SPAM! You hear about it all the time. But what exactly is it?

SPAM is ANY unsolicited or unwanted message received via email. It is untargeted, and sent to people who have expressed no interest in receiving info on your product or service.

When a SPAM complaint is filed, it is up to the ISP and web-hosting companies to determine what is and is not, SPAM. Often providers terminate website or dial up access based on just one complaint. Providers must strictly enforce their terms or they will face action by their upstream providers.

Normally, the email addresses that make up SPAM mailing lists are picked at random. A good example of this are the CDs you see advertised with millions of email addresses. Do NOT buy these. These are emails harvested off the internet and you will be spamming these people.

Sometimes people new to the internet believe that since email is free, they should blast out their ads to as many people as possible. After all, the more mail that goes out, the better the chances of getting a sale.

The reality is very different. People sending out millions of email this way usually get only a few orders, if any. More importantly, they get many recipients upset by sending out this unwelcome message. Normally the offenders ISP will immediately shut him down, usually without asking questions first.

The best way to protect yourself is to be very careful of who you send your email to. You also need to be aware of what your follow up messages to people should contain. They MUST have:

Valid "from" address

Valid "reply to" address

Valid sender information including the name of the company or individual that sent the message

Valid removal instructions to instantly remove any individual upon request. This is VERY important!

If all these are present, and the mail is sent with the prior permission from the recipient, then the mail being sent in not SPAM.

Of course in the real world, things arent always so cut and dry.

For instance, what if its a one time mailing. You would have no need to put removal instructions, right? Wrong. This would be considered SPAM.

How about if you visit a persons website and you mail them individually saying, "I visited your website and see you might be in need of my service". This too, is considered SPAM.

Remember, be smart when you contact people!

You will probably never be able to totally protect yourself from SPAM complaints. Just take precautions in sending email and have procedures in place to deal with SPAM complaints. Once an abuse is reported, you can be certain that your host, internet provider, and others have received the same complaint. If you have a website, you should make sure your abuse@yourdomainname.com is working.

When a complaint is received, reply to the letter and include all addresses that also received the original complaint. Address the individual by their name, and provide a copy of the original request with date and other supporting information.

Tell the user that you have processed their removal instructions, and that the letter was requested and not SPAM. Be brief. Also, make sure you reference the URL where you post your terms of service and the URL where the user agreed to receive your mail.

Be sure you send the letter to all of the addresses listed in the original complaint immediately. Some providers will shut down a site as soon as a complaint is received so make sure you act fast.

To run an effective email campaign, be sure you send your mail to targeted prospects and avoid spamming internet users. Correct email marketing can produce amazing results and increase your bottom line dramatically, while SPAM will only lead to problems.