Filters are going to get tighter and tighter, as spam is not going to go away; I'd seriously suggest you consider a name change, if you want to succeed on the web.

So much depends on word recognition, that a 'bad' name is going to bite you in the bum in so many ways. Forever.

Just as a 'good' name can make a small but significant difference, so a 'bad' name can give you a slight - but oh so significant disadvantage compared to your competitors.

Take a long view, see the big picture. Do what has to be done.

Not gonna happen.
What about SPF? Does it help?

Use a 3rd party service for sending your mails (ie - Constant Contact, etc).

Listen to what I am saying:

Will using SPF help with my problems with hotmail's spam filters? Has anyone tried this?

Wow...getting rude with those that are answering your question is not the best way to go about getting information.

An SPF helps to insure the information is coming from where it says it is, but if your NAME is causing the redflag, then you are still going to have problems.

Hence the answers above yours that you chose to ignore.

I send out a newsletter to our social club. We had problems with AOL only - but after providing a SPF all went well shortly after - and that stayed the case for several months. Now AOL has started rejecting the newsletter as spam - using a code that suggests it has been black listed by a mail recipient. As each newsletter is sent only to those who request it, and the unsubscribe kink is sure and quick, that is irritating. However, we use a shared mail server - so perhaps we have just been unlucky when someone else was blocked.

Whatever, I don't have time to jump through further AOL hoops, so I have informed the membership that we cannot handle AOL, have deleted all AOL entries in the data base, and barred further AOL applications - suggesting something like hotmail (which still works fine, along with all other mail handlers). I relalise this is no solution for a commercial organization, though.

So in short, a SPF is no guarantee of even the most innocent newsletters being barred.

I also send out newsletters for a community organisation. Every few months we will get a rash of bounces as "spam". Most times the following newsletter goes out just fine. I have given up trying to find fixes every time this occurs and just drop anybody whose address bounces for two newsletters in succession.

As long as the "bad" name is being identified from the address or a link rather than from textual content then you may be advised to spend a few pennies on a clean name which simply redirects.

piatkow, I was worried that AOL might report the IP to spamhaus if I kept posting newsletters which it rejected.

That's why I operate a two strikes policy. I ended up cleaning out most of the AOL addresses at one point.

I had big problems originally sending through my own ISP's email but now route it through the company that maanges the domain with few regular problems.

I send email of the web host's mail server - which is not the same domain the my site (and newsletter). I wonder if that is part of the problem.