Eight Proven Ways to Protect Your Company from Spam
Eight Proven Ways to Protect Your Company from Spam
2. Use a contact form that utilizes server scripts. Most “Contact Us” pages use a programming method that makes email addresses easy for spammers to locate. Ask your website designer to recreate your contact forms using server-based scripts (Active Server Pages, PHP, etc) or visit this website which generates the code for free. http://www.tele-pro.co.uk/scripts/contact_form/
3. Use private registration for all domains. When you registered your company’s website domain you were required to enter email address information. This email address is the primary method used by your domain registrar (Network Solutions, Go Daddy, Yahoo, etc) to contact you. Unfortunately spammers can query this email address and begin spamming your company. The major domain registrars now offer a domain privacy option which hides your contact information for a nominal fee ($7 - $9 a year).
4. Do not use generic email addresses. Spammers always try to send spam to common email addresses (info@, sales@, support@, help@, etc). If you are going to use a generic address, then make it difficult to guess what it is by appending a number to it (info44@, sales71@, 39support@, etc).
5. Restrict autoresponders on your email server. Autoresponders send an automatic response when an email is sent to your company. Examples of these include out of office replies, order confirmation messages, etc. Normally spammers don’t receive a response, so they do not know if an email address is valid. You can either disable autoresponders, limit them to respond only to employees (for out of office messages), or require that a condition must be met (perhaps a specific subject line), to prevent spammers from getting a reply back.
6. Protect your employee computers from viruses and spyware. Malicious programs such as viruses and spyware will search a computer for email addresses and send them back to the spammer. The spammer will then have your entire company’s address book and begin sending messages to all of your employees.
7. Restrict employees use of newsgroups, wikis and blogs. While there are legitimate business reasons to use these collaborative technologies, employees must exercise caution. Newsgroups, wikis and blogs are web-based discussion sites that allow people to post questions and receive answers to any type of problem from anyone around the world. People usually enter their email addresses to receive notifications. Spammers will search these sites and harvest all of the email addresses that have been posted. Restrict employees from using their email addresses on these sites or require them to use a “free” email account like Hotmail, Yahoo or Gmail.
8. Disable automatic picture downloads in your email program. It is very common for email messages to include graphics or other formatting to make them more visually appealing. Unfortunately, spammers use web bugs (hidden graphics in spam messages) to allow them to identify when a message has been read and who read it. Most email programs give you the ability to prevent graphics from being displayed, thus preventing spammers from knowing if a message has been read.
All of the steps listed above will prevent spammers from capturing email addresses at your company once you make the changes. Unfortunately, it will not reduce the level of spam you are currently receiving since some spammers already have your email addresses. These spammers can also share your email addresses with other spammers causing an endless cycle of spam.
The only effective way to eliminate your current volume of spam is to begin using spam filtering. We offer a spam filtering service that is the best in the industry and is proven the most effective at stopping spam dead in its tracks! Our customers absolutely love our service and we know you will be amazed at what our service can do for your company too. You don’t need to purchase any hardware or software, there are no long term contracts to sign, and you can terminate service at any time. It’s completely risk free! We’re so convinced that you will love our service that if you call us today we’ll give you a free 30 day trial.
Eight Proven Ways to Protect Your Company from Spam - To learn more about this author, visit Bryan Bowers's Website.
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1. Remove email addresses from your website. Spammers use automated tools called “address harvesters” to search through thousands of web pages per hour and extract all email addresses found.
2. Use a contact form that utilizes server scripts. Most “Contact Us” pages use a programming method that makes email addresses easy for spammers to locate. Ask your website designer to recreate your contact forms using server-based scripts (Active Server Pages, PHP, etc) or visit this website which generates the code for free. http://www.tele-pro.co.uk/scripts/contact_form/
3. Use private registration for all domains. When you registered your company’s website domain you were required to enter email address information. This email address is the primary method used by your domain registrar (Network Solutions, Go Daddy, Yahoo, etc) to contact you. Unfortunately spammers can query this email address and begin spamming your company. The major domain registrars now offer a domain privacy option which hides your contact information for a nominal fee ($7 - $9 a year).
4. Do not use generic email addresses. Spammers always try to send spam to common email addresses (info@, sales@, support@, help@, etc). If you are going to use a generic address, then make it difficult to guess what it is by appending a number to it (info44@, sales71@, 39support@, etc).
5. Restrict autoresponders on your email server. Autoresponders send an automatic response when an email is sent to your company. Examples of these include out of office replies, order confirmation messages, etc. Normally spammers don’t receive a response, so they do not know if an email address is valid. You can either disable autoresponders, limit them to respond only to employees (for out of office messages), or require that a condition must be met (perhaps a specific subject line), to prevent spammers from getting a reply back.
6. Protect your employee computers from viruses and spyware. Malicious programs such as viruses and spyware will search a computer for email addresses and send them back to the spammer. The spammer will then have your entire company’s address book and begin sending messages to all of your employees.
7. Restrict employees use of newsgroups, wikis and blogs. While there are legitimate business reasons to use these collaborative technologies, employees must exercise caution. Newsgroups, wikis and blogs are web-based discussion sites that allow people to post questions and receive answers to any type of problem from anyone around the world. People usually enter their email addresses to receive notifications. Spammers will search these sites and harvest all of the email addresses that have been posted. Restrict employees from using their email addresses on these sites or require them to use a “free” email account like Hotmail, Yahoo or Gmail.
8. Disable automatic picture downloads in your email program. It is very common for email messages to include graphics or other formatting to make them more visually appealing. Unfortunately, spammers use web bugs (hidden graphics in spam messages) to allow them to identify when a message has been read and who read it. Most email programs give you the ability to prevent graphics from being displayed, thus preventing spammers from knowing if a message has been read.
