Search:
Site   Web

SiteProNews

SiteProNews

Article Categories





By Justin Cooke in Featured

emailmktgOk, I admit it…I’ve been a militant emailer for years.

Whether it was requiring updates from employees, discussing strategy with partners, ordering from vendors, etc. I considered my emails as THE way to communicate and get things done, especially when working remotely. I’d get frustrated when emails were ignored or not comprehended and couldn’t understand why other professionals would take them so lightly. Yes, I’d read Tim Ferriss’s 4HWW and knew that some people were trying to cut back on their email consumption, limiting their time responding/sending emails, etc…but they shouldn’t do that to ME, I thought.

What I didn’t realize before starting AdSenseFlippers.com was that some people loathed getting emails from me and their poor response rate was a secret rebellion in protest.

Others have been writing about this as well, including such well-known bloggers as Seth Godin and Chris Anderson giving us email checklists and setting out to create an email charter. We’ve recently begun to build our list of subscribers through Aweber and in doing so, I’ve signed up for quite a few email lists to get an idea as to what kind of information is provided, how often they sell products or services to me, etc. What I’ve found is that over 95% of the emails I receive through their lists are junk. It’s not just that they don’t apply to me or help me out specifically…it’s that they could hardly be considered helpful to ANYONE. I’ve secretly come to despise several of these unnamed sources…especially those who I haven’t yet taken the time to unsubscribe from and it’s hurting their brand much more than it’s helping.

I’m still a little militant about email and I DEFINITELY haven’t got down to checking my email once a week like Tim Ferriss, but I’ve found a strategy of rules I can follow without unintentionally building up a network of people who secretly hate my emails:

Would you want the email yourself? No? Will sending the email potentially make you money…would the person you’re sending this to find it to be valuable information.

If it’s someone with whom you’re looking to do business have you considered what they get out of it and would it be a good deal if you were in their shoes? If it’s to your list, would you really find the information useful or is it just another excuse to promote a product, affiliate program, etc. Be honest with yourself.

Are you including people on the email that don’t need to be included? Does your boss, co-worker, employee, partner really need to have a copy of that email in their inbox?

I’m cc’d on so many emails that I currently don’t even need to know about. This problem alone literally eats up 20-30 minutes of my day, minimum. This is especially useful for subscribers and lists…that email that took you twenty minutes to write and are sending out to a 2,500 strong subscriber base could literally be eating up 800 hours of people’s time or more

Are any attachments or links relevant, useful, and necessary? Expanding on the previous point, it may only take an extra 30 seconds to include a few extra links to videos and articles, but how much time are you asking of your recipients to spend researching that information. (2,500 hours worth in the above example if it takes an hour to digest) Is it really worth it? A few weeks ago I sent a video and associated article to my employees and asked them all to read, watch, and respond with any thoughts they had and told them to do this on the clock, because I knew it was important. Would you be willing to go as far as paying for the time your readers spend reviewing your attachments and links? If not, don’t send it.

So I can’t say I’m down to checking my emails once a week or that everything I send out is award-winning or always useful, but I’ve gotten much more respectful of others’ time. It can become infinitely more difficult to keep up the more successful you become, so remember that the next time you have a business proposition or question for someone that’s doing well and be strategic about it. If they’re respectful of you, they’ll respond…but it doesn’t mean they don’t secretly wish you would have been more succinct and appreciative of their limited time.

Justin Cooke is an author, business owner, and a general business enthusiast. In addition to running TryBPO, an outsourcing company in Davao City, Philippines, he also creates runs AdSenseFlippers a site devoted to promoting free, actionable information to build niche websites for passive income, providing easy to follow strategies and detailed income reports.
http://adsenseflippers.com/category/income-report/2011

By Gareth Price in Featured

bloggingWith millions of blogs on the internet – and more being added every day! – it can seem like an impossible task to get your online internet business up and running and get your blog noticed. But it is possible to make a niche for yourself, even in a very competitive market space. Here are nine ways to create attention to your blog:

1)Write great content. It sounds simple, but it’s true. If you want people to want to read your stuff, and refer your friends to your site, write content worth reading. Then do it again, and again, and again.

