Arm Yourself! to
Win the War against SPAM!

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The Virtual Consulting Discussion List [VCDL]
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Saturday, March 19, 2005 Digest #21
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TABLE OF CONTENTS ...
---> [NEW] <---

#1 Arm Yourself! to Win the War against SPAM!
- Michael S. DeVries

#2 10 Tips For Long Term Client Retention
- Bonnie Jo Davis

#3 Grab Your Share of Untold Amounts of Advertising Dollars
- Kathleen Gage

#4 10 Networking Myths For Newbies-To-Networking
- Maria Marsala

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#1 Arm Yourself! to Win the War against SPAM!
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Date: Tue, 15 Mar 2005
From: "Michael S. DeVries" <DeVries@cris.com>
Reply To: Virtual-Consulting@topica.com

Unfortunately, fighting SPAM has become an ever increasing challenge in every day online life! :(

Even with the passage of the CAN-SPAM legislation which took effect in the United States in January of 2004 (see http://www.spamlaws.com/federal/108s877.html ), ,this does not seem to have diminished the volume of *spam* at all (as you may also see in the article "CAN-SPAM legislation proving useless against spam" at: http://www.newstarget.com/001412.html ) and appears to have simply "pushed the spammers offshore" :(

I, personally, used to receive over 200 spam messages just overnight while I slept in just one of my email boxes! :(

However, by helping you Arm Yourself with the proper tools and techniques, in this article, we hope to help you Win the War against SPAM!

Although, there are many differing opinions regarding the definition of what is and what is not SPAM, we do not wish to enter into that debate in this article. Rather, we will define SPAM simply herein for the purpose of this article to mean "any unwanted email message".

So, if you didn't ask to receive "an unwanted email message", of whatever kind, then ...
How did these "spammers" get your email address in the first place to sent it to you?

Well, there are many, many ways in which spammers can get "a hold" of your email address :(

Every time you post a message in an open forum wherein your email address is "visible", there are those spammers that go and "farm" these email addresses from these public forums and send spam to them.

Every time you register your email address at a site that does not "promise" not to share it with or sell it to someone else, that site may be selling your email address to a spammer.

If you have your email address explicitely stated in any of your web pages, even just in the HTML and perhaps not "visible" on the page as such, e.g. in a <FORM> field, there appear to be spammers who go and "farm" email addresses straight out of your web pages' HTML and send spam to them too.

Once one of them has got it they seem to tend to share, sell, etc. your email address with even more spammers and on and on it goes.

So, does that mean you should stop posting messages in public forums, registering at web sites and/or making your email address available through your web sites?

NO! ... Absolutely Not!

Why should we relinquish the battlefield to the *spammers*?
When by Arming Ourselves with the right tools and techniques, we can Win the War against SPAM!

So, how do we Arm Ourselves against SPAM?

As the saying goes ....
"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure", right?

So, let's start Arming Ourselves by discussing the ways in which we may prevent spammers from getting a hold of your email message in the first place.

You may wish to limit your posting of messages in open forums wherein your email address is "visible". You can disguise (or "munge") your e-mail address when you post it to newsgroups, chat rooms, bulletin boards, or other public forums For example, you can give your e-mail address as "wh0Am1@example.c0m" by using the number zero instead of the letter "o" and "1" instead of "I". This way, the reader can interpret your address, but the automated programs that spammers use cannot. And you may wish to only register your email address with web sites, etc. whom "promise" not to share it with or sell it to anyone else.

However, again, I "bristle" at the thought of letting the spammers win and in any way curtailing my online activities and/or force me to relinquish any benefit of our wonderful online / virtual world due to their unscrupulous behaviour! ;[

Preventing spammers from "farming" your email address(es) out of the HTML of your web pages is a much easier weapon to weild to prevent unscrupulous spammers from getting a hold of your email address(es) in the first place.

There exist some very nice and easy to use tools that will help you encrypt your email address such that you may include it (encrypted) in the HTML for your web pages, your visitors may still click on your email links to mail to you and spammer won't find it to "farm" for their spam mailing lists! One such email address encrypter that we use and recommend is the HTML E-mail Link Encrypter, which is one of the many webmaster tools and utilities you may get as part of your copy of Fast Selling Software which you may get now by clicking on the link below:

http://www.TheVCF.com/FastSellingSoftware.phtml

Despite our best efforts at prevention, it is still highly likely that some spammer somewhere will eventually get a hold of your email address and start spamming you, and as we mentioned before, once one spammer has got you on their spam list :(....

Thus, despite all of our preventative measures, it is unfortunately most likely an inevitability that you will receive some spam sometime.

Therefore, we also need to arm ourselves with the weapons to combat spam whenever it "shows its ugly face", right?

Even though the spammers may have gotten a hold of your email address, there are weapons we may employ such that you don't even ever have to see most of it! :)

Some of these "weapons against spam" employ an intermediate email box wherein any email message sent to your email address from an unknown sender receives an automatic "challenge/response" message requiring them to go to a site, where they must verify themselves as a legitimate email sender, rather than some kind of "spam-bot", e.g. by typing in a "verification password". Then you receive only those messages from verified senders from this intermediate email box. IOHO, one of the best of these type of "challenge/response" intermediate email box systems, which we use, have been pleased with and therefore recommend, is Spam Arrest, for which you may find out more information and try it for yourself for Fr^ee by clicking on the link below:

http://tinyurl.com/5tyvp

These type of "challenge/response" intermediate email box systems are great for eliminating spam from "spam-bots" and/or when the sender and/or reply-to email addresses are not "real people". However, there are still some spammers that will "pass the challenge" and then you will have to manually go up and "block" those senders from your seeing any further messages from them.

Similarly, if you own your own domain / web site(s), some web host providers offer spam blocking/ filtering that you may use for your domain. Some of these types of spam blockers / filters also allow you to enter regular expressions to determine all of the senders addresses and/or messages containing a particular "string", matching the regular expression "pattern" entered, to block. These types of spam blocking/ filtering are great to combat spammers who use multiple sender and/or reply to email addresses that change frequently and/or randomly (and probably automatically generated), but from a common domain and/or with a definable pattern. However, these types of spam blockers/ filters often require that you log into your domain / web hosting account and add a filter for each spammer's set of sender addresses and/or matching message text to be blocked.

Therefore, an even better weapon we have found, use and recommend, for "stemming the flow" of spam, is a PC / client based application called MailWasher, which is one of the many very helpful and beneficial tools in Vcom's SystemSuite for which you may find out more information and get your copy by clicking on the link below:

http://tinyurl.com/4d94t

MailWasher is great because it allows you to quickly and easily distinguish "friends from foes (spammers)", "bounce" unwanted email messages and "blacklist" the spammers such that you don't have to hear from them again!:) ... and all from your PC! When you "bounce" a spam message the sender of it receives an automatic response indicating that your email address was "not found / invalid". Therefore, rather than receiving verification of a valid email address, as from a challenge/response system or removal request, the spammer is more likely to believe your email address is invalid and remove you from their spam list! ;) When you "blacklist" a spammer in MailWasher, it automatically "tags" all of their messages to be automatically "bounced" and then deleted. Further, MailWasher allows you to combat spam on any number of your email addresses, again all from one place / application.

We have effectively employed all of these weapons against spam and have successfully reduced the previous torrent (of over 200 spam messages per night in one of my mailboxes) to a mere tickle and are definitely on the way to Winning the War against SPAM! :)

We have compiled and continue to collect "weapons against spam" for your further information, use and benefit at:

http://www.thevcf.com/vccenter.phtml#SPAM

You too can Arm Yourself with these weapons against spam, including the HTML E-Mail Link Encrypter ( http://www.TheVCF.com/FastSellingSoftware.phtml ), Spam Arrest ( http://tinyurl.com/5tyvp ) and/or MailWasher ( http://tinyurl.com/4d94t ), and Win the War against SPAM! :)

