ISKTBN: i should know this by now.

Today on "Things I learned", I get reacquainted with punctuation and how it, when it wants to, will 'eff up your deliverability. 🎵 Dun dun  🎵 (my version of the  Law & Order transition sound) The consult started super simple.  <!--Heavily paraphrased conversation.--> CLIENT: "My emails are going to spam and I heard I have to make changes for Yahoo and Google, but I don't know what to do." ME: "Sweet! I can surely help with that. Would you like a technical review, strategic review, the works, or just a couple hours to provide you guidance?" CLIENT: "Let's start with a couple hours because I don't really know what I need, but I know I have to do something with a DKIM and an SPF." ME: "You got it! We'll start by meeting for an hour when you have availability and will go through it one step at a time. Then we can meet again if there is more to do or we can talk about any other issues or concerns you may have....

Today on "Things I learned", I get reacquainted with CNAMEs and how they, when they want to, will 'eff up your DNS records. A client engaged me for a "quick" domain warming for a rebranding. After review, this wasn't really a warming. The volume was too low. For me, the most important thing was making sure they were technically set up to be successful: authentication, working DNS, working mailboxes, etc. etc. etc. Yes, they had to be mindful of alerting their customers of their new domain in their email program, properly routing their current site to the new site and educating customers there as well. But most of their customers were already aware of the rebranding through direct 1:1 communications. The task was simple, get the domain setup, make sure it sits for an appropriate amount of time (minimum 30 days) without email activity, set up the website, get the right DNS records added, test, and make sure it all works. I started with their corporate mail and...

Today on "Things I learned", I find out spaces, when they want to, will 'eff up your DNS records. How do I know this. I had a potential client come in and ask why their email platform kept reporting to them that their DMARC wasn't set up.  Oooo, I know how to start this one (or so I thought)... Ask for a test message Proceed to check headers (as I'm using a Workspace, it's a super fast check-a-roo in the Authentication-Results: header) Double-check result against a couple online tools Everything looked peachy on the surface. DNS tools were showing it as correct and passing. Gmail was reporting that it was passing. But it still wasn't being sensed. Well, maybe it's a UI bug... Send a test to aboutmy.email . If that comes back as passing, it's gotta be the UI. Oh dang, aboutmy.email is saying it fails DMARC too. NOTE: I should have scrolled down at this point to see the details of the report, but I didn't have the results, my potential client on ...

Welcome to ISKTBN! ISKTBN  = I Should Know This By Now! This is a blog about those little things that leave you slapping your forehead going, "I KNEW THAT!" If you've ever had those moments, you are at home here. For the last couple years, a good friend has been telling me I should start a blog...get my name out there. Writing is hard so I put it off. Plus, so many others put out amazing content. Rich, educational, succinct, and just what you need. What more could I give or have time for beyond what I provide in my current role under my company's blog? Probably nothing that will change how people think.  BUT, after I had a moment of "DAMN, I should know this by now (ISKTBN)!" I realized I might have something I could share. Perhaps it'll give readers a chuckle...although maybe only those that know me. If not, perhaps they'll leave with the notion that I love the word 'DAMN' (I don't, but it's fun to type) and a nugget of knowledge tha...