Each blacklist has it’s own method for delisting.  Sometimes it’s a webform, sometimes it is an email.  Almost always, you need to include the steps you took to fix whatever problem put you on a blacklist.  Many blacklist operators see themselves as righteous crusaders fighting against spam, malware, viruses, bad email configurations and poor email operations, so remember when dealing with a blacklist operator, you are the bad actor seeking forgiveness.

Tips for delisting:

• Read the description of the blacklist – Descriptions on MxToolbox Blacklist Info Pages give you everything you need to know about the blacklist and your reasons for being listed.  
• Ask yourself “Do I need to be delisted?” and “Is this affecting my business?” – If you do not do business in Spanish, chance are you don’t need to be removed from the NoSolicitado blacklist that only serves Spanish language emails.  If you aren’t seeing any emails bouncing back, then this isn’t a huge issue, yet.  Don’t waste time or get frustrated over listings that have no effect on business.  
  MxToolbox provides filters that allow you to ignore alerts on irrelevant blacklists.  We also provide an MxReputation report that tells you what your global reputation is.  If it’s still high, you might be fine ignoring this blacklist.
• Take care of the problem that caused the blacklisting – Once you know why you were listed, fix those issues.  Patch servers, run anti-malware/anti-virus software, fire the guy in marketing that was CCing all your customers or whatever you need to do. A blacklist will not delist you if you have changed nothing.
• Have a detailed list of remediation steps you have taken –
  What did you do to clean viruses or malware?
  What did you do to close hacked accounts and prevent future attacks?
  Have you changed outbound email policies to prevent spam?
  Have you patched servers or firewalls?
• Visit their site and fill out the required forms carefully and completely – MxToolbox has links to all the blacklist websites, including delisting forms.  Their forms are for their protection.  Their users will question a delisting if it results in further spam, so filling them out completely will aid your case.
• Be polite – Most blacklists have evidence that your servers have acted badly.  Treat this as a respectful request that your servers be delisted because you are technically the bad actor here.
• Explain the business impact – Let them know that you have a business that is impacted by being listed.
• Be patient, wait a few days for a response – This is not an instantaneous delisting process.  Some of these blacklists are small shops with a handful of employees.  They also need time to validate that you are no longer spamming, sending malware or other issues.  They will wait to see that your emails are no longer hitting their spam traps or being reported by any new customers.  Be patient.
• Don’t make multiple requests – It’s okay to make a second request if you have heard nothing in a few days, but refrain from making multiple requests in the first few days of an inquiry.  Blacklists get hundreds or thousands of requests daily and often duplicates drop to the bottom.
• Don’t pay to delist – All the blacklists checked by MxToolbox provide free delisting services.  A few offer paid expedited delisting services.  MxToolbox does not recommend paying to delist and we do not condone services that require payment.  

After you’ve gone through these steps, you should consider setting up monitoring on your important IP addresses, especially Email and Web servers.  Monitors can alert you to blacklist events as they emerge, rather than waiting for serious business impacts.  MxToolbox offers a wide range of monitoring solutions from Free, single IP solutions, to real-time large network blacklist monitoring.