2) Interact with other bloggers. There are many bloggers in your niche, and instead of viewing them as competitors, see them as potential partners. Comment on their blogs via social media sites and so on. Make yourself their supporter, and they’ll be more receptive to helping you out when they can.

3) Add eye-catching images. Lots of people are scanners, and they’ll pop over to your blog to just see what’s happening. Strong images are a great way to grab their attention; long blocks of text are a turn-off for most people.

4) Add audio and video. Adding other media forms is a way to mix things up and keep them interesting. While any one particular visitor might skip an audio, another one might be dying to hear your voice!

5) Keep things relevant. Comment on the latest trends in your industry, or relate top-of-mind news stories to your market. For example, if everyone’s talking about reality TV, can you take a spin on the most popular show for your market? Be the go-to expert.

6) Interview “big names.” While you may not be able to compete with the “celebrities” in your market when it comes to traffic, you can divert some of their traffic your way by interviewing them. This is a great place to bring in audio and video.

7) Do a giveaway. Find something people in your market would really like, and hold a contest or giveaway. (Hint: The more tightly tied the prize is to your market, the more targeted your traffic will be).

8 ) Guest posting means appearing on other blogger’s sites. It allows you to reach a new market, complete with the stamp of approval from someone that this new market already knows, likes, and trusts. For more information on guest blogging – including how to hold your own “blog tour” – visit Nicole Dean’s blog at nicoleonthenet.com.

9) Interact with readers. Your audience is your bread and butter. When they comment, you should be appreciative AND responsive. Engage them in conversation, either in the comments section of your site, or via email. Never ignore your readers!

Very few bloggers – even those who consider themselves “professionals” – do all these things.

That’s why there will always be room for someone new at the top – someone who’s willing to do the things others aren’t. Someone like you!

To start an Online Internet Marketing Business go to https://www.samibmarketings.com and get your free report along with free tips,hints and techniques !

By Joe Maldonado in Featured

mobilemktgIf you want to grow your business, then it is time to take mobile marketing into consideration. You will need to have a firm grasp of network marketing in order to take your business to the next level and effectively understand this type of marketing.

SMS is one of the most commonly used campaigns of this nature. SMS stands for short messaging service. Any mobile device is going to be able to view SMS and Text Messages. If you have your clients’ phone numbers, this can be an excellent marketing tool for your business. You will be able to send updates about promotions and other business related information straight to their mobile phone.

If you want to take it a step farther, you can go with MMS. This stands for Multimedia Message Service. With this type of message you will be able to include media, such as photos. These messages are a bit more complex, and while not all mobile devices can receive them, most will be able to.

More and more people are getting SMART phones these days. People are able to get instant updates about your company through mobile web applications, and they will not only be able to get the information faster but they will also be able to avoid text messaging fees. Another form of technology that is becoming quite common is Bluetooth. This is not just limited to the headsets. This technology can be used from roughly 33 feet in distance. Even though this may seem like a relatively short range, it can still be used for marketing within a close proximity.

There is another type of technology that is much like Bluetooth. It’s called Location-Based mobile marketing. It isn’t as commonly used as some of the other methods, but in the future it may become much more common. This is a type of marketing that delivers media straight to someone’s mobile device based on where they are located through GPS technology. Obviously, it seems as though you are going to need to get the user’s permission to use this form of marketing. Although it has not risen to total popularity yet, in the future this is likely going to be a popular method.

Some other methods have started to catch up in popularity as well. Quick response codes (QR) are barcodes that are two dimensional, and they seem to be getting more popular. Mobile banner ads are always a common variety. All of these methods play a part in Mobile Commerce, and businesses that are taking part in this type of advertising are finding a great deal of success.

