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Word to the Wise
We make email better.
We make email better.
Word to the Wise helps email marketers create more effective email messages, programs and infrastructures. We advise you how to skilfully navigate the constant business, technology, and policy challenges so your messages reach your customers.
We can help you with your email strategy, deliverability challenges and many other email issues.
What others say
Recent Articles
The spam folder and opens
- laura
- Apr 9, 2026

There’s a post getting a lot of traction in my LinkedIn feed from someone spreading misinformation about open rates. A bunch of deliverability colleagues have weighed in and pointed out some of the mistakes, but there’s one very big mis-statement I haven’t seen anyone correct. [1]
Read MoreSPF ?all
- steve
- Mar 20, 2026

I was updating my SPF library and discovered that the example code snippets didn’t work any more, as at some point in 2024 AOL switched their SPF record from “(lots of stuff]) ~all” to “(lots of stuff) ?all”. Nothing particularly surprising, folks change their setups occasionally. I updated the example code to expect a neutral response rather than softfail and all the tests pass.
Upcoming webinar on Gmail and inbox signals
- laura
- Mar 13, 2026
I’m thrilled to announce I’m sitting down at the beginning of April to talk about inboxing in 2026.
Read MoreRecent Writings and Events
- laura
- Feb 19, 2026
I don’t know about you, but we’re more than 6 weeks into 2026 and I can’t figure out where all the time has gone. It’s been a much busier January than I’m used to. I’ve been working on a lot, including a project I’ve been trying to get off the ground for a while. I’m really excited it’s finally taking shape and I hope to be able to share it with folks in the next month or so.
Read MoreNot Business as Usual
- laura
- Jan 26, 2026
I don’t know what to say about what’s happening in the US, but I know I can’t stay silent, either. I don’t have anything inspiring to say here. I just cannot keep silent and pretend it’s all business as usual. I’m saddened, I’m horrified, I’m sick about what the government of the US is doing to citizens and non-citizens alike.
Read MoreDon't send customer-generated content
- steve
- Jan 19, 2026
I just got this email:

SPF is valid. It passes DKIM for zoom.us.
Read More







