How Do I Stop Receiving Spam Emails?

I often have people ask me the simple question, "How can I stop these spam emails?" I don't know if you've ever noticed but in IT the short / simple questions users ask quite innocently are the hardest and longest questions to answer. After about the 100th time I'd heard this question I decided to put together a list of advice which I'm including below.

1. Check if your ISP has a facility to filter out spam before you receive it.

2. Check if your anti virus software has an option to enable spam filtering. If it doesn't it may have a low cost upgrade to a version, which includes spam filtering.

How Do I Stop Receiving Spam Emails?

3. If you are using Microsoft Outlook Express as your email client upgrade to the Open Source Thunderbird email client from the team who brought you the Firefox web browser. This includes an excellent spam filter and it's free of charge.

4. Have two email accounts. For example you can easily set-up an account on G-mail and another on Yahoo. Use one for personal or business use and use the other when registering on web sites or mailing lists.

5. Never use your main email address when posting to mailing lists or newsgroups.

6. If you need to put your email address on a web page consider displaying it as a graphic rather than text - this will avoid spiders gathering your address automatically.

7. If you want a "contact us" feature on your web site, consider setting up a form that people can fill in rather than using the mailto: option. This will avoid spiders gathering the address automatically. If you set-up a feedback form you should also implement a Captcha - those difficult to read letters and numbers you get asked to key in to prove you're really human.

8. Don't encourage spammers by letting them know you've read their junk! Make sure your email client doesn't display embedded graphics inside emails by default. Modern email marketing systems give the graphics in each email they send a different name. When your email program downloads the graphics from their web server they log that you've opened their email and they know they've got a good email address.

9. Think twice before you switch on an out of office reply. This is another sure way of encouraging spam. When you're on leave why not route your email to another account for someone to monitor for you. Also consider that out of office replies often contain alternative contact details such as your mobile / cell phone number. These can then be used by spammers to start spamming you via SMS as well.

10. Never respond or reply to junk emails. I know it's tempting to send an email back asking them to stop sending you this rubbish but you can be sure this will only encourage the spammers to send you more!

11. If you have your own domain name (for example yourcompany.com) check how your ISP has set-up your account. Until recently most ISP's set-up domain names with catch-all email addresses. This means that the spammer can use what is known as a dictionary attack to flood your ISP and your email account with spam. They do this by reading each word from a dictionary in turn and try to send mail to it for example Apple at yourcompany.com, Ant at Yourcompany.com, Atom at Yourcompany.com. If you don't want a catch all email set-up just let your ISP know, most will be only to pleased to disable this for you.

12. Try and avoid setting up generic emails addresses on your domain such as info@yourcompany.com and sales@yourcompany.com. These generic addresses are now so common that spammers will always try these first.

13. If you have followed these suggestions and are still suffering from a lot of spam, check your spam filter to see what settings it has. You need to find a balance between receiving too much spam and rejecting good emails. Spam filters work by scoring emails, the more suspicious they are the higher the spam score. As spammers get cleverer they are finding ways to lower their score. This means you may need to progressively tweak down the threshold.

14. Train your spam filter. There are usually two key ways to do this. First add the people you want to receive emails from to your address book. This is sometimes known as white listing email addresses and your spam filter should leave emails from these addresses alone. Then on an ongoing basis if your spam filter lets a spam email through highlight the message and use it's report spam option. If you do this enough it will gradually learn the characteristics of the spam you receive and the good email you receive and make a better job of separating them

I don't think you'll ever stop spam completely because there is really no sure way of defining what is and isn't spam but with a little set-up work you can drastically reduce the amount of spam you receive.

How Do I Stop Receiving Spam Emails?
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Linda runs a number of websites and advises companies on IT and their web strategy. Linda's IT Management 101 Blog contains an ever growing list of useful IT and Web Strategy tips and trick.

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How To Flash A Phone To Cricket Or Metro PCs

Flash or Flashing--Technically, flashing refers to the overwriting or re-writing of the phone's firmware. There are many phones which can be flashed to cricket with all features working. On most CDMA phones, programming the phone can be done "over the air" by dialing a special code, usually *228 or some variation. Colloquially speaking, flashing can also loosely mean making a phone from one carrier work on another carrier. The easy way to tell the difference is that if your phone does NOT take a SIM card, then it is probably CDMA.

To flash a phone to cricket you will be overwriting th phones firmware. The firmware is software in the phone that doesn't change when you turn it off, and it cannot be deleted unless it is overwritten, hence flashed. It requires specific files called prl files.PRL or PRL File--Short for Preferred Roaming List--A small text file containing instructions for how a phone connects to a specific network's radio towers It is usually loaded by connecting the phone to a computer to overwrite its data. There are a few tools used such as a pst PST--Short for Phone Service Tool or Tools--Special software used by phone manufacturers to program their phones. And also a monster file - -"Monster File"/"Monster Pack", ROM, or "Kitchen"--System software that is needed to flash a phone.

