Dear Friends,

This is a blog post that although not really embroidery related, I want to have this written down so when people ask me the question, “Why am I not getting my newsletters?” I have a place to direct them.

This is something that has puzzled me because every once in a while someone e-mails me with this question.  They say, “Nancy, I am signed up for your newsletters but I’m not getting them.”  I can verify the e-mail that all is correct and that the newsletter is actually being sent to the correct e-mail.  But why is the newsletter not being received?

Well, I’ve done a lot of research as to why and I have several possibilities.

Other than asking your spouse if they are deleting the newsletters for you – yes this does happen….

1. The first place to look is in your spam or junk folder.  If this is where they are landing, please put my e-mail, nancyjacobs@embroideryit.com in your contacts or safe senders list.

2. I read about people who were all of a sudden finding e-mails in unusual folders.  Here is an example, lets just say you have a folder labeled “medical”.  I have that folder so when medical related e-mails come in that I want to keep I file them there.  Well, I read people with gmail accounts were all of a sudden finding e-mails being automatically being sent to unrelated folders such as finding an embroidery e-mail in their medical folder.  This happened after an update.  I don’t know if the issue has been resolved.  So this is something to consider and perhaps you need to check other folders.

3.  If your mailbox is full – and this includes your trash box, your e-mails will bounce.  This is called a “soft-bounce”.  Be sure you regularly clean out all your mailbox folders.

4.From time to time your e-mail server will go down or be offline.  This also results in a “soft-bounce”.  For my newsletter provider, after 15 soft bounces, your e-mail is wiped clean from the list.

5. Businesses newsletters are sent out automatically by a newsletter provider.  There are many different providers.  I happen to use one called, “Mail Chimp.”  So although when you read that the newsletter is from nancyjacobs@embroideryit.com it isn’t really being sent from my computer.  I have designed the newsletter on Mail Chimp’s website and it comes from there.  When it is sent from Mail Chimp, it appears with my e-mail however, there is actually a hidden extension on it.  It isn’t anything we see, but your computer sees it.  Your computer may identify that this is a bulk e-mail going out to many people and so your computer may block it.  Your computer’s firewall or protection may be set that it won’t let bulk e-mails come through thinking they are spam.

6. In relation to number 3, some people sign up for newsletters using work computers.  I will see e-mails that come from government e-mail addresses or other businesses.  So now, the newsletter first has to go through the security set-ups of the business before it can even reach your computer.

7. This also relates to number 3.  If you have blocked or marked as spam other businesses newsletters who have been sent by the same newsletter provider, in my case Mail Chimp, your computer may see that hidden extension and think it won’t let anything with the hidden extension come through.  So although you blocked someone else who used Mail Chimp, now it won’t let anyone who uses Mail Chimp  come through.  (Note:  It is always better to unsubscribe from a newsletter than to mark it as spam.)

If you think it might be your security or firewall and you would like to make a change with it, my advice to you is to google your specific security system along with the words “allowing newsletter subscriptions.”  You should be able to find exactly what you need to do in order to let just the right e-mails in while still keeping out the real junk that you don’t want.  However, the first and easiest thing to try is to just add the e-mail sender into your contacts list.  In many instances, that alone will solve the problem.

I hope this helps those of you who have asked this question.

Nancy