How to Run a Spam Free Internet Business


by Maurice Clarke - Date: 2006-12-10 - Word Count: 1215 Share This!

Once you launch an internet based business your spam troubles really start.

Why is the web based entrepreneur more at risk from spammers? Let's look at the problems a typically web business faces to ensure the wrath of the spamming community;

Amateurs and Beginners

A large number of new businesses on the web are newbies, folk who think there is an instant fortune to be made on the web. True there are many internet millionaires and a large number of people and firms earning a good living serving the international web community. However by far the majority fail to survive the first few years, put off to a large degree by lack of progress but more vitally the volume of spam email which their business attracts.

The seasoned web entrepreneur may well "know it all", or least most of it, but spam email is created by clever and innovative lawbreakers who thrive on the challenge and opportunities spam email creates.

Domain names

To run a successful business venture you need a domain name, perhaps even several if you want to protect an existing business name, or cover all the .com, .net, .info options. Despite the millions of existing domains it is still possible to register something memorable, and naturally totally unique.

Having a domain name means having an email address which you own and control. Your own domain email has several advantages over private or free email addresses used by normal web surfers, and this is where the problem starts.

Most web hosters of typical domains allow unlimited prefixes to a domain. Usually a business may actually have only a few they need to use sales, support, webmaster, inquiries, and a few names of key people using the format " firstname.lastname@yourdomain.com " or " firstname@yourdomain.com " being the most common options.

Spammers often send email to made up prefixes to domains which as such offer huge spam opportunities. Simple solution here is to re-direct all the key prefixes and send all OTHER prefixed email to a BLACK HOLE or delete on receipt. The final choice varies with the web hosting service options.

Use web based forms

Exposed email addresses on web pages are at risk and an open invitation to spammers. Hide email addresses from ALL web pages and use forms to submit enquiries, sales, or feedback.

A common spammer trick is to trawl web sites and "harvest" email addresses, this includes email for you, customers, members and clients. Your web site may be helping spammers get to people you deal with as well as you, and if you as a source can be identified it may not help your reputation.

Password protected areas will stop harvesting as a login is required as a condition of reaching areas of the web site where personal information is available. Most sites of this type offer FREE registration collecting name, password and email, then verify the email to ensure 100% opt in by real users.

Automated spamming methods are pretty useless at filling in forms and answering emails so simple form processes are a sure fire spam killer.

Use a professional email client

Many web businesses are still using free email accounts, or Outlook Express the free email client with the majority of ISP accounts.

Business web email is best managed by POP3 accounts direct off your computer or network.

The extra features and the robust nature of professional email clients are well worth their modest investment

Extra benefits include;

more control over folders
auto archiving and deletion of old mail
diaries, reminders and schedulers
spam and phishing control features
rules to sort and move incoming email
wider information on contacts
backup and restore of all folders and email
more professional look and feel.
Most popular are Microsoft OUTLOOK (the upgrade for Express), EUDORA and THUNDERBIRD but there are countless others. Searching for "email clients" will find the leaders.

Email redirecting

Any business email is potentially spam, so with that in mind it is recommended you operate with just a handful of real useable prefixes, which then allows you to sort incoming email based on certain characteristics using the RULES feature of your email client.

FROM known and trust sources or unique email addresses allocated to specific subjects - orders, feedback etc.

SUBJECT by using forms or hidden email addressed messages from a particular page will ALL have the same subject < email@yourdomain.com?subject="your subject" > TO a specific email address you have designated

A RULE may apply to any one of the above conditions or any two or all three being met. Common ACTION is to either

MOVE the email to a special folder (/newsales)

DELETE the email

It is far better to do spam checks BEFORE the email reaches your EMail client which is best suited to carry out final and fine tuning checks on your email. Most ISPs have some form of spam control (free with the account or as a low cost option) and this may be useful in stopping the more obvious email.

Low cost, off site spam detection services are recommended to identify more cleverly crafted spam items. These subscription based services process spam from hundreds of thousands of subscribers and can more easily identify scams and more subtle spam attacks. " Creative spam " accounts by far the largest proportion of spam email as spammers become more novel and creative with their email collection and sending methods.

Keep vital email separate

Maintain special emails for only known and trusted contacts which can come direct to you.

Maintain special email addresses to give out ONLY to 100% trusted contacts

Treat all mail as spam unless you 100% trust the source - 99% is doubt and doubt is SPAM.

Maintain your email contacts address book and avoid adding replied to contacts to the book automatically.

Regularly check any approved senders list (sometimes called a white list) to ensure it's accuracy and freshness.

Web Audience - quality v quantity

Once you launch a new business you want audience, prospects to come to your site and join, buy or whatever action you want from members, customers or clients.

You may be after a small select market or the world at large. The bigger your potential market the greater the audience and thus spammers will be attracted to you more than smaller sites.

How you market your site and get it known creates areas where you get known to spammers as well as your target audience.

When promoting to directories and free posting sites assess their value to you, as often many of these sell on emails used by webmasters posting information to spammers, or indeed spamming communities. The easiest route is to use unique and special email addresses for posting which can be identified in special sorted folders. Many posting services require a manual approval or authentication so deleting all mail from such sources, although may be desirable to avoid spamming, may loose some potential promotion sources.

Conclusion

Prevention if better than cure, so be careful where you place or submit your email addresses

Use as few email addresses as possible, it may look neat for small fledgling businesses to appear to have loads of different staff or departments and divisions but each one is a potential spammers paradise.

Redirect incoming email to specific external services and PC based folders helps identify sources of spam, so you can change some email addresses or redirect to different sources.

100% spam eradication may be a long way off still, but simple low cost spam control measures are an essential part of a successful web business, especially for the over confident, under funded web novice.


Related Tags: online business, spam, email, spamming, web business, bulk email, address book, spammers, 100%

Maurice S Clarke is founder of the wearable goods trading web site www.whatweusedtowear.com and lives in Rugby, UK. This article may be freely republished provided it remains intact.

Your Article Search Directory : Find in Articles

© The article above is copyrighted by it's author. You're allowed to distribute this work according to the Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs license.
 

Recent articles in this category:



Most viewed articles in this category: