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Welcome to ISKTBN!

WELCOME TO ISKTBN!

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...

Damn Social Media Trackers

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Today on "Things I learned", I find out sharing, when it wants to, reveals a hell-ova-lot more about and you and your connections than you want it to. If you don't know already, I like dogs. Therefore, it's not a leap to believe that my recent video bing is all things dogs. Life feels hectic and dogs are fun. Plus dogs could give two shites about the crazy going on so long as they have a treat. And, gosh, those cute videos of puppies being sassy, it GETS me every time. And occasionally , I see a video from The Dodo about a dog that's been rescued that gives me heartbreak and joy. I can't spend too much time there because then I go down the rabbit hole of "How do I change my career to SAVE ALL THE DOGS?!" Where was I? I started talking dogs and everything went furry. Oh social media and sharing! I don't dabble in (non-business) social media much, other than the previously mentioned dog video bing. There is a part of me that feels I'm revealin...

DAMN Redirects

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Today on "Things my client and I learned", we find out the internet (via redirects), when it wants to, will 'eff up your sanity. I've been on a bender with so many of my stories focusing on DNS, but it's the backbone of the internet so it can't help but get in the way. And although the issue here isn't a DNS issue (that I can identify,) I bring it up because the story starts with a change made to the DNS. First, if you don't know anything about DNS other than it means "Domain Name System," know that DNS is damn hard and easy to mess up. Making changes to the DNS can be flat out terrifying. So after you make changes, if you find out something isn’t working (related to changes or not,) you immediately ask for help (or in my case a casual, "I noticed when I got to my site, it's not my site.") But you're not always able to explain what happened or why, all you can say is that things aren't working as they should. I will sa...

Damn Nameservers

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  Today on "Things others learned", a client finds out nameservers, when they want to, will 'eff up their deliverability. This story is the counter to " Damn Beautiful Nameservers ." Instead of me oozing praise all over them, I'm going to go all "Negative Nancy" on them. But it's really not their fault. They can't help if it if they are given the wrong information or left unattended. But what the hell, I'm gonna curse them out anyway otherwise my whole schtick for ISKTBN is ruined. So today, nameservers aren't my friend, or, I should say, my client's. And so my story begins... Far, far way, in a work-from-home office that isn't an office, but holds a desk, computer, and internet connection... A prospect (further to be called 'client' because it's easier) reached out to me after they kept experiencing a high volume of bounces to emails they KNEW were active (one was their sister's email.) They also were receiv...

Damn Email: Too valuable for your own good.

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Today on "Things I learned", I continually find out email, when it wants to, will 'eff you up.  Mind you, this story  rant is riding on the coattails of a cold I've recently picked up, which means I'm a little more sassy with a glass half-full mindset. PSST: Email, if you're listening (reading,) I love you. It's not you, it's them. People are taking advantage of you and your awesomeness because behind you is a person. And that person has a value tied to it. The more persons, the more value. The more value, the more for potential 💰💰💰.  All this abusive nonsense is causing kerfuffles all over the place and I don't like it so I must rant about it. Again my cheery disposition has been waylaid by this cold. Forgive me. 🎵 Everybody in the club gettin' emails 🎵 Prior to this exuberant mood with which I am now infusing into my brooding pondering, I saw a LinkedIn post from Ron Dorsey pointing out how painfully obtrusive email collection is (hopef...

DNS: It's Damn Hard

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It's Damn AWESOME Deliverability Week (don't forget to follow #deliverabilityweek on LinkedIn)! I'm diving into the DNS yet again because it's been the thorn in the side of small senders who venture my way so it's naturally top of mind. Join me on this ride to discover why the DNS is so damn hard! Today on "Things the Industry Learned" a LONG time ago (but we, alas, only mere mortals, painfully learn daily), the DNS (Domain Name System) is a beast. It's the root of all issues  (Almost all? Ok, fine. Not all, but a lot.)  and, when it wants to, will 'eff up your deliverability. In my long tenured position as a deliverability blogger of a whopping 3 to 4 months, 50% of my posts have something related to the DNS as the culprit behind the issue at hand! FIFTY PERCENT! Ok, fine, 4 issue-focused articles aren't much to be exasperated about. BUT I have been in this beautiful field of deliverability since (checks her resume...

Damn AWESOME Deliverability Week

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  Today on "Things that are awesome!", I get to share BIG NEWS! Deliverability Week 2024 is coming! That's right you deliverability nerds. You finally get your day in the sun. Your week to geek out with your technique out!  Oof, did I just say that? YES, yes I did! And I don't care because I'm super jazzed to be able to collaborate with the deliverability greats out there that have taught me so damn much. Those that keep teaching me. Those helping me learn. Those correcting me when I'm mislead. Those guiding me when things get tough. And those cheering me on and believing in me. This deliverability thing can be hard. But having a community makes a world of difference! So although I'm celebrating the upcoming week that will be filled with wonderful content, undoubtedly loaded with secrets of the trade and, if we are lucky, full on rants dripping with sarcasm and brilliance, I'm really celebrating the people who have paved the way and made this an indust...

Damn Beautiful Nameservers

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May 10, 2024 Update  and SPOILER ALERT  ( jump ahead if you want to read through the post first) I incorrectly attributed my success to DNS cache. But it wasn't DNS cache that saved my butt. It was nameservers (and I got lucky with timing.)  The information I was searching for was available not because of cache, but because GoDaddy's nameservers hadn't yet received the updated instructions to remove the DNS records. Looking at some of GoDaddy's documents for removing domain entries, they do list out recovery times if something was done in error, but that is likely some other process. I also asked someone at GoDaddy how the UI and DNS were connected, and they stated that although UI changes are typically updated on the nameservers quickly (within an hour), it can take longer.  THIS is why I was able to look up values well beyond the often generic TTL of 1 hour and the  records I needed were therefore  published long enough for me to go back and look them up...