We hope this all helps you all Win the War against SPAM! :)

Your Virtual Moderator,

- Michael S. DeVries

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#2 10 Tips For Long Term Client Retention
-----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 9 Mar 2005 16:18:06 -0500
From: "Bonnie Jo Davis" <bonniejodavis@earthlink.net>
Reply To: Virtual-Consulting@topica.com

10 Tips For Long Term Client Retention

Attracting and retaining long-term clients is a powerful
strategy for growing your business. Long-term clients are likely to
feel more satisfied, are more likely to refer others, and are more
likely to purchase additional services from you. The savvy solo
professional or small business owner gains big from focusing on these
10 sound strategies for long term client retention.

1) Focus your marketing on existing clients. Your current
customers have already overcome certain hurdles to doing
business with you and are more likely to buy from you again.
Focus most of your time, efforts, and resources on better serving your
current clients. Go deeper rather than wider.

2) Be consistent in your approach and interactions. Treat your
clients with honesty, humor, and respect and maintain this over
time. Present a consistent, solid, and professional style to
your clients - one that they can grow to depend on.

3) Follow through on your commitments to them. If you promise to send
information or to follow up, be sure to do this. You'd be surprised at
how many professionals promise to send information, but then never do.
You will gain loyalty and trust by doing what you say you will do.

4) Allow yourself to connect with them. Find out about their
lives, their hopes, goals, and desired outcomes. Ask questions
that encourage a deeper sense of shared understanding. The
greater the level of connection, the greater the mutual
satisfaction.

5) Have fun. It's easy to get caught up in goals, outcomes,
deliverable and all of these are, of course, vitally important.
Clients do want outcomes. Also, they want to work with people
who enjoy what they do. The more fun you can have while providing
strong outcomes, the longer your clients will stay.
or perks program, where your long-term
clients are rewarded for staying on. You might offer them gifts,
products, or services for a certain level of ongoing
participation with your business. These work for things like
coffee, office supplies, and groceries, so why not in your
business, too?

10) Keep learning. The more you focus on gaining new knowledge,
new skills, and new experiences, the more you have to offer your
clients. The more you have to offer, the more they will benefit. The
more they benefit, the longer they stay. Keep focused on your own
professional growth and learning - make this a priority. Both you -
and your clients - will gain.

Implement these ten tips for client retention, and you too, will have
a business that continues to grow now and thrive into the future.

(c) 2005, Dr. Rachna D. Jain. All rights in all media reserved.

Dr. Rachna D. Jain is a sales/marketing consultant and the
author of "177 Low Cost Ideas to Successfully Market Your
Professional Service Business". She shares even more profitable
insights through her monthly newsletter & daily blog. To learn
how you can make more money and have more fun in your business,
please visit http://www.SalesAndMarketingCoach.com

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#3 Grab Your Share of Untold Amounts of Advertising Dollars
-----------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sun, 13 Mar 2005 14:09:21 +0000
From: " Kathleen Gage " <kathleen@turningpointpresents.com>
Reply To: Virtual-Consulting@topica.com'

Grab Your Share of Untold Amounts of Advertising Dollars
By Kathleen Gage

If you advertise in any way, the following information could show you
how to find and utilize untold advertising dollars you may not be
aware of.

In the mid 80's I was an account executive for a radio station
located in Santa Rosa, California. During that time I became very
familiar with what is referred to as co-op advertising.

Co-op advertising is a great source of advertising dollars. And there
is so much of it available to people, yet most people know very
little, if anything, about co-op dollars.

Interestingly, I was one of the only reps at the station who made sure
my clients knew about this benefit. The reason was simple, there was
more work involved in getting my clients set up, and yet, there was
financial gain for both my client and myself by taking time to help
them stretch their marketing dollars.

Co-oping is where you put in money for advertising and the
manufacturer of a product you sell also puts in money. Often it is as
much as 50% of the campaign. It is a great way to stretch your
advertising campaign and to beef up your campaign.