In almost all case you will need to access the phones service programming menu- - -Service Programming Menu--A special menu typically hidden from the primary User Interface that allows for "deep programming" of a phone.You will also need access to msl and spc codes specific to the device you are flashing.MSL/SPC--Special six-digit codes needed to access service programming features on the phone. Access to the service programming menu can be disabled in a phone's firmware.

How To Flash A Phone To Cricket Or Metro PCs

Depending on your phone, it may require extra steps to unlock or get WAP and MMS working. That is why you need the msl/spc codes to allow deep programming to unlock these features. Not all phones will be capable to access wap or send and receive mms.

Ringtones generally have to be prepaid using a flex bucket. It is best to download ringtones before you flash your phone to cricket since they have a limited selection of ringtones and wallpapers.There are cases were flashed phones will not be able to download ringtones directly from cricket.

The details outlined above will not only work with cricket but you can also flash phones to metro pcs using the information provided above. It is best to do all your research before purchasing your phone to ensure that the cell phone you are interested in can be flashed to cricket or metro PCs.

How To Flash A Phone To Cricket Or Metro PCs
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This content is provided by Danny Sanchez. It may be used only in its entirety with all links included. For more information on furthering your college education, please visit http://collegeinformations.com

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What Happened to My E-mail?

Have you noticed that your e-mail just isn't as reliable as it once was? Do you wonder what happened? Aren't these technical things supposed to improve with time, and not degrade instead?

You're not alone. More and more people are coming to realize that the once dominant e-mail application, the one we've relied upon for years is no longer reliable. Our e-mail system is broken, and right now, there's not a single fix out there that's showing any sign of making things better anytime soon.

Now you might not think that a broken e-mail system is not all that important, but consider the fact that are large numbers of people who actually WANT to get e-mail from individuals and companies and many of those messages just aren't getting delivered.

What Happened to My E-mail?

Worse, you no longer get a reply letting you know that your messages were not delivered. They are simply deleted so you have no idea whether or not your message was even received. So what's the big deal, right? So you miss a few e-mail messages, who gets hurt?

The truth is that many legitimate, honest, hard-working business owners who rely on e-mail to market and promote their businesses are getting hurt, and many have already gone out of business because they can no longer reach their customers with e-mail.

Personally, I've been using e-mail to market my business since 1995. In those days, most every message I sent was delivered. Not only that, having as many as 9 out of 10 these messages opened was considered normal in those days. Contrast that with today's numbers and you'll see what I mean.

Right now, the average e-mail message is opened by LESS than 1% of the people it's sent to. If you're a business owner, this is certainly not good news.

For the people who use unsolicited e-mail (or spam) as their primary marketing tool, as opposed to legitimate permission-based e-mail, their solution to the problem has been to put more e-mail servers online and send out tens of millions more e-mail messages in order to get the same results they were getting just a few short years ago.

In response, the developers of e-mail spam filters have tightened up the noose to catch more of these illegal messages. While that has had an effect on the number of spam messages you see in your inbox, it's also had a devastating effect on businesses that send legitimate e-mail. Think of it as a side effect of combating the spam problem.

And so the story goes. As more spam is sent out, the spam filters get more aggressive and block more and more e-mail. As more and more e-mail is blocked, it becomes a less and less viable marketing channel, a more unreliable communications channel, and in many respects, it will soon become an obsolete technology as more and more people simply stop using and relying on e-mail.

Smart marketers, however, are not going to sit back and watch their businesses crumble because new legislation and technology have totally failed to fix the e-mail mess. The ones that will ultimately survive are taking action, and that action is in the form of finding new ways to reach their customers.

While there is a lot of buzz these days about "social media" there are yet only a few scant success stories, and ultimately this new media can't come close to the marketing power e-mail once had. That, we hope, will someday change, but it's still too early to know for certain when and if social media will ever be reliable replacement for e-mail.

Other business owners are turning back the hands of time and returning to what was once the only low-cost method of marketing; direct mail. For those of you who don't remember marketing before the Internet, direct mail was the de facto marketing tool to beat.

It's low cost and easy availability made it the marketing tool of choice for all types and sizes of businesses.

Direct mail is the tried-and-true marketing channel and has been for more than a century. Direct mail has changed little in decades as a powerful marketing tool. It's stable, reliable, predictable, and remains a well-respected and highly affordable marketing channel, even by today's standards.

When direct mail is combined with the Internet, it becomes a very powerful and highly flexible marketing channel. For example, a business might send out a simple postcard to their past customers alerting them to a special offer, sale, or other event. The customer is then directed to a web page for more information and to place an order.

The postcard will see a deliverability rate in the high 90% range, and of those, the vast majority will at very least see the marketing message printed on the postcard. When you compare that to the sub 1% who will actually see a marketing message sent via e-mail, direct mail begins to look very attractive.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about marketing with direct mail is that you can take most of what you're doing on the Internet and convert it easily to a format that can be used with direct mail. This is one of the biggest attractions business owners are excited about, aside from the rather immediate increase in sales, of course.

