spam, email and spam filter Information

Its 2005----Bulk Email is Dead

Sending Email By Laura Betterly, President and CEO In Touch Media Group, Inc.

Nyms not only combats spam, it is one more layer of protection against other email threats viruses, worms, spyware, adware, phishing scams, and more. Better than a spam filter, Nyms puts you in control of your incoming email because it uses disposable, alias addresses. When your Nyms email aliases are shared with spammers, you can simply disable that Nyms alias and stop the spam from flooding your real inbox. spam filter to pinpoint where unsolicited messages are coming from and kill spam at its source.

Reading Email --------------------------------------
A typical day at the inbox
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There are some things that you can do to make your online experience a little bit easier. There are some ways to keep spam from ruining your day. Spam filters are one of those things. Spam filters are an extremely successful way of managing or stopping unwanted emails, but occasionally they can work too well. While they can act very vigorously to keep your inbox from receiving spam, they can also prevent you from getting many of your wanted emails as well.

Storing Email Today, I received 374 e-mails total.

mail that is both unsolicited by the recipient and sent in substantively identical form to many recipients. Thus, mail. Some definitions of spam specifically include the aspects of email that is unsolicited and sent in bulk. Spam filter is a program that is used to detect unsolicited and unwanted email and prevent those messages from getting to a user's inbox. Like other types of filtering programs, a spam filter looks for certain criteria on which it bases judgments.

Email Software A pretty light day considering some days I get more than 1,000.

Antispam Software To clarify what they were--35 were for business, 4 were personal in nature, 11 were from groups I asked to get information from like Neiman Marcus and Urban Outfitters, VH1, and a PR Newsletter.

of Cloudmark Server Edition spam filtering for Microsoft Exchange and you' spam, phishing protection for 15 days, free of charge.

Fight Spam The balance of 324 was unsolicited (UCE-unsolicited commercial e-mail)--in other words spam.

Stoping Spam If I extrapolate the UCE I've gotten in the last six hours alone, I find I must be missing something about myself on some spiritual level..

Block Spam I am a balding, fat man with a small penis that doesn't work. I am in debt.

Spam Emails I am looking for a lower interest rate on my mortgage while at the same time making thousands of dollars with no effort on my part in the privacy of my own home-filling out surveys, stuffing envelopes and not selling something that miraculously sells itself.

Email Account Even better, I can be a travel agent without wrinkles; obtain a college degree while waiting for my 1500 advance to show up in my bank account; I can restore my credit rating legally while watching my free satellite TV and munching on my drugs sent courtesy of an offshore pharmacy that has a doctor who will write me a prescription. HMMM.definitely something to consider. NOT.

Sending Email I've also discovered that I am a prime candidate to help an African Prince transfer funds into the US. He trusts me. All I have to do is give him my bank account information.

Reading Email The problem is that I am a woman who doesn't suffer those ills.
Someone thinks I do.There is something wrong with this picture.

Storing Email -----------------------------------------------------------------------
The future of bulk email and why it is likely to remain dead
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Email Software Now, you might be asking why I, who was dubbed the "Spam Queen"
in the "Wall Street Journal" three years ago, am even bothering to say anything about e-mail?

Antispam Software Just to set the record straight, I have never advocated spam or sending spam.

Fight Spam One reporter said to me, "Some people consider all bulk email as spam. What do you have to say about that?" to which I replied, "Then I guess you'd call me the spam queen," as a joke.

Stoping Spam In our sound byte media world, one editor turned this little quip into a buzzword and I became known almost instantly, all over the world, as representing what everyone, including myself, hates about email.

Block Spam The media as usual emphasized sensationalism and missed the point.

Spam Emails I am not complaining because my marketing business skyrocketed as a result.

Email Account At that time I advocated email as a very effective medium for small business, which because of its low cost lets small businesses level the playing field against big corporations.

Sending Email At no small personal risk, I visited the Federal Trade Commission in Washington, DC, and spoke my peace about small businesses and not throwing out the baby with the bathwater before even the very term spam could be legally agreed upon and defined to the satisfaction of marketers, ISPs and the government jointly.

Reading Email Small businesses are the lifeblood of the US economy, and entrepreneurs with their dreams are what have made the US the economic powerhouse it still is today.

Storing Email Email that is sent to people who WANT to receive it, and that is in accordance with their preferences, still gets a high response. It allows many small businesses to get ahead. I didn't want to see big corporations or the government take over email and bar entry, filter, and extort everyone else while still sending their own advertising messages freely.

Email Software And then came the Can-Spam act, which I and many other legitimate marketers welcomed, because it had a great promise of getting rid of the noise while keeping the signal.

Antispam Software As it turned out, the opposite happened. Email filters from ISP's now block a large amount of legitimate messages, which they call "false positives".

Fight Spam Marketers can't send the text they would like to send to their subscribers, so they have to resort to filter tricking tactics such as spelling the word spam as sp@@@M so that they can get past the filters that were intended for another purpose entirely.

Stoping Spam In a climate like this, legitimate companies that had been diligently following best practices, and keeping their lists clean for years, suddenly did not want to stay in business with ambiguities in the law and the potential litigation that might ensue even if all the rules WERE followed, so many companies just folded.

Block Spam However the people that continue to send email illegally did not fold.

