ISKTBN: i should know this by now.

  I'm using today's blog article to offload some thoughts. I was "quietly" offloading them to my closest friends because ... well, who really wants to hear me rant? But that was after one recent experience. Then a couple more came up which convinced me that I must write about it and naturally others will want to read it! Beyond my ranting, there is something to be learned here, although one may argue that they (the culprits I'm about to rant about) should know this already.  Who's / what's my beef with today? Automated Customer Support, henceforth to be known as ACS. I'm sure there are a lot of great  excuses  reasons to use it, most involving cost and likely a badge to say they are using AI, which show you are at the forefront of new technology, or maybe a tax write-off. Apologies, I'm feeling spicy today. There are other reasons too: some involving time, some involving translation support and easier customer communications, some involving focus a...

Image by Hans Benn  from Pixabay      Chickie Nuggies! They're yummy, portable, and give you a legit reason to play with your food (as you bite the head off a dinosaur nuggie screaming out a RAWR in conquest and discard it to your plate soaked in blood  ketchup.) You really have to butcher the batter or make them so oily they can't be consumed to keep them from being a lunchtime favorite for children and adults alike! With that said, imagine how excited I was when I found out they not only "nourish" the body, but they can also "nourish" the learning mind AND fight online abuse! Yes, chickie nuggies have many skills. And now they can add hacker buster and teacher to belly filler and lunch plate entertainment. So how did I come to learn about the many facets of chickie nuggies? Through experience and podcasts, of course! I'm not sure if you're into podcasts. I never was. At least not until recently. In my quest to learn more about things, I started to ...

Today on "Things I learned", I find out sharing, when it wants to, reveals a hell-ova-lot more about and you and your connections than you want it to. If you don't know already, I like dogs. Therefore, it's not a leap to believe that my recent video bing is all things dogs. Life feels hectic and dogs are fun. Plus dogs could give two shites about the crazy going on so long as they have a treat. And, gosh, those cute videos of puppies being sassy, it GETS me every time. And occasionally , I see a video from The Dodo about a dog that's been rescued that gives me heartbreak and joy. I can't spend too much time there because then I go down the rabbit hole of "How do I change my career to SAVE ALL THE DOGS?!" Where was I? I started talking dogs and everything went furry. Oh social media and sharing! I don't dabble in (non-business) social media much, other than the previously mentioned dog video bing. There is a part of me that feels I'm revealin...

Today on "Things my client and I learned", we find out the internet (via redirects), when it wants to, will 'eff up your sanity. I've been on a bender with so many of my stories focusing on DNS, but it's the backbone of the internet so it can't help but get in the way. And although the issue here isn't a DNS issue (that I can identify,) I bring it up because the story starts with a change made to the DNS. First, if you don't know anything about DNS other than it means "Domain Name System," know that DNS is damn hard and easy to mess up. Making changes to the DNS can be flat out terrifying. So after you make changes, if you find out something isn’t working (related to changes or not,) you immediately ask for help (or in my case a casual, "I noticed when I got to my site, it's not my site.") But you're not always able to explain what happened or why, all you can say is that things aren't working as they should. I will sa...

  Today on "Things others learned", a client finds out nameservers, when they want to, will 'eff up their deliverability. This story is the counter to " Damn Beautiful Nameservers ." Instead of me oozing praise all over them, I'm going to go all "Negative Nancy" on them. But it's really not their fault. They can't help if it if they are given the wrong information or left unattended. But what the hell, I'm gonna curse them out anyway otherwise my whole schtick for ISKTBN is ruined. So today, nameservers aren't my friend, or, I should say, my client's. And so my story begins... Far, far way, in a work-from-home office that isn't an office, but holds a desk, computer, and internet connection... A prospect (further to be called 'client' because it's easier) reached out to me after they kept experiencing a high volume of bounces to emails they KNEW were active (one was their sister's email.) They also were receiv...

Today on "Things I learned", I continually find out email, when it wants to, will 'eff you up.  Mind you, this story  rant is riding on the coattails of a cold I've recently picked up, which means I'm a little more sassy with a glass half-full mindset. PSST: Email, if you're listening (reading,) I love you. It's not you, it's them. People are taking advantage of you and your awesomeness because behind you is a person. And that person has a value tied to it. The more persons, the more value. The more value, the more for potential 💰💰💰.  All this abusive nonsense is causing kerfuffles all over the place and I don't like it so I must rant about it. Again my cheery disposition has been waylaid by this cold. Forgive me. 🎵 Everybody in the club gettin' emails 🎵 Prior to this exuberant mood with which I am now infusing into my brooding pondering, I saw a LinkedIn post from Ron Dorsey pointing out how painfully obtrusive email collection is (hopef...

It's Damn AWESOME Deliverability Week (don't forget to follow #deliverabilityweek on LinkedIn)! I'm diving into the DNS yet again because it's been the thorn in the side of small senders who venture my way so it's naturally top of mind. Join me on this ride to discover why the DNS is so damn hard! Today on "Things the Industry Learned" a LONG time ago (but we, alas, only mere mortals, painfully learn daily), the DNS (Domain Name System) is a beast. It's the root of all issues  (Almost all? Ok, fine. Not all, but a lot.)  and, when it wants to, will 'eff up your deliverability. In my long tenured position as a deliverability blogger of a whopping 3 to 4 months, 50% of my posts have something related to the DNS as the culprit behind the issue at hand! FIFTY PERCENT! Ok, fine, 4 issue-focused articles aren't much to be exasperated about. BUT I have been in this beautiful field of deliverability since (checks her resume...