If there was any time to expand your email marketing – it’s now

Uncategorized , February 6, 2019

If there was any time to expand your email marketing – it’s now

I wrote an article in eHygienics’ blog about the second coming of email marketing. The importance of this article has been extremely overlooked. There is a huge blindspot right now as all of the legacy SEO data of the war between spammers and spam fighters has been deleted.

Recently, the archives have been put back on narkive.com, but the original search engine data from NANAE is gone and there is no telling when it will be put back. For those of you whom never have heard of NANAE, it stands for News Admin Net Abuse Email and has been in operation exposing spammers for more than two decades.

You really should read the article. The implications of this move by Google to completely turn off this highly informative forum could backfire immensely on ISP’s and Google themselves because:

1.) The ISP’s will have a harder time finding legacy data on past spammers

2.) Spam fighters whom DOX an email marketer on NANAE archive will not have the number one placement (be in the top ten when someone searches a name).

3.) This proves one person can hire a law firm that specializes in removing online content, which NANAE not only removed such offensive content, rather they removed the entire archive.

The irony of the situation is, the person whom shut down the infamous war on spam archive was a spam fighter themselves and by requesting to remove information about their name, they inadvertently removed the NANAE Google SEO placement.

How long will this last? Who knows, but it opens up an opportunity for the grey and black hats again and I am predicting a flood of spam in 2019/2020 until Google gets its act together.

James Carner
CEO | eHygienics | Verify550

Contact me today.

How Email Syntax Removal Works

Business , Company , Marketing , February 5, 2019

How Email Syntax Removal Works

Email syntax removal is a process that usually comes with most email validation software companies; this comes first in the 3-part process of email validation service that is available. Every email marketer has the ultimate goal to make sure that the email campaign is successful. For example:

• low or zero bounce rate
• good reputation of the outgoing mail server
• keeping off blacklists

In the world of syntax errors, programmers, developers, and IT professionals, are all well adverse in the above. It is when you can see a dialog box for erroneous code, though becomes a little confusing. When these typographical errors are not removed or corrected and were fed into your CRM, this can upset your analytics.

And unfortunately, it’s not always easy to spot mistakes with the naked eye. This is why syntax removal is essential—to correct these errors and clean up your marketing lists.

But how exactly does this process work? Well, in the removal of syntax errors, the email verification software first checks your mailing list and subject it to the standard email formatting requirements. Syntax removal identifies faulty email addresses and holds them back for additional scrutiny while clean addresses get a pass through.

Our API, for an example, catches errors in domain-specific syntax rules, i.e., Gmail email address can’t start with a number. With this, our software intelligently prevents you from losing authentic contacts over a simple typo.

The software also needs to know how to repair broken contacts to recover lost leads and maximize your subscriber list. Email correction usually goes hand in hand with the syntax removal on the first step of email validation (before and after the @ sign).

You must understand that this first step on email validation, syntax removal and correction, can ultimately help you boost conversions with your email marketing campaigns, and save you time and money in the long run.

Email List Validation Versus Email List Verification

Marketing , January 30, 2019

Email List Validation Versus Email List Verification

There are many articles referencing the difference between email list validation versus email list verification and it’s quite confusing. I have written at least 10 articles on the topic so far myself. This article breaks down the words, the history and the reasons as to why both words are thrown around in the email marketing world. This article could save you thousands by understanding what you are buying. Here are both words and their English meanings:

Validation

Validation, according to Dictionary.com is, “…the action of checking or proving the validity or accuracy of something…”

Verification

Verification, according to Dictionary.com is, “…the process of establishing the truth, accuracy, or validity of something…”

As you can see, both words mean almost exactly the same. Here’s what happened. 15 years ago, the first company that offered email list hygiene had no real name for it other than data cleansing or email cleaning (or email list hygiene). When I started cleaning, the only word I ever heard was “validation”. In example, people would ask me, “Do you validate the email by checking the mx record?” This was the first form of email list cleaning (mx record checking) in our industry.

MX checking was the industry standard until spam fighters started using bounces as traps. They (the ISP’s) would activate old and/or deleted accounts and judge the IP/domain (incoming) on merit of being verified. Hygiene companies quickly adopted the term “verification” due to this dilemma. We started receiving calls from customers asking, “Do you do verification by removing bounces?” This process was more difficult to do without actually sending information to the email thus required an actual SMTP handshake.