You can automate your phone calls with Interactive Voice Response, or IVR. You can even organize a list through your computer to use voice broadcasting and call pre-programmed numbers. You can send messages to your customers that you have previously recorded in order to let them know their order status or update them on promotions and such. Mobile marketing is the future of marketing for both small and large businesses, and you will find that your business can have great success using any of these methods.

Did you know that 97% of text messages are read compared to about 25% of e-mails? That means you can get your message to your customers quickly and effectively. More people have cell phones than computers. Mulkern Internet can set up and manage your text messaging campaigns.Visit: http://mulkerninternet.com/mobile-marketing/

By Debralee in Featured

webdesign4I came across this website the other day, WeeNudge, and thought it might be useful for those of you (web designers) who need to teach your clients the “mysteries of the web.”

It has some really great articles on White Space, Spec Work, The Fold, Delivering Your Files, Wireframes, Content, and Giving Feedback. All very important when designing a website. An educated client is by far easier to work with than an uneducated one. Just point them in the right direction by providing them a link to the site or a specific article. This may help improve communication, and speed of delivery of your project.

Good luck!

By Nick Stamoulis in Featured

SEOptimizationSEO has been around more or less as long as there have been search engines. Although it seems like some blogger or another is heralding the impending death of SEO every few months or so, SEO has yet to fade into oblivion. The very core of SEO is to change; to make adjustments to one’s site to adapt to the search engines’ algorithms, the changes in consumers’ online behavior, the expanding online world and so forth. SEO isn’t about to die anytime soon, but it is constantly evolving to meet the needs and challenges of the times.

This is a look at SEO as it was in 2004 and how it has morphed to fit the modern world of 2011.

SEO: IT or Marketing Department?

Back in 2004, many marketing departments looked at SEO as a technology and not as a marketing tool. It was all about coding and web development and was often lumped in with other IT “stuff.” The singular goal of SEO was to get a site to rank number one in the search engines for a given keyword. Period. Now, SEO is tied in with every aspect of online marketing. SEO can be used to build a brand and online reputation, help create a community of targeted consumers, and more. Rank is no longer the principle focus, albeit still a very important result. Nowadays, SEO is squarely about marketing.

By Jill Whalen in Featured

SEO-TipsWith all the talk in the SEO world focused on “content marketing” lately, many website and business owners are focusing their SEO attention on their blogs and the long-tail traffic they can receive from people looking for general information. While that’s great on many levels, often I see that their main service and product category pages have been neglected in the Keyword Research CloudSEO department. This is not only a shame, but a waste because these pages should be the cornerstone of your SEO campaign. When you optimize the top-level pages of your site, you can target competitive keyword phrases that will bring search engine visitors who are looking specifically to buy the products or services that you offer.

In my previous “Back to Basics” article, I explained how to research keyword phrases for which you would ultimately optimize your website. Be sure to read that one first, and do the necessary keyword research before you try to choose which phrases go on which pages.

Keep this at the forefront of your mind: As you try to choose the best keyword phrases for each page, you will have to work them into the content of that page. They absolutely must be highly relevant so that you don’t drive your copywriter crazy when s/he sits down to do the writing.

Without further ado, here are my 13 steps to choosing keyword phrases:

1. Create a new worksheet in Excel.

By SEO Daddy in Featured

SEOptimizationHello Peeps!

It been some time since I have written an article here at SiteProNews.com; I’ve been a busy boy! Since documenting in a case study the meteoric rise of Rik Pennington Photography, for the generic and geo-located search terms ‘wedding photographer’ and ‘wedding photographer London’, I have received a steady stream of inquiries from potential clients. I now work for several photographers in the UK, and I am spreading my wings around the globe, so watch out America, here I come!

Just to let you know – I do have a draft of the final installment in the Rik Pennington story and promise it will be out soon!

