All men who have achieved great things have been great dreamers.
-- Orison Swett Marden
Good timber does not grow with ease. The stronger the wind the stronger
the trees. -- Williard Marriott
Did you know that subscribers to Bob Osgoodby's Free Ezine the
"Tip of the Day" get a Free Ad for their Business at his Web
Site? Great Business and Computer Tips - Monday. Wednesday. And
Friday. Instructions on how to place an ad are in the Newsletter.
Subscribe at: http://adv-marketing.com/business/subscribe2.htm
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
How To Reduce Spam
By: Steve Latimer
Spam... SPAM . . SPAM . . SPAM . . Yes it really was named after
the famous Monty Python sketch featuring the intrepid Erik the Viking.
What Is Spam? Unsolicited e-mail.
Over 60% of all e-mails are now unsolicited sales messages - and
it's growing. Junk mail is the scourge of the Internet. While it's a
real shame that something as useful as e-mail should be contaminated
by this claptrap there are serious implications to it's phenomenal growth.
EU businesses spend £1.5 billion a year trying to counter it and now
Governments are looking at ways legislate against it.
In 2004, the UK Government brought in legislation to discourage the
spammers but the penalties are derisory compared to those introduced
by other countries.
This has had the unfortunate effect of making the UK a prime target
for international spammers. It is estimated that by the end of 2005,
80% of all UKJ e-mails will be spam.
There are no ways to avoid it completely that we know of but you can
take steps to minimise it. Common Sense Tips to Reduce SPAM Never visit
web sites advertised by Spam mail
If you do, never, NEVER buy anything
Do not reply to the e-mail or click an unsubscribe link - doing so merely
confirms that your e-mail address is active and that the message has been read.
Delete Spam messages immediately
If certain domains are particularly bothering you report them to your ISP
Don't register for free services - especially those that don't allow you to
opt out of third party and/or related products and services - they'll
forward your address on to other Spammers.
Set up a dummy web based e-mail account such as Hotmail and use this address
as a scrap bucket if you can't avoid providing an e-mail address. Organisations
such as Hotmail routinely clear out dead messages to save space which means once
you have set up your dummy account you can forget about it.
Blocking Unsolicited Mail In Microsoft Outlook Express
Once you have received an unsolicited mail into your inbox select it by clicking on it once.
Move the pointer to the MESSAGE menu option on the top menu bar Select BLOCK SENDER
This action adds the senders address to a growing list of blocked senders. Each time
a mail is received from any of those in the blocked list the mail is moved automatically
to the DELETED ITEMS folder and does not appear in the INBOX.
Blocking Unsolicited Mail In Microsoft Outlook 2000/2002/XP
Use the RULES WIZARD within the TOOLS menu to create a rule to send any mail suspected
of being Junk Senders to the DELETED ITEMS folder.
When an unsolicited e-mail arrives in your Inbox then select it by RIGHT clicking on it
once and choose to add it to the junk senders list.
Delete the mail manually from your Inbox The next time a mail arrives from the same source
it will be moved automatically to the DELETED ITEMS folder. As the list grows the amount of
junk mail in your Inbox will diminish.
There may be light at the end of the Spam tunnel. Uncle Bill at Microsoft is known to have
'a thing' about Spam and is determined to kill it off. Governments too are looking for better
ways to reduce this nuisance.
About The Author:
Steve Latimer is Systems Manager with Arrival Computers http://www.arrival-computers.co.uk).
PC Doctor+ Guides are aimed at users new to computing. They may be reproduced and included in
web sites as additional content provided a link is added back to the Arrival Computers Web Site.
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Malware: Computing's Dirty Dozen
By Joel Walsh (c) 2005
It seems that no sooner do you feel safe turning on your
computer than you hear on the news about a new kind of internet
security threat. Usually, the security threat is some kind of
malware (though the term "security threat" no doubt sells more
newspapers).
What is malware? Malware is exactly what its name implies: mal
(meaning bad, in the sense of malignant or malicious rather
than just poorly done) + ware (short for software). More
specifically, malware is software that does not benefit the
computer's owner, and may even harm it, and so is purely
parasitic.
The Many Faces of Malware
According to Wikipedia, there are in fact eleven distinct types
of malware, and even more sub-types of each.
1. Viruses. The malware that's on the news so much, even your
grandmother knows what it is. You probably already have heard
plenty about why this kind of software is bad for you, so
there's no need to belabor the point.
