RSSHow to defeat spam at the roots
Just about everyone goes trough the hassle of removing unnessecary spam
in their inbox every day. If you have a fresh and unused email address and
want it so stay clean of spam mails then you should consider these steps bellow.
But to understand why you should consider these steps we will talk
about spiders (also known as: bots,address harvester,parser,the list goes on..) first.
Never think your email address is safe because a human beeing has to register or do any
other fancy stuff to see your address. And please consider that today almost anything
is beeing spidered by google and other bigger search engines. That means that entering
your email address in private guestbooks or bulleting boards is not safe at all,
because it is indexed by these engines. Most email address harvester start their search
in the big indexes like google,dmoz or yahoo.
In these days you can automate about everything a human can do except writing semaphorically
correct letters or articles. Even if you display your email address
as an image on your bussiness website the bots will be able to decipher it
and get your mailbox filled with unnesecary spam.
A good script or bot can even knock out these fancy captchas.
7 steps how you can avoid getting your new email address awash with spam.
1. Do not enter your real email address in guestbooks or bulletin boards (even if they are register only).
2. Do not activate images or even html emails in your email client. When loading images there is the risk that you will send your identification to the spammers server and he will set your email address to valid (and probably resell it).
3. If you really want to give your email address away, you should obfuscate it as much as possible (still human readable though). As an example for your.name@example.com use your[dot]name(at)example[dot]com, this will not stop all the bots but you will get less spam for sure.
4. If you have your own domain you should use the catch all function and use email addresses like www.iregisterhere.com@yourdomain.com so you can always block that specific address when someone begins sending spam or sold your address.
5. If you only want to read some information on a register only bulletin board or site you should use a disposable email address like http://www.mailslapping.com/ .
6. Use a good antivirus and mal-,spy- and adware detection tool. They often steal your addressbook and resell the addresses, including your own.
7. Do not use those fancy and 99 percent useless browser toolbars. They often include malware and/or spyware that can even capture data you enter in web forms.
You are on the safe side if you do not blindly trust the sites which want you to enter your
email address. If you use your email address for direct contact with a serious business or company
there is most likely no harm. Deactivate HTML rendering of your emails in the mail client of your choice.
If you use a email address from a free service like GMX, Yahoo, or your local provider. There is most
likely an option which lets you filter spam on the server. This way you can stop spam before its in your
inbox. Its always better to block aggressive and explicitly allow the sender addresses you want. This way you
probably loose a mail or two, but it is not an email from someone you really need to receive mails.
There are also some good blacklists out there. If you can configure your mailserver to use them (or your mailclient) then
you really should. These blacklists grow everyday and are pretty well up to date. One of them is SpamHaus (just google for email blacklist).
It depends on your needs but the more of these steps you can follow the less spam you will get.
Monthly Archives: February 2012
Hot to defeat Email spam
Tips for using Movers
By Flemming Andersen
Getting a moving company to help you with the difficult task of moving is a great idea. There are so many moving companies that it may seem hard to find the perfect one for you and your needs. You should treat hiring a moving company like you would if you were hiring a doctor or having any other service done. You have to research the people and the companies to make sure that you getting the best choice for you.
After you find the movers that are right for you and your needs, you should do a few things to ensure that you are protected and that you have an easy and safe move. You do not want to have any problems with your move. It should go as smooth as possible. You should always take notes when you are talking to the movers and write down everything that they say. They will give you a quote and a confirmation number. It is important to get that number as well as the names of the people that you talk to at the moving company. If there is ever a problem, you will know who to talk to in order to get it settled.
You should always make sure that you make a necessity kit for your move. When the movers come to take all of your belongings, you may find that it is difficult to find exactly what you are going to need for the first night in the new home. You should make your own box of the things that you are going to need for the first night and take that package with you. This will include your clothes, toothbrushes, and a set of sheets, blankets, and towels. This will be a big help in the morning.
You may also want to protect certain things before the movers get there. This may include some of your irreplaceable keepsakes. Although the movers are there to do all of this work for you and make your life easier, you may want to box up the things that mean the most to you and take them with you. The movers that you hire should have insurance to cover anything that is lost or broken, however, you can not replace the memories of some things that you have so it is easier to just take care of these things yourself.
Something that will help you and the movers is to take the pets away for the time that the movers are there and for when they take the items to the new house. You may want to take the pet to a friend’s house or a kennel until after the move. Things will be hectic and the last thing that you need is for your pets to get in the way of the movers from doing their job. You want your move to be as simple and as fast as you can.
The last thing that you should do is relaxed. You have hired people to help you with the hard things and it is important for you to let them do their job. You should concentrate on the other things that are involved with moving and do not worry about the movers. They are professionals and they will take care of everything.
For more info visit: http://www.find-movers.org/
The ABCs of Customer Recovery
This week I present 26 little ideas to help you respond to complaints and difficult customers with much more ease….the ABC’s of Customer Recovery.
A ct as if every lost customer’s sales come out of your paycheck.
Believe the best of customers. Don’t make the mistake of assuming most customers are out to simply get something for nothing. The truth is, less than 1% of customers contact companies with ulterior motives in mind.
C ommunicate with diplomacy and tact when you final answer is “no” and when explaining company policy.
D on’t tell a customer she is wrong. Telling a customer they are wrong never makes them want to agree with you. It only pushes them more forcefully into their original position.
E mpathize with unhappy customers and allow this empathy to season your responses.
F ind a way to say “yes” to customers. Instead of saying “no” or telling the customer what you can’t do, think critically about what you actually can do.
G ive a token item such a coupon as a concrete form of apology.
H ave a sense of urgency. Demonstrate with your words and speed of response that getting to the bottom of the problem is just as important to you as it is to your customer.
I nvolve customers in the problem resolution process. Sometimes it’s very helpful to simply ask, “How do you see us resolving this?”
Jot down the customer’s name and details of the problem they are describing so you don’t have to ask the customer to repeat information.
K eep customers apprised of your timetable and progress toward resolving their problems.
L isten with the intent to truly understand your customer, not with the intent to interrupt, reply, or correct.
M onitor your customer service calls to ensure your tone is friendly, helpful and willing.
N egotiate resolutions that balance both the interests of your company and your customer.
Open the door with unhappy customers with open-ended questions. Make your questions demonstrate a sincere interest in better understanding the customer’s problem or experience.
P ut yourself in the customer’s shoes. How would you feel if the exact same problem happened to you?
Q uickly apologize. Apologize both when the company is at fault and even when the customer is responsible for the error. An apology goes a long way in creating calm, diffusing anger and regaining goodwill.
R ecognize that the issue is not the issue. The way the issue is handled becomes the real issue.
S ay “no” diplomatically and without causing resentment. The best way to do this is to start out by telling the customer what you can do.
T hank customers for their feedback.
U p-Service your customers by suggesting products or services that enhance the value of their current purchase.
View the customer as the reason for your work—not as an interruption to your work.
W OW customers.
Ex amine the root cause of problems and work to eliminating problems at the root.
Y ou are the company to each customer. Never underestimate your power to influence the customer’s future buying decisions.
Zero in on the customer’s needs and wants.