We have launched a new dedicated website for photographers across the planet who are looking to employ an SEO firm with an outstanding record for its clients in the photography search market online – http://ww.photographersseo.com. At present any photographer who has employed me as their SEO’er has reached ‘Google Summit’ for the term ‘wedding photographer + their location’ within 3 months, some quicker! That means a Google top 3 listing for that term, bolstered by a myriad of other related and targeted keywords from the marketing plan.

So, on to my dilemma; it’s not only photographers I work for but a total mix of small to medium sized businesses in the UK, from different market verticals. All desire a Google page one listing or more for the agreed targeted keywords for their business. As I said, I’ve been a busy boy and now have a small dedicated team working for me, but the workload is large and time consuming. We use a variety of SEO tools and solutions to achieve the ranking goals for our clients. We never put all our eggs in one basket. We approach a new client campaign with an arsenal of SEO Tools and strategies accordingly. In an article I wrote about the Rik Pennington Case Study, I talked about bringing out the ‘Big Guns’ to play, well I think we may have discovered a WMD (Weapon of Mass Destruction). We are always looking for new tools, software solutions to test drive and put through their paces and see if the results are tangible against cost and time investment. The SEO market seems fluid and it’s wise in my opinion to use a variety of possible solutions available to SEOs.

Whenever I review an SEO solution, I deal in facts, hard results, not fluffy pie in the sky claims and affiliate jargon designed to make you click and buy! Cha-ching! Thank you very much! I have no commercial relationship with this supplier, or an affiliate one. This is my honest and impartial opinion, backed up with some hard facts for you all to see.

For the last couple of months we have been testing the new boy on the block, well, not new but definitely a savvy reincarnation of an existing product that I have never used before, SEnuke X. This is a powerful beast and I believe it will take the SEO market by storm. The noise levels are elevated, Google is awash with reviews and affiliates pushing it in the market place. So, the question is what’s all the fuss about, what can it do for you? We are busy, very busy and like all SEOs we need to build links fast, and good ones! There are only so many hours in the day and by 6:00pm the pub is often calling. With an increased client base and subsequently a heavier work load, our tried and tested ‘SEO Big Guns’ are good but we are in need of a highly efficient and effective SEO WMD, and boy I reckon with have found it with SEnuke X.

SEnuke X is a serious bit of kit to say the least, and it can be a little daunting after you have pressed the install button, but that’s not a bad thing! Let’s be honest, you don’t want to part with your hard earned cash only to find you have been duped by the razzmatazz, resulting in purchasing just another lightweight SEO application that was well marketed, but in reality doesn’t deliver the goods. That definitely is NOT the case with SEnuke X. Areeb Bajwa and his team have provided detailed step by step videos to take you through the application and how to use it to your advantage. Good job Lads!

Ok, so let’s explore what it does and how. SEnuke X provides a modular approach to your SEO/Marketing strategy. Well that sounds all very simple but the really clever part is the link integration of the modules, which can be spread out over time providing sustained and relentless link building from just about every corner of the internet. Well not every, but definitely the important ones that will assist you to build a targeted backlink portfolio for your SEO campaigns. To achieve this level of link building integration by hand would take you weeks if not months to achieve. All you have to do here is get your content ready, follow the step by step wizard, schedule the duration of your campaign, press the button and allow SEnuke X to take over on auto-drive. This means getting to the pub at 6:00pm is now looking a lot more realistic for me, safe in knowledge that Papa-Nuke is looking after my clients SEO campaigns!

SEnuke X provides you with an automated SEO link building solution. Generating a variety of interlinked Articles, Press Releases, Web 2.0 pages and Videos that can be cleverly bookmarked from hundreds of social accounts, pinged and submitted for indexing, all on the fly. Sit back and enjoy the ride!