2. Worms. Slight variation on viruses. The difference between
viruses and worms is that viruses hide inside the files of real
computer programs (for instance, the macros in Word or the
VBScript in many other Microsoft applications), while worms do
not infect a file or program, but rather stand on their own.
3. Wabbits. Be honest: had you ever even heard of wabbits before
(outside of Warner Bros. cartoons)? According to Wikipedia,
wabbits are in fact rare, and it's not hard to see why: they
don't do anything to spread to other machines. A wabbit, like a
virus, replicates itself, but it does not have any instructions
to email itself or pass itself through a computer network in
order to infect other machines. The least ambitious of all
malware, it is content simply to focus on utterly devastating a
single machine.
4. Trojans. Arguably the most dangerous kind of malware, at
least from a social standpoint. While Trojans rarely destroy
computers or even files, that's only because they have bigger
targets: your financial information, your computer's system
resources, and sometimes even massive denial-of-service attacks
launched by having thousands of computers all try to connect to
a web server at the same time.
5. Spyware. In another instance of creative software naming,
spyware is software that spies on you, often tracking your
internet activities in order to serve you advertising. (Yes,
it's possible to be both adware and spyware at the same time.)
6. Backdoors. Backdoors are much the same as Trojans or worms,
except that they do something different: they open a "backdoor"
onto a computer, providing a network connection for hackers or
other malware to enter or for viruses or spam to be sent out
through.
7. Exploits. Exploits attack specific security vulnerabilities.
You know how Microsoft is always announcing new updates for its
operating system? Often enough the updates are really trying to
close the security hole targeted in a newly discovered exploit.
8. Rootkit. The malware most likely to have a human touch,
rootkits are installed by crackers (bad hackers) on other
people's computers. The rootkit is designed to camouflage
itself in a system's core processes so as to go undetected. It
is the hardest of all malware to detect and therefore to
remove; many experts recommend completely wiping your hard
drive and reinstalling everything fresh.
9. Keyloggers. No prize for guessing what this software does:
yes, it logs your keystrokes, i.e., what you type. Typically,
the malware kind of keyloggers (as opposed to keyloggers
deliberately installed by their owners to use in diagnosing
computer problems) are out to log sensitive information such as
passwords and financial details.
10. Dialers. Dialers dial telephone numbers via your computer's
modem. Like keyloggers, they're only malware if you don't want
them. Dialers either dial expensive premium-rate telephone
numbers, often located in small countries far from the host
computer; or, they dial a hacker's machine to transmit stolen
data.
11. URL injectors. This software "injects" a given URL in place
of certain URLs when you try to visit them in your browser.
Usually, the injected URL is an affiliate link to the target
URL. An affiliate link is a special link used to track the
traffic an affiliate (advertiser) has sent to the original
website, so that the original website can pay commissions on
any sales from that traffic.
12. Adware. The least dangerous and most lucrative malware
(lucrative for its distributors, that is). Adware displays ads
on your computer. The Wikipedia entry on malware does not give
adware its own category even though adware is commonly called
malware. As Wikipedia notes, adware is often a subset of
spyware. The implication is that if the user chooses to allow
adware on his or her machine, it's not really malware, which is
the defense that most adware companies take. In reality,
however, the choice to install adware is usually a legal farce
involving placing a mention of the adware somewhere in the
installation materials, and often only in the licensing
agreement, which hardly anyone reads.
Are you ready to take on this dirty dozen? Don't go it alone.
Make sure you have at least one each of antivirus and
antispyware.
Joel Walsh writes for spyware-refuge.com about malware removal:
http://www.spyware-refuge.com/spyware-removal.html?%20malware%20remover
Copyright © 2005 Jayde Online, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
SiteProNews http://www.sitepronews.com
is a registered service mark of Jayde Online, Inc.
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Short Shrift by Bob Osgoodby
We receive so much information on the Internet, especially via
email, that many times we have difficulty separating the good
"stuff" from the junk. Most of us put unsolicited email (spam)
in the junk category. By the time we weed through all that
however, we are approaching information overload, and may give
"short shrift" to the really good information we receive.
One way to overcome this very real problem, is to create email
filters for things you may wish to read at a future time. For
example, create a generic filter for the ezines or newsletters
you subscribe to, or one for each. This will then automatically
separate this good "stuff" from the junk. You can then keep your
"inbox" clean and read the information at your leisure when you
are less harried.