By Robert Imbriale
'The Motivational Marketer'

What Happened to My E-mail?
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Robert Imbriale is the author of the best-selling book, Motivational Marketing, and the top-selling audio crash course on direct mail marketing, Direct Mail Marketing Secrets. He is a successful business coach, and seminar leader who has helped hundreds of thousands of business owners create bigger, more successful businesses, and he can help your business too. Go to http://www.AskRobertImbriale.com If you would like to have Robert help you with your business, you can reach him at 1-800-541-3816 or at http://www.RobertImbriale.com

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How to Write an Effective Email Sales Letter

The proliferation of marketing companies that utilize the internet for automatic sales letter distribution has been growing right along with the numbers of independent contractors with network marketing and direct selling companies who use them - as well as all types of businesses and even political campaigns that use them. The "sales letter" has been around a long time. It is designed to be half introduction, half interest enticement that will open the door for the sales person to the potential customer. It is part of the philosophy: customers don't know about your products or business unless you tell them. And, customers won't know how they can purchase your products or services unless you tell them. And, unless you tell them, potential customers may not even realize what value your products or services have for them.

Hence, the Sales Letter.

On the internet, unsolicited letters of this ilk are called "spam." It is unlawful* to send sales letters without the recipients prior approval to receive. Marketing companies have methods of generating leads - a word for someone who has indicated some level of interest in a business, product or service - and build these leads into databases of people who do want to receive information, or "opt in." These databases are structured around all kinds of demographic information that will help the sales person to target just the right market segment with just the right letter.

How to Write an Effective Email Sales Letter

Crafting an effective sales letter for use in email sales campaigns:

1. Personalize the subject line and beware using words that will trigger an alert spam filter: rather than having a subject line that reads: "Hey Mac! Great Products At Great Prices, get a Free Consultation" - write a subject line that reads: "Hi Mac, wanted to let you know that Business B has a product that might interest you."

In the first example, using "Hey" is just rude. Using too many capital letters in a subject line will usually trigger a spam filter as will the word "free." Remember, your recipient has already agreed to receive sales email letters so the second subject line has enough information in it to let him know (a) that the mail is addressed specifically to him - you used his first name; (b) it mentions your business' name; and (c) it says right in the subject line that you have a product he might be interested in. In this case, "Mac" will be more likely to actually open and read the email letter; in the first example, his spam filter may reject it altogether and "Mac" will never have known of it at all.

2. Once the recipient opens the letter, start it politely with either "Hello Mac," or "Hi Mac," then continue with the body of the letter...remember, just because you are utilizing email as the delivery system, your sales letter should still follow the format of a good letter.

3. The body of the letter should begin with you letting the recipient know you won't take much of his valuable time. Write something like, "I won't take but a moment of your time, but wanted you to know that right now..." or "A quick note to tell you just one more thing that is exciting about our new product line...."

With an opening like this the recipient knows at a glance that (a) you value his time, and (b) you have information he doesn't yet know.

4. The main body of the email sales letter should be short and contain only what is necessary: in the case of a new product, for instance, you could have a short paragraph reading something like this:

-"...Business B has launched a new product: New Product. The new product market is huge...especially in the United States. This new product will bring a whole new market segment to Business B retailers...." Add a website address where the letter recipient can find more detailed information.

5. Conclude your email sales letter with the information that you want to be contacted: don't just end it with 'goodbye' and your signature line. Be gracious. You could use:

* -"...Have a great day. Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have questions - I check email multiple times per day as I'm always excited to discuss this business...."

* -"Phone or Email me anytime and let me know a good time to call you and a phone number to reach you. I'd love to talk with you...."

* -Please feel free to contact me anytime via my business email or phone. We might be in different geographical areas, but we certainly can work as a team...." [this works well with network marketing and direct selling independent contractors who sponsor long distance]

6. Use a gracious signature and include all the pertinent phone, email and/or snail mail address and website addresses necessary - you want the letter recipient to have as many ways of reaching you as possible.

* I hope this is a very good day for you.
* Sales Person
* Business B New Product Representative
* Phone: 000-000-0000
* Email: Salesperson at
* National Website: www Businessb
* ______________________
* Business B, New Product Sales
* 1234 Main Street
* Some City, State, 00000

It goes without saying that grammar and spelling would be checked and double-checked before hitting the "send" button on your sales letter.

Doing business utilizing online internet marketing tools is now part of the sales arsenal of every type of business around the world. Competition is fierce. Let your sales letters stand a better chance by writing the very best letters you can.

*The CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 (Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act) establishes requirements for those who send commercial email, spells out penalties for spammers and companies whose products are advertised in spam if they violate the law, and gives consumers the right to ask emailers to stop spamming them. The law, which became effective January 1, 2004, covers email whose primary purpose is advertising or promoting a commercial product or service, including content on a Web site. For more information visit www.ftc.gov/spam

How to Write an Effective Email Sales Letter
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Linda C Smith, author and owner of a home-based business. I write a business blog at http://intlnat.com where you can also find links to my business. My joy in business is sharing my passion for my products as well as showing others how they can enjoy the benefits of a home business.

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