Still sounds daunting? Well the simple to use step by step wizard takes you through the process, you can create your own campaign strategy with the link diagram, use a pre-installed one or find the latest hot ones on the SEnuke X’s dedicated forum. The modules can be chained, so one starts when another finishes, or spread out over multiple days or both, it’s really up to you. Once you press the button, all this happens in the background for you, whilst you get on with putting together more campaigns or running your SEO business. As the URLs are propagated they can be pinged on the fly and using the built-in Xindexer can be submitted for indexing to the search engines. I have never come across anything else on the market offering this level of complexity and penetration. Interlinked link generation across such a vast array of potential one-way link opportunities all eventually funnelling back to your money site for your desired keywords is what we hunger.

What’s the end result? Well, see below!

We have used SEnuke X on a few client projects with great success and I’d like to share the results we achieved for one of my photography clients, -Lorenzo Ali -, http://www.lorenzophotography.co.uk.

The SEnuke X campaign was targeted for the keywords, ‘children’s portrait photographer’ and ‘children’s portrait photographer London’. Lorenzo was languishing on page 2/3 of Google for these terms, 3 weeks later Lorenzo now hold’s the following rankings in Google.

1. For the generic search term ‘children’s portrait photographer’ Lorenzo is now ranked – #No.3 in Google.co.uk – #No.9 in Google.com

2. For the geo-location search term ‘children’s portrait photographer London’. Lorenzo is now ranked #No.2 in Google.co.uk & #No.2 Google.com

I reckon that’s proof enough that SEnuke X is here to stay and may well rewrite the SEO landscape over the next year! Let’s see what happens.?

It’s truly an SEO Weapon of Mass Destruction!

Till next time peeps!

SEO Daddy

The SEO Daddy is a very successful professional SEO Consultant. He runs http://www.photographersseo.com an SEO Company in the UK providing extraordinary SEO for photographers across the planet. He covers every industry online and specializes in Wedding Business SEO. Follow the SEO Daddy on Twitter. This article covered the use of SEnuke X on Lorenzo Ali’s rise and sustaining his presence at to the top of Google for the generic term ‘Children’s Portrait Photographer’.

By Chip Cooper in Featured

privacy-policyA periodic review of your privacy policy is always a good idea, given the significant increase in privacy regulations beginning in 2009. However, at least four developments in the last six months provide an impetus for an immediate privacy policy review. Do it now to avoid significant legal exposure.

Reason No. 1 – Preliminary FTC Staff Report

Last December, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued its Proposed Framework For Businesses And Policymakers. In it, the FTC stated in no uncertain terms that the current privacy policy model, known as “notice and choice”, is not working as intended.

These statements taken from the Staff Report make it clear that big changes are ahead:

* “Specifically, the notice-and-choice model, as implemented, has led to long, incomprehensible privacy policies that consumers typically do not read, let alone understand.”

* “In recent years, the limitations of the notice-and-choice model have become increasingly apparent. Privacy policies have become longer, more complex, and, in too many instances, incomprehensible to consumers.”

* “Too often, privacy policies appear designed more to limit companies’ liability than to inform consumers about how their information will be used.”

After stating these concerns about the effectiveness of privacy policies, the FTC expressed clearly what it expects in terms of privacy policies going forward.

* “For instance, although privacy policies may not be a good tool for communicating with most consumers, they still could play an important role in promoting transparency, accountability, and competition among companies on privacy issues – but only if the policies are clear, concise, and easy-to-read.”

* “Thus, companies should improve their privacy policies so that interested parties can compare data practices and choices across companies.”

So, there you have it. Your privacy policy review should begin with a view to how you might restate it in “clear, concise, and easy-to-read” plain English.

Reasons 2 and 3 – FTC’s Google Settlement

On March 20, 2011, the FTC announced its proposed settlement regarding Google’s BUZZ online service. This settlement provides two additional reasons for an immediate privacy policy review.

First, the FTC announced that there is a new type of sensitive information that’s risen to the level of personal information in terms of privacy protection. It’s called “covered information”, and it includes location data, screen names, and lists of contacts.

