your chances of getting read

Through a lot of trial and error and a lot of reading there are some things I have learned about trying to trick SPAM filters.

Quit Trying! The real trick is to not write like a spammer. Write using a natural style FR*EE instead of FREE really doesn't work and can in fact trigger the filter you're trying to beat. No cost instead of FREE is a better choice. Query instead of question will also pass most filters. Health Coverage instead of Health Insurance. If you need to use a thesaurus to help replace the words that the checking systems above tell you are trigger words. Here is a letter that I sent that looks like it should be pure SPAM but it passed two of the SPAM checks listed above:

It's coming! It's going to be huge! It's going to make millionaires!

Are you going to be part of It? Or are you going to be saying if only I'd listened when they told me about It?
 

Important Information Straight From A Spam Filter

Not only is it important to learn what the filters are looking for it is Vital for those of you promoting SMOGBUSTER to read this.
The email that was sent that prompted this report passed two of the three checks listed above with scores of less than one.

 

CAN SPAM REQUIREMENTS

If you want to you can find everything you would never want to know about SPAM at the Federal Trade Commission but here is a simplified version of what you have to have in your emails. Name, physical address, valid email, valid phone number there is also a requirement for a means of being removed from your lists. This can be instructions or a link as long as you remember this if you receive a remove request then that person is to be removed. It is my practice that if a person requests to be removed they are added to my exclusion list (ALL GROUPS) so that they are permanently removed from all mailings from me.

I hope this information has been helpful. If you have more questions please feel free to ask. Leo Silvestri 

One Final Note:

This is not a promotion of Spamming. Use of this information in violation of existing law is not recommended. If you are unsure then don't do it. Use the Veremail product from Inetekk instead. 
 

Never send an advertisement to a person on first contact. Always get them to Opt-in by asking first. Try to get them into a dialog exchange and wait for them to ask you about your business.

Reverse Marketing is probably the best and safest approach to your online Business, trying to sell a Stranger something he doesn't want, doesn't need or cannot afford is no way to build a profitable and duplicable Business.

More tips on this topic from the BEST e-book ever written: "Success in 10 Steps"  Get Your FREE Copy HERE.

For the Best "No Cost Reverse Marketing",  where you could get 15-20 People to call you everyday, how to get 10-15 sign ups every week for your Program, how to receive 200-300 emails on a daily base from Qualified Targeted Prospects where most of them have a phone number and a valid email address in the bottom of their messages, just turn your speakers on and listen to this short audio MESSAGE    Better yet, turn your speakers on and enjoy this short MOVIE.

Happy Marketing,

Leo Silvestri 
                                                       

                                                                Brought to you by  Leo Silvestri  and  Ron Eason