Verification was, in effect, 100% bounce removal. As a bonus, many hygiene companies would remove other things like traps, complainers, bots and seeds, which actually became validation + verification. Verification companies versus validation companies had a much bigger problem, however. In order to verify if the email is real, they had to throw as many IPs and domains at their system because of how fast the ISP would block them. It was extremely expensive.

For example, cables (AOL, Hotmail, Yahoo and the like) only allow a certain amount of emails from outside networks per hour or day. Each one is different. If a client wants to verify 10 million records, as an example, and you could only get 3,000 emails into AOL per 24 hours, it would take months to complete or lots of funds to get done sooner. This made verification way more expensive in the past.

So sum up, both terms mean exactly the same thing. If you are looking to clean up your email marketing list, there are certain questions you should ask. 1.) How do you remove the bounces and 2.) where do you get your traps? The hygiene company should be able to answer the bounce question by talking about the interaction they do with the postmaster. Whether it’s sending a blank email, an advertisement or a handshake pull-away doesn’t matter. What matters is how effective are they and you can test this by random sampling. As for traps, I am saving that for my next article. Stay tuned!

AWeber Integration with Verify550 + Personal Message

Uncategorized , October 15, 2018

Do not skim this – I get personal!

I am proud and excited to introduce you to our new partner, AWeber (AWeber Integration)! We are the first scrubbing company to be given an email list hygiene category inside their platform! They are also introducing us to their entire customer base of 100,000. (mind blown)

So what does this mean? It means you can automatically scrub your files inside AWeber without touching it. Here’s how:

Select your list to upload, click on integration tab, select AWeber and then enter your AWeber account details. That’s it!

This is a dream come true for me … Can I get personal with you?

When I started scrubbing files back in 2007, there was only one other person doing it. In 2010, we were the number one email list hygiene company with thousands of clients under our belt. We hired and grew so fast that I couldn’t keep up with the demand.

The image below shows our metamorphose from an online newsletter (The Viral Spiral) to an email list hygiene company overnight:

For 11 years, I have poured my heart and soul into this project. I took on spam fighters whom retaliated with great force, yet I was able to maintain this small company, while many whom did the same, met with complete failure.

Competition came in like a flood! One minute I was on top, the next minute there were 10 other companies to choose from. Competitors signed up with me, took my algorithm and pursued with their idea of hygiene.

Instead of understanding the art of email list hygiene, competitors built automated systems based on theory instead of results. Anybody can remove 30% of a list and get away with finding the trap once in a while.

And unfortunately, many drank the cool aid. But I didn’t give up. I continued to build my suppressions and pursued my private investigative work which improved my infrastructure greatly.

I’ve even made some poor decision in partnerships. Wolves in sheep’s clothing tried to steal it out from under my belt, yet I maintained and pushed on through without any debt nor anyone owning a percentage of it.

So… what’s my point? Even with huge competition and failed partnerships, I still was able to build the email list hygiene company of my dreams and partner with one of the largest ESP’s in the world – AWeber! Verify550 is the blood, sweat and tears of all my failures and successes all rolled up into one.

And today, I am grinning from ear to ear as I write this personal message to you. Thank you! Thank you to the 700 clients that we have accumulated since we launched Verify550 back in November of last year. In 11 months, we achieved great partnerships, booths at trade shows, industry articles and success at every turn.

I am grateful and honored to have you all as my friends and family of Verify550. Please don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions about the above integration. Today is one of the best days of my life!

James Carner | Founder eHygienics & Verify550

Is it impossible to fine email list cleaning free

Is it impossible to find Email list cleaning free?

Business , Company , September 11, 2018

In the article, we ask the question, is it impossible to find Email list cleaning free? Our research has shown that a new hygiene company pops up every 2 – 3 months. 2017 competitive analysis showed there were 50 email list verification companies while we know that half of them actually white label. So this means since 2007, after 11 years, we are seeing a growing trend and saturation in this market which tells us that you may be able to find an email list validation service that will clean your list for free.

What is the average cost to verify a list? Depending on the approach of server costs, IPs and domains, the hygiene company’s cost to actually verify if the email is real or not can range anywhere from $100 – $500 per million records. Most companies usually double the price to make a profit and that is why typical verification costs are around $300 – $1,000 per mm. This means that verification costs are extreme and offering this free may not be a good idea unless you are keeping and reselling the data.

So can we find email list cleaning free? Right now, for validation but not for verification. Validation checks mx and dns records along with checking against domain, email and string suppressions. It does an ok job of removing bounces because it does not do an SMTP handshake. Any company selling validation (using that word) and saying it does SMTP shakes is lying. There is a distinctive difference because server costs for validation is cheaper.