To be legally compliant, privacy policies now must disclose how “covered information” is collected, used, shared and disclosed.

Second, in its proposed settlement with Google, the FTC hammered home a theme that’s not new, but one that bears repeating because it’s a big area of concern by the FTC. This is the big gotcha to be avoided at all costs: Collection, use, or sharing of personal-covered information in a manner that is materially different from, or contrary to, the stated purpose in your privacy policy.

This is an easy trap to fall into inadvertently, and Google did just that by collecting personal information for use with its Gmail service, then transferring the Gmail customers to its new BUZZ service without permission.

So, when you review your privacy policy, see if you have made a material change regarding your stated purpose for collection, use, or sharing of personal-covered information. If you’ve made a material change and you haven’t received permission from the affected persons, get permission immediately.

Reason 4 – Google’s AdWords Announcement

On May 17, 2011, Google announced a new policy for participation in its AdWords program. Non-qualifiers will be banned from AdWords.

These are Google’s new requirements for privacy policies to be eligible for participation in AdWords:

* Clear, accessible disclosure how information is used,

* Option to discontinue direct communications (email, phone), and

* Use of Secure Socket Layer (SSL) to protect transmission of financial and personal information. Note that these new requirements are consistent with current FTC policies expressed in its Proposed Framework.

Conclusion

Given these aggressive new privacy initiatives by the FTC, an immediate and thorough review of your privacy policy is a must.

Failure to keep up with these and other developments could result in substantial liability.

Leading SaaS attorney Chip Cooper has automated the process of drafting Website Legal Compliance documents with his MyLegalFirewall website legal documents generator. Use his free online tool — Website Contracts Determinator — to see which documents your site needs. Discover how you can draft near-custom website legal documents, even if you have no knowledge whatsoever at http://www.digicontracts.com/firewall .

By Marcia Yudkin in Featured

copywritingWhether you’re a business owner or nonprofit head who wants to promote your offerings with dignity or a copywriter troubled by the prevalence of exaggerated, over-the-top writing on the Web, you’re wondering whether it’s possible for marketing copy to nail the sale without a carnival-barker tone, without overheated language and without stretching of the truth.

The answer is yes.

When people talk critically about hype, or say they don’t want to use it, they are referring to techniques like these:

* An emotional pitch that tries to rev up the reader into a buying frenzy by appealing to greed, envy, scarcity, laziness or hatred.

* Strong, hard-to-believe claims without proof, such as “With a Flick of Your Pen, Get Tens of Thousands of Dollars From the Government, Tomorrow” or “You’ll Never Have to Pay the Asking Price For Groceries Again” or “Publish a Book Even if You Don’t Even Know How to Write Your Own Name”.

* Typography that’s heavy with bold colors, exclamation points, capital letters and underlining, making for a fast-talking pace and a breathless tone.

* Puffing up of the value of what’s being sold way beyond what’s reasonable.

* Vague references to “secrets”.

* Lots of fluffy, non-descriptive adjectives, such as “amazing,” “awesome” or “killer”.

* Outright or subtle lying.

If that style of writing turns your stomach or would make you ashamed to use it, do reject it. There are plenty of honest, effective copywriting techniques left over with which to stock up your promotional toolbox. Here are five no-hype techniques that perk up your marketing while keeping you out of the gutter.

1. Story Telling

A true tale with dramatic happenings attracts and holds a reader’s attention and can illustrate a general point vividly. For example, I might describe receiving tubs full of envelopes at the Back Bay post office in Boston and opening them with my husband on the floor of our apartment. Each envelope contained either a $2 check or two $1 bills, which we stacked in piles that got so high that they tipped over. (This happened in the early 1990s.)

Anecdotes with this kind of specific detail brings reality to life for readers, more so than an abstract summary like “It’s fun to make money” or ungrounded promises like “Your neighbors will gossip that you must have won the lottery.” A story can be about you, about someone who experienced what you’re selling or even about a historical figure.