Spam Emails Often times sending from outside the US borders, they stepped up their operations even more, to the point that there is almost no truly legitimate bulk email left.

Email Account In other words, the signal has become lost in the noise.

Sending Email The simplicity is this - bulk commercial e-mail has gotten to the point where it isn't effective. We just don't do it anymore. What's the point? It doesn't get a response, and we found people are overloaded with advertising messages and no longer willing to receive more, especially in their inbox, unless they specifically asked for it.

Reading Email As a marketing professional, the only thing that should count for you at the end of the day is effectiveness. Bulk commercial e-mail has turned into the above, a bunch of unprofessional, ineffective scams.

Storing Email In other words, Spam is a four-letter word.

Email Software Legitimate marketers are staying away in droves and it's easy to see why. First of all let's look at some facts. In the United States, it is legal to send unsolicited commercial e-mail. The CAN SPAM act allows for this. You have to provide a way to opt-out and not hide who you are, and a few more simple but ethical rules.

Antispam Software Although it is legal, there isn't an internet service provider in the United States who will allow you to send unsolicited commercial e-mail.

Fight Spam Larger mailers have opt-in information from lists they purchase which imply consent but those lists aren't originated from the mailer, but from other sub-mailers-you get a free thing or access to a particular site and the user checks a box that it is okay to get information from their "affiliates and partners."

Stoping Spam The "affiliates and partners" they are referring to are those who pay for the e-mail addresses and opt-in information.

Block Spam These guys are sending you mail legally, but the fact is, they are not getting into your e-mail box for the most part. Blocking, filtering, and doing it the "legal" way bulk wise, is just not working.

Spam Emails Not to mention, there is no way to prove that the recipients opted in or are willing to get the message since they opted in at someone else's site, not yours.

Email Account The response rate is pathetic and when that mail does get through, you have many disgruntled individuals who never remember opting in, so in their view, the mail is unsolicited. The only way to get e-mail into inboxes en masse is by not following the rules, so the only messages getting through are the scams, including the pornographic, illegal, and objectionable.

Sending Email It is ironic that the very thing people want to rail against, they are getting more of in the aftermath of Can-Spam.

Reading Email So where does that leave us?

Storing Email What can a small businessperson do to get their message out, and not break their bank?

Email Software ------------------------------------------------------------------------How to market effectively in the new internet wave
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Antispam Software If you are a small businessperson, there are 3 alternatives that you should consider, which are described in this next section:

Fight Spam What is effective you might ask? (Ask away, it's kind of the point here..)

Stoping Spam 1) First party offers that impart some value added (a tip; some information, something the consumer is interested in.)

Block Spam Lets say John Q. Consumer gave his e-mail address for a newsletter, or for more information on a particular subject, or to play a game.

Spam Emails Chances are he probably would not be angered to get an e-mail from your company especially since he asked for you to contact him. He would recognize your domain name since he spent enough time on your site to actually ask the info.

Email Account Additionally, your internet service provider would not shut you down for violations and you'd start to build a small but effective list of people who are actually interested in what you, as a business owner, have to say.

Sending Email This has been effective since the beginning of the internet. The only problem is, how do you reach people the first time, to get them to your site?

Reading Email How do you find a target market for your products that is likely to be interested in what you have to offer and sign up for your newsletter, visit your site, and hopefully buy your stuff?

Storing Email Is there anything less costly than television, radio, and (ugh!) banner ads?

Email Software Yes there is. Drum roll please...Search Engine Marketing. If you write good ads, and compete with the right keywords, people who are already searching for an answer to a question, doing research, comparison shopping will go to a search engine and type in their parameters.

Antispam Software If you know how to market well, only people who are interested will go to your site.

Fight Spam If you have a web site that is compelling and you are offering a value added, they will ask for more information or sign up for your newsletter, or get your free download.

Stoping Spam Now, getting to this point can sometimes take a little time, but if you are persistent, and know how to interpret your statistics, you can do this. If you want the result without the learning curve, hire a Search Engine Marketing Firm.

Block Spam So the new tools for small businesspeople to stampede traffic to their websites in 2005 and beyond are going to be:

Spam Emails 1) Search Engine Marketing
2) Publicity, including press releases that provide meaningful news
3) Providing quality content and expert commentary for radio, TV, and internet hubs in your field

Email Account You can be successful on the internet and these tools help to establish you as an expert in your field, as well as attract the very people who are looking for your product or service at the same time.

Sending Email These are the tools of a new form of marketing, which people are calling "In Touch" Marketing, or "intelligent marketing" and is one way to cut through and actually get you the most possible business, at the lowest possible cost, with laser precise targeting. In future articles I will teach you how to use them with deadly precision.

Reading Email This is the new way for small businesses and entrepreneurs to succeed in 2005 and beyond.

Storing Email Remember, you heard it here first :)

Email Software Laura Betterly
CEO, In Touch Media Group
http://intouchmediagroup.com
laura@intouchmediagroup.com

Antispam Software -----------------------------------------------
About the author

Fight Spam Laura Betterly is the CEO of In Touch Media Group, (OTC:ITOU) and has successfully launched many ebusinesses for herself and others

Stoping Spam More information is available at http://www.intouchmediagroup.com

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