Email list verification free of restrictions simply cannot be the case. If one is offering such a great deal, there has to be something up their sleeves. Usually it’s to keep the data and to mail to it. It’s not a good idea to do email list cleaning free. The abuse factor is way too high and chances of the company signing any NDA is simple to none. In this fast pace world of data, protecting it is really hard and if you are using a service that cleans your threats for free, then you are putting your company at risk.

I want an email list cleaner free from fraud

Business , Company , September 11, 2018

We all want an email list cleaner free from fraud and this article will explain how to spot sneaky snakes. At least half of all email hygiene companies are fraudulent to some level and degree. Any whom say they can remove 100% of anything is lying through their teeth. There are 30,000 ISP’s worldwide and each one has their own unique way of blocking, allowing, monitoring and aggregating traffic. This means that whatever information you are trying to receive will not as accurate as one would want.

Email hygiene companies know this, so they use fancy words and angles to direct you to “good feeling” deals instead of the truth. As we said in our previous article, “any yahoo can randomly remove 40% of emails and get away with emailing clean”, and hygiene companies prey off this attitude. The fraud in this industry is outrageous, not including the monopoly of a few whom have rubbed elbows with the right people at the right time metamorphosing temporary success. One must be careful and mindful at all cost when handing over your subscriber list for email hygiene services.

So naturally, if anyone is saying they have an email list cleaner free for you to use, then something is up. Even if it’s validation, the cost to do it is there and a business person must make a profit. This means that whomever is offering a free service is either selling or trading your data. Be on guard and make sure you get NDA’s. Remember, this industry started out by a few fraudsters whom stole AOL’s emails and started bulk email marketing.

Finding an email list cleaner free from fraud is like finding gold. You secure your claim, keep your mouth shut and start to work as quietly as possible until you pull every ounce you can. Email marketing is a small industry and everyone talks. They keep secrets but it doesn’t stay secret for long. Once someone finds a way to email market without hassles, they shut their mouths and wear it out until there is nothing left, then they start selling it. By then, the saturation is there and hardly any gold is left.

How to find email validation services

Business , Company , September 11, 2018

This article explains how to find email validation services online. We have written many articles about the difference between validation and verification. To sum that up, validation does not do smtp handshakes. So if you wants to remove bounces yourself, then all you need is a validation company. Here is a great keyword search article to help you find the best validation companies out there for email list hygiene.

Email verification services does smtp handshakes so we need to not use the word “verification” in any of our searches. “Email List Validation” is the most popular and you will see dozens of companies that do such a thing. Before I forget, make sure you ask them to do mx/dns checks instead of only checking against static lists. Some hygiene companies do not validate the email in real time, rather, they use cache databases to validate if the email checks out.

Email validation services are not as expensive as email verification services because it does not require multiple IP’s and domains to validate the emails. In fact, validation never gets flagged or blacklisted because the approach and questions to the postmaster is extremely benign in nature. Because of large domains like Yahoo or AOL, the security to get thousands of emails inside is strict thus requiring a robust and powerful algorithm that understands how to shake hands with them.

Validation services for email marketers is/are the cheapest alternative to any measure as understood above. But beware. You could be paying verification prices for validation services. Many hygiene companies do not do the full monty by cutting corners settling for half rate results. And as I was telling one of my clients = any yahoo can randomly pull 40% of emails out of any list and get away with mailing clean but those (most of the industry) people don’t have the heart for it. Email validation with eHygienics is the best of the best because I was the second company on Earth to offer it. This means, I know what I am doing.

Common mistakes before uploading a file into email verification software

Business , Company , September 11, 2018

There are many mistakes emailers do before they upload a file into email verification software. This article will explain a few common mistakes that can save you time and money. Email marketing gets more and more expensive and these days, mailers need to conserve wherever they can. If you are determining your cost per IP in your operational costs, then you really should consider getting your files ready before you spend the credits.

Duplicates

Some email verification software services do not remove the duplicates. The reason can be two fold. Either they did not incorporate such a template or they keep domains in to charge you for them (CPM). Smart email marketers remove all duplicates before they upload their lists.

Seeds

The majority of email list hygiene companies steal/mail your data. Any email verification tool offered for free or is less expensive than the norm means they either mail an advertisement while verifying your data or append the information for resell. Genius emailers always seed their lists with uncirculated emails to track/monitor their lists for fraud.

