Things for you to do_

Send your initial lists to clean lists (people you know well who won't hit the spam button)

Use lead nurturing to send relevant content based on roles, actions and interests

Only send to old database contacts once you develop a good reputation

Consider using a different but related domain for sending emails

Setup SenderID and SPF

Setup postmaster@ and abuse@ email addresses

Avoid buying, renting or borrowing lists from 3^rd parties

Check the integrity of your contact lists before and after an upload

Create great marketing content

Segment your marketing content into smaller chunks vs. sending "clusters"

Get people's permission before adding them to an email marketing track

Embed a "Safely Unsubscribe" and "Privacy Policy" link at the bottom of your messages

Do not be too aggressive with your email communications especially at first (think dating)

Use auto-responders that cross promote

Use an active email address as your reply-to email address

Make the unsubscribe process easier than the subscribe process

Use your colors and logo in your content so your recipients recognize you

Don't include too many images (<=4) in your messages

Keep your messages small (< 37K Bytes)

Follow CAN-SPAM Act requirements