As an email marketer the one endless battle you face every single day is deliverability. Whether you’re sending a personal email or a bulk customer communication, electronic messages are frequently intercepted, filtered, erroneously labeled as spam, bounced or returned to the sender as undeliverable.

Needless to say, it can be a real pain in the butt.

Fortunately, one option that is available to you when using SimplyCast’s email marketing service is to send your emails through a Dedicated IP address. What does this mean?

A dedicated IP address is one that is used only by you or your company to send the emails from. Dedicated IPs are static and do not change and since the IP does not change, the history and reputation of the IP belongs to the customer using it.

This does not mean you can stop worrying about deliverability. Even with a dedicated IP, deliverability is not as easy as transmitting an email message from one server to the recipient’s server and hope it will reach the intended inbox. It involves an understanding of industry best practices and adhering to legal/compliance requirements etc. to get your emails delivered.

When using a Dedicated IP you must understand Reputation: Internet Service Providers (ISPs) filter spam based on many factors like the private IP address reputation. Building a solid reputation using a Private IP takes time, and the only way to build it is by sending legitimate emails and following best practices. After 3-6 months of sending legitimate emails, cleaning your lists and avoiding complaints, your reputation will be top notch. The great news is you control this because with a private IP address your reputation is only impacted by your email marketing practices.

Think about it from an ISP’s point of view. They are sitting there one day monitoring the emails flying around and all of a sudden this brand new IP starts sending 100,000 emails out of nowhere. It will trigger a red flag the same way a credit card company investigates a possible stolen card. Even though you are one of the good guys, to the ISP you look like someone sending spam.

Over time once the ISP sees a regular pattern of sending from an IP, then they will trust it and that is when open-rates will return to what they used to be if you were on a shared IP for example.

So in conclusion, if you choose to upgrade to decided IP address, this does not automatically mean all your emails will reach your recipients inbox. You must think of your new IP as an intern that just graduated from college. They are full of promise and have the skills to do the job but they need to earn the trust of the company first before being hired and moving up the corporate ladder. If they moved into the corner office on day one, red flags would be going off and everyone would be complaining.

Take the necessary steps to make sure your emails are compliant, your HTML code and content is compliant and your email lists are updated.

For more information please check out the following links and remember to visit the SimplyCast FAQ for all your other SimplyCast related questions.

How to claim a free dedicated IP
Best practices for building your reputation

If you still have questions concerning your dedicated IP, please contact your account manager.

Even the most seasoned email marketer can run out of great content from time-to-time. Those who write a lot know that ideas are not always flowing and some days are a lot harder than others. So how do you beat the dreaded writer’s block and return to pumping out witty and creative copy?

Here are a few tips to get your creative juices flowing that will keep your subscribers engrossed in your future emails!

1. Give yourself time. If you know when you are planning to send your next campaign, allow yourself the time to work out the content, come up with new ideas and maybe even give your template a fresh look. If you are finding that your campaigns are a little stale, then your readers certainly will. SimplyCast can help you out there with over 1000 HTML email templates to choose from with new additions all the time.

2. Keep a diary or notebook with you all the time. If you are like me you have 57 things on the brain each day and a great idea is easy to forget. Write down the ideas when you think of them and stop having to remember them two days later when you are trying to write about it. On days when I know I have to write some copy for a promo or newsletter, I listen to the radio in the morning and write down any hot topics or timely news. By incorporating this current information in your writing, your subscribers will be more likely to find it interesting. It can also give you the chance to add a bit of human element to your campaigns.

3. Mark out some creative space. Where do you tend to think up your best ideas or concepts? Some of my best ideas come while I’m walking the dog or driving into work. This is not to say you should base your next campaign on something you dreamed up in the park but you never know when genius will strike. Maybe a room at home or a different room at the office will unlock the door to the perfect campaign.

4. Create a relaxed mood. I know that is easier said than done at work because most business environments are not conducive to relaxing. But if you are in charge of writing press releases, email newsletters or the next big campaign for your company, you need to be on your game. Try out music to inspire creative thoughts. Go and have a chat with a coworker, ideally about something that is not work related. Of course we all have deadlines but even the most high-energy writer has to create the best environment for what needs to be done.

5. Step outside your comfort zone. Try writing about something you wouldn’t usually touch on. Once you start to research and branch out, you will be amazed at how many new ideas come to mind. The best part is this process usually produces several new topics that can keep you writing for many weeks. Go to sites like Twitter, Facebook or Digg and see what everybody else is talking about. By doing something different your subscribers won’t just associate your emails with your business but with quirky features they wouldn’t mind forwarding to their friends. Once this happens, all of a sudden your readership will grow exponentially.

Hopefully these pointers will help you beat writer’s block, and if you have some ideas of your own, please share with us. There are so many different ways to get the creative juices flowing, I bet we can build quite the list.

With the World Series starting tonight in New York, it is hard not to have baseball on the brain.

This reminded me of a post I wrote way back in April that compared baseball with the different ways for you to retain your subscribers.

As the New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies battle it out for the MLB title this week, I thought it was a good time to revisit this post and list all the key points to help you out.

Tactics to retain subscribers

• Remind subscribers of the value and benefits of remaining on your list. Don’t be shy. Brag about how great your service is and all the top features you offer. By making this clear, a subscriber will be more likely to stick with you.

• Survey your list of inactives regularly to see if you can return them to active status before making that final cut. If they show no interest, at least you tried your best and can move on.

• Sell them on the benefits at the point of sign-up. Make your message as enticing as possible.

• Stay on the top of subscriber’s minds through regular mailings. If you don’t keep in touch often enough, you will certainly fall out of memory fast.

