One of the most common and most effective methods used by spam filters is to scan each incoming e-mail, and look for characteristics used by most spammers. So, if you know what some of these characteristics are, then you should avoid using them in your own e-mails. Doing this will increase the possibility of your e-mail getting through.

Here are some specific characteristics that will raise suspision:

• 'From' name missing - Many spam messages contain only an e-mail address in the 'From' field and no name. Make sure your own 'From' field contains your name.

• useless subject line - Many spam messages fudge the subject line to get your attention. For example, I've seen subject lines like "Why did you forget?" and "congratulations". Those are downright useless.

  What surpises me is that most of my friends and colleagues told me that they never even read the subject line of incoming e-mails. In other words, they just open and read the incoming e-mail, no matter what the subject line says. That's nuts! The subject of an e-mail has a purpose. It's there to let you know what the e-mail is about. It's like receiving postal mail, and looking at the envelope to decide if it's important. Use the subject line as it was designed to be used.

• using odd fonts/colors - Many spam messages make use of various fonts, colors and sizes to get your attention. Keep your messages simple. You probably don't need all that fluff to communicate your message.

• using all caps - Many spam messages make use of all capital letters to get your attention. Make sure your caps lock key is off.

• high priority - Many spam messages set the priority level to high. Use that option sparingly.

• incorrect date - Many spam messages will use an old date to insure that the message appears at the top of the list in your in box. Make sure the date on your computer is correct.

Now, it's important to know that I'm not saying you should NEVER use any of the above characteristics. For example, you might really want to mark an e-mail message with a 'high' priority. But if you do that, and you also have other characteristics mentioned, then your message will get flagged.

In my case, in addition to using spam filters, I look at two things: 'From' name and 'Subject'. If the combination of those two things don't interest me, the message goes in the trash; I don't open it and I don't read it.

In summary, if your e-mail looks like spam, then you can expect it to be treated like spam.