All of the steps listed above will prevent spammers from capturing email addresses at your company once you make the changes. Unfortunately, it will not reduce the level of spam you are currently receiving since some spammers already have your email addresses. These spammers can also share your email addresses with other spammers causing an endless cycle of spam.
The only effective way to eliminate your current volume of spam is to begin using spam filtering. We offer a spam filtering service that is the best in the industry and is proven the most effective at stopping spam dead in its tracks! Our customers absolutely love our service and we know you will be amazed at what our service can do for your company too. You don’t need to purchase any hardware or software, there are no long term contracts to sign, and you can terminate service at any time. It’s completely risk free! We’re so convinced that you will love our service that if you call us today we’ll give you a free 30 day trial.
Eight Proven Ways to Protect Your Company from Spam - To learn more about this author, visit Bryan Bowers's Website.
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Eight Proven Ways to Protect Your Company from Spam
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Anne BarrAnne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website |
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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John PowerJohn Power, founder of Biltmore Franchise Consulting, has extensive experience developing and marketing franchises and business opportunities. He has been in and around franchising for over twenty years. From 1980 through 1990 he conceptualized, organized, and developed the American Video Association. He grew AVA to 2,000 national members, before selling the company it 1990. It was later merged into another home video marketing company. From 2000 to 2005 he worked as a contract marketing and human resources consultant to several local and national companies. In 2005 Mr. Power began working as a franchise development consultant on a full-time basis. Since that time he has helped more than three dozen companies initiate and develop their franchising program. He notes that there are many companies interested in developing a franchise program, and who need his specialized assistance. Mr. Power is a “hands-on” franchise consultant. He said, “I am the ‘nuts and bolts’ person who tends to the details for my clients.” Mr. Power holds a B.S. degree with a major in Marketing. See: www.biltmorefranchise.com You may contact Mr. Power at: jpower@biltmorefranchise.co - Visit John Power's Website |
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Joe Dager is President of Business901, a progressive coaching company providing no-nonsense direction in areas such as Lean marketing and organized referral marketing. What others say: In the past 20 years, Joe and I have collaborated on many difficult issues. Joe’s ability to combine his expertise with “out of the box” thinking is unsurpassed. He has always delivered quickly, cost effectively and with ingenuity. A brilliant mind that is always a pleasure to work with.” - James R. If you want to learn more about Business901, start a conversation with us. We can be found @ Web/Blog: http://www.business901.com Web/Blog: http://www.FundingYourNonprofit.com http://www.linkedin.com/in/business901 – Linked In http://www.twitter.com/business901 – Twitter - Visit Joe Dager's Website |
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Michel NerayMichel Neray has over 25 years of experience as an award-winning copywriter, an Internet pioneer, a tradeshow pitchman and a senior sales and marketing executive. An online pioneer, he was one of the first marketing professionals to embrace the Internet by building websites as early as 1993. In 1994, Michel co-authored a book entitled "The Great Crossover: Personal Confidence in the Age of the Microchip", which made it to Jack Canfield's Achiever's Recommended Reading List. Michel founded Portfolios.com in 1995, the world's first online source directory for creative professionals and one of the first websites based on community generated content. Since creating The Essential Message in 2003, Michel has helped thousands of independent professionals and entrepreneurs as well as growing corporations find a better way to differentiate, position and brand themselves. In 2005, his chapter "Everything Starts With A Conversation" was selected as the lead for the book, "Sales Gurus Speak Out" and re-published in 2008 for 'Awakening The Workplace Volume 3'. He is also a co-author of "In the Company of Leaders" (2008) with 40 top North American leadership experts. - Visit Michel Neray's Website |
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Jay Kubassek(Jay's Full Bio: EvanCarmichael.com/jaykubassek) Jay Kubassek is a Canadian born entrepreneur, internet marketing genius, professional speaker, international real estate developer/investor, executive film producer, extreme sport enthusiast and a passionate supporter of several charities worldwide. In 2007, Jay's vision and dedication to help other entrepreneurs and business owners duplicate his marketing success led to the creation of his fourth company CarbonCopyPRO, an internet marketing firm already worth over 15 million dollars that has over 20 employees and contract workers with clients is 12 different countries. Jay resides in NYC with his girlfriend Jamie, three year old son Milo and dog Cooper. As executive producer he recently premiered his first film in the 2008 Cannes Film Festival. As an adventurist he is racing the 2008 Baja 1000 off-road race and is a member of the 2008 U.S. National Elephant Polo Team, The New York Blue who will be representing the US in the 2008 World Championships in Nepal. Visit Jay's Blog: www.JayKubassek.com - Visit Jay Kubassek's Website |
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 Bryan Bowers (Visit Bryan's Website) Bryan Bowers has held a variety of managerial and staff positions in the Information Technology industry over the past sixteen years. His proven track record of using innovative technology to achieve bottom-line results prepared him to take the entrepreneurial leap to serve the business community of Orange County. Prior to founding Bowers Technologies, Inc., Bryan held positions as the Manager of Information Technology for the Santa Margarita Water District; Support Supervisor at Avery Dennison Corporation; and Project Manager at Control Components. Bryan holds many certifications and is active in professional IT organizations. He served on the committee that helped guide the UC-Irvine Graduate School of Management’s effort to integrate new technology into its curriculum. He spoke at the 1999 Information Technology Association symposium on how a hacker brought down Yahoo.com, CNN.com and other sites. The academic credentials underpinning Bryan’s professional accomplishments include graduating with honors from the University of California, Irvine's MBA program and a B.S. from California Polytechnic University, Pomona, CA, in computer information systems.
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