For customers using our Barracuda Anti-Spam service, it is important to let the system know what you think is and isn’t spam so that you can gain the most benefit from the system.

Once your domain is setup the initial scanning process will take about 24 hours to start working fully while it learns which email addresses on the domain are legitimate.  You should start noticing a significant reduction of spam messages your receive after 1-3 days.

Spam messages will normally get blocked completely or added to your personal quarantine. If you have a spam message in your quarantine then you just need to tick it and mark it as spam. This will help the system learn what it must look out for. It takes about 200 emails to be marked as spam by yourself to fully learn and catch these emails out.

You can download a plugin for your email program here - http://barracuda2.globalgold.co.uk/cgi-bin/index.cgi (click the link “Get Mail Client Plugins Here”).  This plugin will show up on the tool bar in your email program and will help you to easily mark messages as spam.

Spam comes in many different forms and inevitably some emails do get through the system, but the Barracuda system is constantly learning and receives regular updates to ensure these are few and far between.

Apple’s iPhone 3G is not the only big story of the week, there is also the release of Global Gold’s virtual hosting offer, VM Hosting.  Many companies still do not realise how cost-effective and efficient virtual web solutions can be. There deliver the obvious pricing benefits compared to dedicated server but in performance terms they are hard to beat providing not only a natural upgrade path from a Virtual Private Server but also a means of enabling those companies who have dedicated servers which are clearly excessive to requirements. it is. To find out more simply visit this link to VM Hosting . Alternatively call 0845 313 0906 for an objective assessment of your actual needs and a solution that is appropriate for it.

For some companies, a Dedicated Server appears too much of a leap from their existing Virtual Private Server (VPS). The need to increase reliability and performance is often outweighed by the rising cost of moving to a Dedicated Server. A Virtual Machine (VM) therefore, is a very effective alternative. VM Hosting is a very reliable and cost effective solution, that has the added benefit of being more environmentally friendly. A Virtual Machine would be an ideal solution for companies looking to update their old, out of date Dedicated Server equipment, as well as growing companies who want to expand their business without encompassing spiralling costs. With the same configuration and flexibility as a Dedicated Server, a VM is able to run just as smoothly on a Windows 2003 operating system as it is Redhat Linux, Redhat Fedora or Debian operating system.

It’s critical to let your readers know exactly what they can expect from you before they agree to opt in to your newsletter or email marketing program. You must meet and/or exceed those expectations throughout your relationship with them. By doing this, you effectively engage your readers who will look forward to your messages and act on them.

If you fail to meet expectations at crucial points during the relationship, your subscribers may become inactive/non readers or opt-out altogether.  The following are some key touch points to prevent them becoming inactive:

• Be clear what they are getting before and during opt-in. 
• Advise them of your privacy policy. 
• Ensure they get a confirmation email/thank-you page. 
• Send a “Welcome” communication 
• Standardise your email design/email format
• Advise them of your unsubscribe procedure.

Key Principles in Managing Expectations
The following basic principles apply in managing reader relationship: 

• Be transparent. Tell readers exactly what will happen when, what they have to do to meet their own objectives (subscribing, changing preferences, unsubscribing), what you will do with their data and what you will not do.
• Be clear, concise and simple.  Copy, instructions and policies should be written in plain language, and every action should be intuitive and easy. Give your brand or company a prominent place in the inbox so readers recognize it immediately.
• Give options and alternatives. Your readers are different. They expect you to provide them content and value in ways that meet their individual needs. Offer multiple communication channels, differentiate between them and learn to talk to them about what interests them and in their preferred format e.g. HTML, text or mobile-friendly. Then, stick to their choices.
• Under-promise, over-deliver. If you promote “Special Email-Only Offers,” be sure to deliver on that promise. 
• Only request what you need. Don’t ask for data that you don’t plan to use or doesn’t add value to you building a relationship with them.
• Monitor and solicit feedback. You can’t please everyone no matter how good your email marketing. Get feedback and find out why the inactive are not responding early in the email relationship. Track and monitor opt-in form conversion rates, unsubscribe rates and other areas to any uncover potential problems.