2. Before and After

For greater impact, writing teachers have always advised, “Show, don’t tell.” Hardly anything convinces more than using words or pictures (or both) to show the situation prior to the application of the service or product you’re selling, then the situation afterwards. In using photos, realize that you may also need verbal description, because without commentary, the uneducated eye may not see the dramatic differences that a professional notices immediately.

3. Creative Touches

Whereas hypesters use outlandish and inflammatory metaphors, you can spice up your presentation with the same techniques, but used sparingly and gracefully as an aid to the imagination and understanding rather than as extreme promises. For instance, an executive coach pitched his services for corporate leaders as helping them “navigate the seas of change”: “organizations need leaders who know how to survive stormy seas and avoid hidden reefs and icebergs.” The design also accentuated the nautical theme with images of compasses, and the overall tone was restrained and professional.

4. Skillful Use of Language

Did you notice the wordplay above in “techniques that perk up your marketing while keeping you out of the gutter”? The words “perk” and “keep” contain the same pair of consonants, but in reverse order, which pleases the reader’s ear.

Another guideline: Never use an abstract expression when you can instead create an image in the reader’s mind. Reach especially for language that gives readers something to hear, see or touch in their mind. For instance, my bio doesn’t say I was published often in magazines but rather, “her bylines in national magazines on journalistic and opinion pieces began piling up.” Such concrete wording imparts vigor and energy to your marketing.

Orchestrating phrases the way expert speechwriters do (as in “of the people, by the people, for the people”) is one more way to give your presentation balance and finesse.

5. Proof

This element can set you most decisively apart from those relying on hype. Provide evidence that what you are selling does what it promises to do, and more. Your evidence might consist of client testimonials, third-party endorsements, media coverage, scientific research results, credentials, case studies, client surveys, referral statistics, descriptive details that only someone immersed in your work would have and why-it-works explanations. All of these persuade to the extent that they are firmly and frankly grounded in reality.

To avoid hype, be truthful and vivid. You’ll thereby keep the reader awake, connect with the reader’s imagination, quash skepticism and arouse the reader’s desire to buy.

Veteran copywriter and marketing consultant Marcia Yudkin is the author of Persuading on Paper, Meatier Marketing Copy and 13 other books. Besides writing for selected clients and mentoring marketing departments in copywriting skills, she runs a one-on-one mentoring program that trains copywriters and marketing consultants. In 10 weeks, participants learn no-hype marketing writing skills and business savvy. For more information, go to http://www.yudkin.com/become.htm

By Tereza Ullinovich in Featured

spamHow prevalent is Spam? According to Scott McAdams, OMA Public Affairs and Communications Department (www.oma.org):

“Studies show unsolicited or ‘junk’ e-mail, known as spam, accounts for roughly half of all e-mail messages received. Although once regarded as little more than a nuisance, the prevalence of spam has increased to the point where many users have begun to express a general lack of confidence in the effectiveness of e-mail transmissions, and increased concern over the spread of computer viruses via unsolicited
messages.”

In December of 2003, President Bush signed the “Can Spam” bill, which is the first national standards around bulk unsolicited commercial e-mail. The bill, approved by the Senate by a vote of 97 to 0, prohibits senders of unsolicited commercial e-mail from using false return addresses to disguise their identity (spoofing) and the use of dictionaries to generate such mailers. In addition, it prohibits the use of misleading subject lines and requires that emails include an opt-out mechanism. The legislation also prohibits senders from harvesting addresses off Web sites. Violations constitute a misdemeanor crime subject to up to one year in jail.

One major point that needs to be discussed about this: spam is now coming from other countries in ever-greater numbers. These emails are harder to fight, because they come from outside our country’s laws and regulations. Because the Internet opens borders and thinks globally, these laws are fine and good, but do not stop the problem.