Multiple Columns

If you’ve ever searched the phrase “scrub email list free” and found hygiene companies that will do it for nothing, always remember free is never free. They are reselling, appending and emailing your data. Never give any email verification software company any extra columns that they could use for their own benefit. Always remove sensitive data and only scrub what you need scrubbed.

Using One Hygiene Company

Since email list verification companies cannot get all of the threats by themselves, many email marketers are using several hygiene companies to scrub their lists. This doesn’t bother us because we actually partner with several email scrubbing companies. By referring business back and forth, we are able to cover more ground using our differences to find the right fit for prospects.

One email hygiene company does not remove all of the threats. It’s very common for companies to use more than one. That’s why it’s important to test every email verification tool before you scrub email list free from threats.

Email verification software schematics

Business , Marketing , August 9, 2018

Many have asked me what are my Email verification software schematics for list hygiene. It really isn’t a secret. There are 5 fundamental parts of the email address. The user, the name, the domain, the string and the ending. This blog post explains each one of these and why it’s important to build your hygiene schematics around them.

The user is the element before the at sign. The user encompasses many different parts. There are dots/periods, underscores and hyphens that separate the user information. Too many of these characters tell us the email is bad. The user information helps remove bad emails before we have to do a SMTP/MX check.

The name tells is a lot about the email. Usually names are associated with B2B data in any email verify tool. In many cases, B2B emails do not last that long. This tells us what to do with the email. For example, let’s say we recorded the email as james.carner@. This tells us the person is professional and is interested in their name. We can separate data this way using sophisticated algorithms for what to do to the name before we move on to other checks.

The domain tells us the located and IP address of the recipient. Hundreds of checks can be done just by the domain alone into sophisticated cleaning. In example, we can check the domain’s whois, the wayback machine of how old it is and who owned it along with content associated. We can check against blacklists and the IP for spam fighters. The domain and IP also tells us about the mail exchange and if the domain is associated with traps. This is just a few examples.

The string helps is remove emails that are bots, fake and not really serious inside an email verification tool. Checking against swear words, alphanumeric characters via regex and the like can remove emails that are a risk to emailers. Strings tells us a lot about what’s inside and how to write the algorithm correctly.

The ending tells is a lot about how to sort. If it’s a government email, or an EU (GDPR) email or any other threat to email marketers. Understanding every element of the email’s ending really helps to sort out emails that you should not send advertisements to.

These are the basic elements if you want to build your own email verification software. The hardest part about email list hygiene is speed. In example, you will need to figure out which checks go first and which go last.

Email list verification broken promises

Business , Marketing , August 9, 2018

Beware of phony email hygiene companies and their email list verification broken promises. There are a number of things to look out for before spending money on email list hygiene. Some don’t bat an eye if it’s expensive but many whom are watching their budgets have to make decisions on email list verification companies that sounds good, cost is cheap but could have some serious problems.

Salesman

Purchasing hygiene without a salesman is great if your list is smaller than 100,000. But if you are a volume based aggregator, you will need to negotiate a price on major data volumes. A salesman can cost you everything if you are not looking for the signs. In example, a salesman that is impatient tells you they are quota driven. A salesman that is talkative (talks over you and doesn’t listen) is hiding something. And a salesman that everyone knows (famous name) didn’t get their by their products, rather, they sell themselves and you potentially are buying them and not a good product. Beware!

Free

Email list verification free doesn’t mean it’s free nor is it a good sign. If the hygiene company has to do smtp checks then offering to scrub a sample for free really costs them money. Two things could be happening if they are offering a free scrub. 1.) They are desperate or 2.) They really believe in their product. You will need to discern between the two in order to save yourself from a major broken promise from Email verification services.

Smooth versus clunky interface

If the hygiene company you are researching spends more time on their front end than their backend, then you will face some real issues. Many hygiene companies have cool looking features and interfaces but really lack on their backend. Short, simple and sweet tends to be the best package versus a company that has so many bells and whistles. If you have to make dozens of decisions before you scrub, you’re mostly facing a good front end but bad back end.

Be careful when you are looking at email list hygiene companies. As I write this, there are more than 50 email list hygiene companies worldwide and most of them are white labeled (using someone else’s system). Check and check again the resources and background of the company. Make sure you have a sales guy who understands the hygiene world and your needs. More than anything else, ask about how long they have been doing this. Only 5 existed back in 2007 and now there are over 50.

admin550

If there was any time to expand your email marketing – it’s now

How Email Syntax Removal Works

Email List Validation Versus Email List Verification