Use your email filters to weed out the junk. It only takes a
moment or so to create a filter, and this will keep all the
repeat spam out of your inbox. The best way to filter spam, is
not to filter on the senders email address. Most of these are
forged anyway, and are different every time. Pick out some "key
words" contained in the body of the message. "ST0P SN0RING",
"Own An Offshore Retirement Fund", "$16,000+ with ONE $20 gift"
just to name a few. Filter out those emails that match your key
words.
Some of the spam is one time only and you don't need to be
concerned with that. One way to do it, is to create a folder
titled "Spam". Every day, instead of simply deleting them,
transfer them to this folder. If you see a pattern developing,
you can easily pick out the worst offenders, and create a filter
for them.
When you subscribe to an ezine or newsletter, don't make a
summary judgment that you don't want it. Most publishers try to
provide a "variety" of items, and it may take several issues
before you both click. Like a baseball player, don't expect a
"homerun" every time at bat. Give it a half-dozen or so issues
before making up your mind. You may simply get an issue that
doesn't appeal to you, but the next might be a winner.
Some people go so far as to set up a separate email account just
for their personal use, and another for their ezines, which is
not a bad idea. But, if you do this, for goodness sake remember
which one you used. Most publishers use list servers for their
mailings. You can't unsubscribe from a publication except from
the address that they have on file. To prevent the "cranksters"
from running amok, they require you to be signed on the address
they have on file in order to be removed.
If you decide you don't want a particular publication any
longer, try to unsubscribe, and if you get a message that you
are not on the list, it does little good to rant and rave. If
you're not there, you're not there - period. While most
publishers don't want people on their list who don't wish to
receive it, they have no idea what email address you used when
subscribing.
Most publishers will make an honest effort to remove you from
their list, and threats to report them for spamming, will not
help them to remove you. The majority of the time the people who
complain are using a free email account, and are automatically
forwarding the mail to their main address. To compound matters,
they forgot they are doing this, and get aggravated when they
can't unsubscribe under their main email address.
If you are receiving a publication and cannot unsubscribe,
filter their publication automatically into your trash basket.
This will save you and the publisher a lot of aggravation.
There is a great deal of information on the Internet. If you
approach it wisely, you will benefit. If you don't, you may be
suffering from information overload, and giving some really good
information short shrift because it is mixed in with all the
junk mail you receive.
Did you know that subscribers to Bob Osgoodby's Free Ezine the
"Tip of the Day" get a Free Ad for their Business at his Web
Site? Great Business and Computer Tips - Monday. Wednesday. And
Friday. Instructions on how to place an ad are in the Newsletter.
Subscribe at: http://adv-marketing.com/business/subscribe2.htm
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The Power of Follow Up by Kelley Robertson
It never ceases to amaze me how few sales people make the time
to follow-up after they have made initial contact with a
prospect or customer. In the last few months, I can think of at
least eight different situations in my own life (business &
personal) when a salesperson did not bother taking this
initiative.
These included a landscaper who designed plans for our property,
two different people who spoke to me about creating a
promotional piece of literature for my business, a sales rep for
a pool company, and a men's fashion salesman who was asked to
send information. In each of these situations I was very
interested in the product or service offered by the vendor.
This got me wondering.why don't people follow-up? I think there
are several reasons.
They don't want to appear pushy. It may be true that following
up too frequently will come across as being pushy. However, very
few salespeople ever come close to crossing this line. In fact,
one the few times, I left a salesperson was pushy was more
because of his tone, rather than fact he actually followed up.
As a sales professional, I believe it is our responsibility to
keep following up with our prospects until we know for certain
if they want to do business with us. However, I also strongly
believe that we can cross that line by making too many calls in
a short period of time. So where's the happen balance? It
depends on your business. A weekly call is more than enough to
keep in touch providing you make sure your call is short and to
the point. Don't waste your prospect's time by droning on and
on. Also, if possible, provide some additional value during your
follow-up call. This may give your prospect a reason to choose
you instead of a competitor.
They forget. It's easy to forget considering how busy we are. We
may have every intention of calling our prospect but we get
caught up in our business. Unexpected problems crop up, we find
ourselves spending more time in meetings ad stuck in traffic,
and because we didn't schedule the follow-up, it doesn't get
done. This is a common dilemma but one that can be avoided by
considering the follow-up like a scheduled appointment.
They make false assumptions. I once submitted a proposal to a
company and told them I would follow-up on a certain day and
time. Unfortunately, I was extremely sick that particular day
and it was several days before I recuperated. I then wrestled
with whether or not I should call him. I was concerned he would
question why I didn't call as scheduled. In the end, a simple
apology was enough to rectify the situation and move the sales
process forward.