So what do you do about this? Here are the top 5 Rules to protect yourself from spam:

Number 1: Do What You Can to Avoid Having Your Email Address Out on the Net

There are products called “spam spiders” that search the Internet for email addresses to send email to. If you are interested, do a search on “spam spiders” and you will be amazed at what you get back. Interestingly, there is a site, WebPoison.org, which is an open source project geared to fight Internet “spambots” and “spam spiders”, by giving them bogus HTML web pages, which contain bogus email addresses.

A couple suggestions for you:

a) use form emails, which can hide addresses or also

b) use addresses like sales@company.com instead of your full address to help battle the problem.

c) There are also programs that encode your email, like jsGuard, which encodes your email address on web pages so that spam spiders find it difficult or impossible to read your email address.

Number 2: Get Spam Blocking Software

There are many programs out there for this (go to www.cloudmark.com or www.mailwasher.net for example). You may also want to buy a professional version. Whatever you do, get the software. It will save you time. The software is not foolproof, but does really help. You usually have to do some manual set up to block certain types of email.

Number 3: Use the Multiple Email Address Approach

There are a lot of free email addresses to be had. If you must subscribe to newsletters, then have a “back-up” email address. It would be like giving your cell phone number to your best friends and the business number to everyone else.

Number 4: Attachments From People You Don’t Know are BAD, BAD, BAD

A common problem with spam is that it often comes with attachments and attachments can have viruses. Corporations often have filters that don’t let such things pass to you. Personal email is far more “open country” for spammers. General rule of thumb: if you do not know who is sending you something, DO NOT OPEN THE ATTACHMENT. Secondly, look for services that offer filtering. Firewall vendors offer this type of service as well.

Number 5: Email Services Now Have “Bulk-mail” Baskets

If what you use currently does not support this, think about moving to a new vendor. The concept is simple. If you know someone, they can send you emails. If you don’t know them, put them in the bulk email pile and then “choose” to allow them into your circle. Spam Blocking software has this concept as well, but having extra layers seems critical these days, so it is worth looking into.

Tereza Ullinovich is owner of SES – Employment and Education Center Network http://jobs-onlineresources.info/SES and http://jobs-onlineresources.info/wordpress.

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »

Subscribe to SiteProNews Articles

Receive New Articles As They are Posted


Webmaster Headlines

Apple's stingy employee discount

iOS and OS X: Time for Some Real Convergence

Anonymous Strikes: Symantec Says Stop Using pcAnywhere

Google+ Is Now Open To Teens, Offers New Safety Features

SOPA's Big Brother Signed By EU Nations Amid Widespread Protests

Why Your Business Needs to Be on Google+ Now

5 Simple Ways to Explore Your Social Media Following

5 Basic SEO Troubleshooting Tips for Content Marketers

The Glee Guide to Attracting a Raving Horde of Social Media Fans

10 Clever Ways Your Email Signature Can Support Your Marketing

Recent SiteProNews Articles

RecentSiteProNews Articles

Write Current Content and Explode Your SEO – A SPN Exclusive Article

Best Free Business Cloud Apps You Probably Haven’t Heard Of

Has Google Replaced Content as King of the Web?

SEO Short Cheat Sheets

Beef Up Your Internet Marketing and Your Body At The Same Time!

Optimizing Your Business Facebook Page for Maximum Hits and Return Visits – A SPN Exclusive Article

SiteProNews Blog News

Google Celebrates Art Clokey’s Birthday
Not many people will recognize the name Art Clokey. But a lot more people will recognize the green c...
more >

Reader Rescue : Should My Meta Description Tags Just Duplicate My Title Tags?
Hi Everyone From early days learning SEO, I went ahead and did all my meta descriptions with a bi...
more >

Death of Steve Jobs Fails to Break Twitter Record
We all heard the sad news yesterday that Steve Jobs, founder and visionary at Apple, had died at...
more >

Recommended Links


   Get Facebook Fans

   Submit Express - SEO Services

Wordpress 3.3.1