• Promote other communication channels to allow your subscribers to follow you in other networks, besides email. Include your network accounts (Facebook profile, Twitter ID, etc.) in the administrative footer of your messages and feature them prominently in your welcome programs.

• Always show interest to your clients. A personalized message can do wonders when trying to retain customers. Ideally your product or service will speak for itself but anything extra that makes a customer feel special and appreciated will go a long way.

• Increase the choice a customer has by providing more information beyond your usual service. In terms of your business, this could include offering complimentary services, discounted rates or sneak previews of upcoming features if they remain on your list.

Reasons you need to focus on inactive clients

It is very important to focus on inactive subscribers and decide how you will go about retaining them or moving them to the inactive list for good.

First of all, you are spending your money to send them emails that they don’t even open. Save the extra credits for those clients that open your emails.

Secondly, repeated mailings to inactive mailboxes are a bad email practice. How often marketers send emails to non responsive users is one of the factors that determine the sender’s reputation with your ISP (In this case SimplyCast).

To learn more about how SimplyCast’s email marketing service can help you boost your email marketing efforts and retain subscribers, please visit SimplyCast.com.

Oh and in case you were wondering – Yankees in six.

With Halloween only a few days away, SimplyCast’s team of witches and goblins have concocted a spell that will help you save big when using our email marketing service.

Enjoy this special offer today and save 50% OFF one month’s subscription. This includes all new sign-ups and upgrades. Go to SimplyCast.com and enter Coupon Code SPELL50 at point of purchase and SAVE. Act now! This treat of an offer expires on Halloween night (Saturday, Oct. 31st) at midnight EST.

Do you think a friend or a business colleague could benefit from this amazing deal? We encourage you to SHARE this offer.

Annual Plans

Looking for even more savings? Check out our annual subscription packages.

Why should you switch to SimplyCast’s email marketing solution?

Here are a few reasons:

Over 1000 free HTML email marketing templates.
Simple and elegant interface.
Every account is assigned to a dedicated account manager.
Get a free Dedicated IP address.
Ability to remove the SimplyCast logo from the bottom of emails.
Access to create Email, Survey and RSVP campaigns.
Compatible with IE, Firefox, Opera and Safari.
A cross-browser, cross-platform WYSIWYG online HTML editor.
Ability to import HTML from Microsoft Word.
Industry leading customer care team that can be reached by phone, email or live chat.

And many more.

The SimplyCast team is working hard for you. Email our customer care team today with your request for new features and enhancements.

Thank you,

The SimplyCast Team
1.877.312.4979 Ext 1
sales@simplycast.com

Build your Twitter following today – Follow SimplyCast.

**The above offer is only valid on single month purchases made after October 26th, 2009 and cannot be combined with multiple coupon codes**

Businesses of any size can use email marketing effectively to develop strong leads, build relationships, and inexpensively get their message out.

By making your business readily available to the world, you can begin to build your email list by collecting addresses using the following methods:

1. Your company website – At the very least, use your website to collect email addresses. If you’re not promoting your email list on your website, you’re not using your website well enough. Add a sign-up form on every page of your website and make it quick and easy for potential customers to fill it out. Get only the info you need up front and ask for further details later.

2. Current email lists – Using current email lists to build your own email list is an essential part of your growth. If your current recipients see something of value to them, they may think their friends will benefit as well. Allowing them to pass your email along may easily add more to your list.

3. Contests – Register participants address and announce the winner through your next newsletter or email campaign.

4. In-store sign-up – When checking out or browsing around a store, allow people to sign up for your email list by way of sign-up forms. I am sure you have been asked for your address a few times when shopping at your favourite store.

5. Coupons & discounts – Offer special incentives through email only and allow them to pass it along to friends.

6. Advertisements & Direct mail – Never pass up the opportunity to inform readers about your email community. Direct them to your website or have them send an email to you requesting their addition.

7. Business cards – On the back of your business card, promote your website and the opportunity to receive informative emails or newsletters.

8. Trade shows & Networking Events – Offer collateral material that requests them to sign-up on their own.

9. Seminars – Give seminars on your area of expertise and have people sign-up to your mailing list for future seminars, discounted rates, and other announcements.

10. Social Media – Use social sites like Twitter and Facebook to direct customers to your website or landing page where they can fill out a sign-up form. For example, host your own group on Facebook and invite people to it. Then post new links often. From time to time, post a link to sign up for your newsletter or service.

By no means are these the only 10 ways that work. Be creative with these ideas, mix and match, or come up with your own ways to collect emails.

Whatever route you choose to take, remember, you should always build your own opt-in list from scratch and never buy or rent a list from an outside source. That will only lead to more headaches down the road that will cost your business a lot of time and money.

Have a suggestion for your fellow readers on collecting email addresses? Let us know @simplycast.

As a leading provider of email marketing and survey solutions for organizations worldwide, SimplyCast.com is dedicated to providing our customers with the best service possible.

That is why we are now offering a free dedicated IP address to all purchased customers.

Sign-up or upgrade your account today and not only have the option to switch to a free dedicated IP but also save 20% OFF one month of our email marketing service.

Go to SimplyCast.com and use Coupon Code FREEIP at point of purchase.

Act now, this special opportunity will end on Friday, Oct. 23rd at 4PM EST.

To read more about what a dedicated IP address is and to learn a few best practices to follow, please click here.

The SimplyCast team continues to work very hard for you. If you have any questions, comments or concerns, don’t hesitate to contact our customer care team.

Thank you,

The SimplyCast Team
1.877.312.4979 ext. 1
sales@simplycast.com

Follow SimplyCast on Twitter

**The above offer is only valid on single month purchases made after October 19th, 2009 and cannot be combined with multiple coupon codes**