According to a recent study conducted by Ferris Research, a market and technology research firm specializing in messaging and collaboration, Spam will cost U.S. businesses over $10 billion in 2003.
Spam not only clogs our servers and in-boxes, but it also costs us hours and hours of lost time in productivity.
Although the estimated cost of Spam focuses mainly on lost productivity, this picture may be much broader than you realize.
Some of the more popular email providers, such as AOL (America Online), Yahoo! and Hotmail, are now utilizing filters to cut down on Spam. These filters are dumping
Spam and/or bulk mailings into a separate location. Although this may cut down on
Spam in your in-box, these filters are also dumping some legitimate email messages.
What's more, some hosting services not only filter the email messages, but they're also blocking entire hosting companies. For example, the blocking host may have gotten some Spam complaints about a few marketers that host with ABC hosting company. (Keep in mind, ABC hosting company may host thousands of sites.) Rather than block the offending marketers, the blocking host decides to blacklist the entire
ABC host.
What this means is if you try to contact someone and their hosting company has blacklisted your host, your email will not go through -- it will bounce right back to you. If you suspect you may not be receiving all of your email, contact your host and ask them if they're using Spam filters or have blocked entire hosting companies.
How Much Will Spam Cost Your Business?
How much time do you spend sorting through the Spam in your email each day? Add it up sometime -- I'll bet you'll find you spend a lot more time than you even realized
-- time that could have been spent on your business.
If you're publishing an ezine or sending out any form of opt-in mailings, how many subscribers are actually receiving your mailings? Most-likely, not nearly as many