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Want to make the most of the e-zines that you receive?Understanding the following will go a long way towards making your e-zine subscribing a pleasant experience.

1. Advertisements Make It Possible.You’re outraged because the free ezine contains advertisements?Consider that you PAY to receive newspapers, magazines andtelevision shows, and they all contain ads. The publisher of that free e-zine isn’t doing hours and hours of work just to make you happy. He is trying to make a living and that means he has to bring in asource of income. Ads make it possible for you to receive free e-zines.

2. Your Ezine Isn’t Being Delivered.You’ve subscribed to an ezine, but it never arrives. Consider thefollowing: Every time a publisher sends out a mailing, dozens of news letters are returned marked undeliverable. These are some ofthe reasons:

a. Typo in the email address that the subscriber provided. One wrong digit and the email won’t go through.

b. Mailbox full. If you’re using one of the free email accounts, yourstorage allotment is limited. If you don’t collect your email regularly,the incoming e-mails will bounce back to sender.

c. Account deactivated. If you drop an email account, ezines sent to that address are returned to sender.

d. Your email provider is using filtering software that rejectscontent in the ezine. Some email providers try to block spam emails by filtering out terms commonly found in spam messages. While filtering terms like “home”, “make money”, “good income” will block certain spams, it will also block legitimate ezines covering business, finances, real estate, etc.

3. You Want To UnsubscribeThere’s a right way and a wrong way. The wrong way will causestress for both you and the publisher. Here’s what you need to know:

a. Use the unsubscribe instructions included in the ezine. The publisher’s software is set up to process unsubscribe requests that are sent to the address suppliedfor that purpose. Unsubscribes sent to other addresses may well be missed. Clicking “Reply” and sending your unsubscribe message to the ezine’s address is unlikely to work.

b. When sending an unsubscribe request, you MUST use the same email address that you used when you subscribed. If you subscribe to an ezine with your  address, then send an unsubscribe while your email software is set to your address, the publisher will not find that address in the list and will not be able to unsubscribe you.

c. If you are subscribed using 2 or more addresses, you will receive 2 or more copies of the ezine. The publisher and his technology do not understand that both addresses belong to you. If you want to unsubscribe totally, you will need to unsubscribe using both addresses. If you remove only one, the ezine will continue to be sent to the other.

4. They Asked for my Name when I Subscribed.The subscribe form asks for your name and your email address.You suspect they are planning to use your name for some nefarious purpose.Wrong. The publisher is personalizing the email that she sends.Most subscribers like receiving personalized messages instead of generic ones. If you fill in the form with a bogus name suchas AABBCC, when your ezine arrives, it will say “Dear AABBCC”,instead of “Dear Mary.’

5. I Didn’t Subscribe. I’ve Been Spammed!Are you sure? It’s not uncommon for people to forget they have subscribed to an ezine and decide it is spam. Of perhaps your kid had a good time subscribing to every ezine she found on the web.Many publishers use various means to verify and confirm subscribers.A false accusation of spam can prove embarrassing if the publisher can produce mail logs or IP addresses demonstrating that someonedid indeed subscribe from your computer. It also happens occasionally that a friend or enemy subscribes people without letting them know.That’s not your fault, but it’s not the publisher’s fault either.Now you understand how things work, get ready to enjoy thenewsletters that you want!