How do you avoid being blacklisted?
We are an industry player and we work with other ISPs to maintain professional standards.

Will all my emails get through?
A lot depends on how well maintained your email subscriber list is. People change email addresses quite frequently to avoid SPAM and of course they also change jobs and move between ISPs. We have seen 60% rejections in the form of bouncebacks from new lists and 20% is not uncommon. You therefore have to work on lists and keep refining them.

How do you handle bouncebacks?
When messages bounce back they are directed into a mailbox set up for you to access. Our software can be set so that repeated bouncebacks, say five on the run, are deleted from your list. Sometimes bouncebacks should be investiagted as they may arise for invalid reasons. In such cases we will examine our server logs to see if a bounceback can be remedied.

Do you offer a DIY service which allows me to send emails myself?
Yes we do. There is a setup procedure involved and our policy is to establish the bona fides of our customers before releasing passwords. We provide a range of templates to avoid problems and you can also upload your own. You can send test emails to yourself to ensure everything looks as it should.

How do I set up my subscriber email lists?
You can email us your list as a text or CSV delimited file or if you are using DIY you can upload your list, which can also include names, addresses, membership numbers etc. All of the subscribers are loaded into your database. If lists pose a technical problem for you fear not - we will sort them out for you.

Can I have more than one list?
Yes, you can have any number of lists.

If I set up a DIY account can I control my subscriber lists and monitor my emails? Yes, you can see who is opening your emails and you can add and delete subscribers. By law you have to include an optout link and if someone clicks this their name will be automatically deleted from your list.

How can I avoid my emails being filtered out as SPAM?
Our templates use rules to avoid this. SPAM filtering procedures differ from ISP to ISP though. Opt-in email addresses are preferred because you can discuss whitelisting with your recipients so that your emails always get through.

If I find my DIY service becoming a chore will you take it over for me from time to time?
Yes we can handle it all for you including new designs or updating your templates.

I have received some very cheap offers from overseas suppliers. Should I try one?
We try them from time to time as part of our market research. It comes down to an old principle; if you deal with a company in your own back yard that shares your local cultural ethics you get help and advice and things generally work out. Most overseas suppliers that are touting for business in the UK are selling only on price. Value isn't uppermost in their minds. As an example, in one of our trials which involved selling strictly into the UK marketplace, five days after the email was supposed to go out we were receiving bouncebacks from Italy. The cost was only $200 but we got no business whatsoever from it. The question is probably more like: "How many times do I want to speculate with $200 and lose a week's opportunity cost?

Do you sell mailing lists?
No we don't but there are many reputable companies that are members of the Direct Marketing Association who will help you.

Does it cost more to use larger lists?
No, you can have as many names in your subscriber lists as you wish to maintain.

Do I need a specific email address to send from?
Yes, if you are sending any significant quantity of emails - say more than 500 messages in a batch - you do really because you need to handle bouncebacks and responses and you will not want to swamp your regular email address. There is also a risk of becoming blacklisted which could affect other people in your organisation using your domain name. So, it makes sense to have a separate setup. We set everything up for you.

Could I fake my email address?
Not only does it contravene the regulations but you can not send from a fake address without redress. If a mail server fails to recognise and accept responses it will soon be blacklisted.

So what does setting up a volume sender involve?
Initially you can use one of our large library of addresses to send from. For more permanent arrangements we register a suitable new UK domain name for you with Nominet UK, the registration authority (we have been a Nominet member since 1998) and we set up a specific account and zone for you on one of our servers.

How long does that take? It can be done in less than 30 minutes on a good day! It depends on how busy we are trying to Exceed Customer Expectations.

How much will it cost?
We factor in the volume of the business you plan to do with us and we will offer you the best overall package we can based on mutual value.

Can you design the email for me? Yes we run a design service. Once we have designed a template for you we can modify it as required for each new campaign or you can modify it yourself as required.

Can I use a design which has been done by my own designers?
Yes you can. They can provide it as an HTML page or we can take their design and turn it into an HTML layout as you wish.

How long does it take to send an email?
If you have 500 names on your list they will probably all arrive within 15 minutes. If you are sending to 15,000 names they can take five or six hours to arrive.

Why don't other suppliers tell us about this kind of issue?
Because you are probably talking to sales staff who have no hands-on server experience. Internet server management is not a trivial undertaking and even most in-house I.T. staff are wary of it. We don't just use email software to control our operation - we also work live on our servers to monitor performance when we need to. We don't just rely on statistics, we can in fact pinpoint exactly when a particular email was sent and accepted or rejected and we can tell why it was rejected.

Why so long?
Because mail servers use handshaking. Every message that leaves one of our mail servers has to be accepted by the recipient server and the handshaking routine typically lasts for one or two seconds allowing for routing time on the internet network. If the message is rejected it has to be bounced back and accepted by our servers which is why it is important to keep your email lists as clean as possible.

Can I speed this up for large email lists?
Yes, we can split your list down and send your message concurrently from more than one server. Alternatively you can schedule batch releases. Sometimes it is more appropriate for an email to arrive mid morning or late afternoon.

Does this cost more?
There is more initial setup involved so you need to talk to us about arrangements.

Can I send emails with attachments?
Yes you can. We successfully send Word attachments and pdf files but you need to be aware that some companies will block these emails unless you have reached a prior agreement with them. Most people are wary of attachments as they can contain viruses. We can however test to ensure that they are virus free and recipients can right click and run a virus scan if they have suitable anti-virus software installed. However, large attachments make for large emails so this has to be borne in mind.

I have more questions . . . .
Please call us on 01252 408877 and speak to an expert.