When someone doesn't immediately return our phone call or email
message, we usually assume the worst - even if this assumption
is not verified. I have learned from experience that a lack of
response can often be attributed to the fact that the other
person is just too busy to respond or does not have an answer
for you.
They think that the customer or prospect will contact them. I
think this is one of the most common myths sales people fall
prey to. They think that if they do a good job the customer will
automatically call us back - we don't need to follow-up.
Unfortunately, we cannot rely on this if we want to achieve our
sales goals. People get busy, they forget or procrastinate and
the more time that slips by, the less important your product or
service may be to that prospective customer.
They have never been taught. Many people have never received
formal sales training and have not learned why they should
follow-up and how to make this happen. This is relatively easy
to remedy. Start by asking or telling your prospect that you
will follow-up on a specific day or time. Tell them how you will
follow-up (telephone, email, face-to-face) and record this in
your day planner or time management system. I use Outlook and
now include a reminder so I don't forget to follow-up.
Follow-up should also be completed after the sale is completed.
A quick telephone call after your product or service has been
delivered confirms their decision to buy from you. I make an
effort to send every client a handwritten thank-you card once
the sale has been confirmed and again when the services they
requested have been delivered.
Here's the bottom line. You can easily differentiate yourself
from your competition by making the effort to follow-up with
your prospects and customers. Don't take it for granted that
they will call you. Be proactive and contact them.
Kelley Robertson, President of the Robertson Training Group,
works with businesses to help them increase their sales and
motivate their employees. Receive a FREE copy of "100 Ways to
Increase Your Sales" by subscribing to his free sales and
motivational newsletter available at www.kelleyrobertson.com.
Contact him at 905-633-7750 or Kelley@RobertsonTrainingGroup.com
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How to Become an Expert in Your Niche Business By: Evelyn Lim
What is a niche business? A niche business is one that caters to the
common needs and interests of a focused group of people. For instance,
people who play golf forms a niche market and people who are golf
instructors form an even tighter and smaller niche.
The advantage of going niche is that you can become a specialist in
that chosen market. Instead of knowing a bit of everything, you concentrate
your efforts on the one area.
Becoming an expert in your niche does not happen overnight. It takes time,
skills, dedication and money to build up your knowledge.
Here are 7 great ways to become an expert in your niche business:
1. First and foremost, you must have a strong interest when selecting your niche.
If you are going to spend a lot of time researching on this area, a strong interest
will help sustain your efforts and keep you going.
2. Read aplenty and stay current! Surf the internet for industry news and related
fields to your niche. Go to the bookstores and the library. Subscribe to newsletters
or ezines of your competitors.
3. Attend workshops and learn from the super experts. Learn also in related topics
so that you can expand on your knowledge base.
4. Test out tools, resources, software or just about anything that can be used for
your particular niche. For instance, if you are a florist selling exotic flowers,
knowing what is the best way to take care of the delicate blooms will help make you an expert!
5. Hang out in forums where your target market is likely to be. This is an excellent
way to get to know what are the common problems and obstacles faced by your prospects.
Make sure that you find out the answers or solutions to these problems so that you can
post your comment and findings. Some forums even allow you to insert a link back to your website.
6. Use branding for higher perceived value: Buy and register your name as the domain name.
A good example is http://www.EvelynLim.com . Brandnames are built gradually overtime. So set
aside time each week devoted to promoting your brandname. This could be giving free advice,
lectures and giving press releases.
7. Have an opinion. People like to look up to experts who articulate their views. You are
likely to be a winner if you can also justify your opinion with facts.
About The Author:
Evelyn Lim is the online publisher of the very popular newsletter "Mapping You to Success".
Her FREE newsletter is jam packed with ideas, resources and tips. She aims to equip her
readers with skills on how to acquire multiple sources of online income. To subscribe to
her newsletter, please visit http://www.e-BizMap.com
or read more about her at her blog http://www.EvelynLim.com
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Your sucess is our focus; to that end, we will always endeavor to bring you the most current and vital information to assist you on your road to success. If you have an idea for a topic or have a question, please feel free to email me directly at: fran@modernopportunity.com
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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And now, about my background and how I came to publish this site and newsletter...
Due to budget tightening, my job at a not-for-profit agency was cut back to part time. Because I
needed more of an income, I set out looking for a new position. At about the same time, my daughter
and son-in-law gave me the wonderful news that they were expecting their first child and my first
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