To all of my fellow Realtors out there, here is a bit of a wake-up call. If you are using a free email service such as AOL, Yahoo! and any other that places ads at the bottom of your emails, you may not be getting through to your intended recipient!
SPAM is a huge issue for internet users these days. The statistics are mind-boggling. According to SpamCop.net, there have been 3,839,116 SPAM messages sent in the last 24 hours. This is averaging 64.2 messages per second. Last year they estimate that 1,014,443,942 SPAM messages were sent. This is about 90% of all the messages sent. This is on the rise every day. As Security providers such as McAfee and Symantec add to their filters, less and less is getting through. Good news... usually.
Again, if you are using an email service that places ads on your emails, you MUST follow-up with a phone call. You contact with other Realtors and Clients can be crucial to your Buyers and Sellers! "Time is of the Essence" and where does the time go if your message is not received? Many of these email messages will be filtered into SPAM or Junk-Mail Folders, never to be read. It happens all of the time. Depending on how users have their email clients, like Outlook for example, set-up, these messages could be automatically deleted. "Didn't you get my email about it?" "No, I have not gotten anything from you." OOPS! Opportunity missed. Credibility and reliability are out-the-window!
Free email services are not free! These ads on the emails are how the provider makes money. If an end user clicks on the ad, the provider either makes a few pennies per click or if they actually buy the product or service. You are doing their marketing for them every time that you send an email.
Get smart and get an email account that does not have such ads. Most Realtors with National and Regional Brokerages have access to email accounts through their brands. If not, buy a domain name with email. You can usually get one for as little as $10 per year. You do not need a web site to have your own email address without any ads. Not to mention, you will look for professional! If you would like more information, feel free to email me... with any luck, I might just get your message.
