Following on from defining what spam is, I thought I should mention why adding ‘this is  not spam’ to your emails isn’t a good idea.

1. As I posted recently, certain words can trigger spam filterswhen an email arrives. The word spam itself rates highly in these filters so referring to spam in any way can actually prevent your email reaching your recipient(s)
2. Most of us are sick of spam and therefore are suspicious of emails we don’t expect or that include questionable content. As soon as you mention you aren’t spam, we are going to wonder why you feel the need to tell us that – a genuine message should speak for itself.
3. If the person reading your email disagrees and believes your message is spam, they will perceive you as having lied to them and any trust you may have had is gone or at least badly dented.