• by Kate Kaye , September 30, 2004

When today's In the Trenches subject, SKYLIST's Ross Miller, plays fetch with his yellow Lab outside his Austin office during work breaks, he needn't worry about the ball getting to its intended recipient. But back in the office, ensuring deliverability is the name of the game. MediaDailyNews talks with Miller, director of accounts at e-mail marketing software and hosting firm SKYLIST, about establishing solid relationships with ISPs, e-mail authentication, and getting legitimate messages to their in-box destinations.

Miller managed to parlay a friendship into a working relationship in 2001 when he came on board as account manager at SKYLIST, an outfit founded by his college buddy Joshua Baer. Today, Miller heads up a team of three account managers and is closely involved with client set-up and training, and of course, making sure clients' e-mails get where they need to go.

What are your favorite online destinations in the a.m.? Why?
I'm a big sports fan, so I check out ESPN.com to check the latest scores. I've always been a fan of European soccer, so I like to check the soccer scores.

SenderBase [SenderBase.org] is a Web site that I use for work to do evaluation on deliverability. It's a site set up by IronPort [IronPort Systems]. It shows the most accurate estimate that we've seen of a volume [of e-mail] sent by a given IP address or domain. It helps us understand issues that correlate to deliverability.

What other sites do you visit frequently? Why?
HomestarRunner.com is another site I like to check out. It's a Flash cartoon site. [Miller especially enjoys a Mexican wrestling cartoon that's updated there each week.]

I play on a couple hockey leagues, and I check the stats online for those a lot. I'm into music, too. I've been DJ-ing for about five years, so I check sites to buy albums or read new reviews of albums that came out.

What is the most challenging part of your job?

It requires constant evaluation to know what ISPs have in place. The industry has gotten to a point where most ISPs shoot first and don't ask questions. They err on the side of caution and block a lot of legitimate e-mails. A lot of it is establishing a good history for the customer [with the ISP] and building a good relationship with the ISP.

While we have a very good relationship with an ISP like AOL, each customer's AOL delivery is addressed separately....AOL needs 30 days worth of history [with a particular company before it approves e-mail from] even the best mailer.

What do you like best about your job; what keeps you interested?
I really relate to a lot of our customers, and have been able to establish close personal relationships with them. I like the fact that I can make things better for them.

Many of my friends also work at the company, and I have an impact on their success. We also have a pretty fun, casual environment; a lot of us bring our dogs to work. It doesn't really feel like work. [Several high-level people at the company attended Carnegie Mellon along with Miller and Baer.]

How has Can-Spam legislation affected your company or your particular job?
I don't think it's really changed that much. It's created a set of best practices. The important thing is that Can-Spam compliance doesn't really relate to deliverability. The ISPs hold a lot higher standard than what the law focuses on.

What's the most significant e-mail policy issue right now?
A lot of my time is spent communicating with ISPs and determining results of ISP deliverability to customers. I think that while deliverability is becoming more and more challenging, ISPs have ramped up the staff to work with legitimate list owners.

I'm really encouraged by organizations like Bonded Sender* [TRUSTe's third-party e-mail certification program] and other services that have come out to differentiate the good guys from the bad guys. Authenticated e-mail is the first step.

*Read the In The Trenches interview with Colin O'Malley, TRUSTe's lead developer of Bonded Sender.