Unfortunately, even though the money is available if conditions are
right, many people either aren't aware of this or if they are they
think it's too much work to meet the criteria. Granted, in some cases
it is, but often utilizing co-op money is a great way to stretch your
marketing budget.

There are many co-op-advertising opportunities available if you plan
to do advertising on the Internet. Not all are good investments
though. Check opportunities out very carefully before making a final
commitment.

Using co-op dollars is an excellent way to build a stronger
relationship with your retail suppliers and to generate a lot more
traffic in your store or on to your web site. If the overflow of
business is handled correctly you will increase your sales and
profits.

The great thing about using co-op dollars when you are dealing with
standard media is that your account rep can handle the paperwork for
you. Many retailers hesitate using the "hidden" dollars due to feeling
intimidated by the paperwork, the unknown.

Not only can the rep help you with the paperwork, they can also help
you to build the campaign. However, before you trust them completely,
find out what their experience is, what successful campaigns they have
spearheaded and get some references. Take the time to do some
research upfront to save money over the long run.

The reality is, if they are professionals in the truest sense of the
word, they will be more than willing to take much of the paperwork
burden off of you by handling it. After all, the more value an account
rep creates for their clients the greater chance for an ongoing
business.

Co-op dollars are not limited to retail businesses. Often, there are
hidden dollars for non-profits. There are city and state funds that
are set aside to help various organizations increase their visibility
and reach.

One nice thing about using co-op dollars from a large manufacturer is
that brand names do attract customers to your business-that's why you
offer them. Advertising specific well known brands will increase your
foot traffic. Harley Davidson has an amazing co-op program they offer
to their retailers. It is a primary reason they have done so well.
They encourage advertising based on specific guidelines.

It is to the advantage of an advertiser to utilize these dollars.
Manufacturers in virtually every industry want to help with
advertising costs. They are very aware that when you correctly
advertise their brand name product you will probably sell more of it,
thus increasing your orders.

The disadvantage of co-op advertising can be the restrictions set by
the manufacturer. Often, they have such rigid guidelines about how to
design the ad that you may lose all control of creative expression.
For example, their logo may have to be positioned in an exact location
in order for them to co-op the campaign.

If you are working with someone who claims to be an expert at
advertising and they know nothing about co-op dollars they are not the
expert they claim to be. Be aware.

Areas that you need to be educated on are program terms and
reimbursement schedules. In some cases it can take months to receive
reimbursement for a co-op campaign. In other cases, the company you
are cooping with will send the money directly to the media source. Be
sure to check this information out in order not to run into a cash
flow problem.

Advantages of co-op advertising
- Extra money to advertise
- Account executive can do the paperwork
- More frequency

Disadvantages of co-op advertising
- Restrictions by manufacturer
- No guarantee it will work
- Limited creativity in ad copy

Before making a final decision, research your options on co-op
advertising. You may be pleasantly surprised with what you discover.

Kathleen Gage is an award winning keynote speaker, author and
Business advisor specializing in marketing and promotions. Access Gage's FREE eBook Street Smarts eMarketing Strategies Guaranteed to Jump Start Your Internet Presence to Put You Miles Ahead of the Competition at http://www.streetsmartsmarketing.com/free-ebook.htm

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#4 10 Networking Myths For Newbies-To-Networking
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Date: Tue, 8 Mar 2005 23:10:47 -0800
From: "Maria Marsala Elevating Your Business.com"
<yahoo@coachmaria.com>
Reply To: Virtual-Consulting@topica.com

10 Networking Myths For Newbies-To-Networking

It's a given, isn't it? If you're in business, your number
one job is to market. If you keep your business a secret -
don't let people know how you can help make their lives
better and what you do, you won't be successful - because no
one will know that you're in business. How well you network,
which is the "letting people know how you can help them"
part, may well determine whether you succeed - or fail.

There are four main types of organizations where networking
opportunities for business owners exist. There are 1)
business networking groups, 2) service-oriented groups
(Rotary, Elks, Soroptimist, for example), 3) our local
Chambers of Commerce, and 4) business-specific groups
(realtors-only, coaches-only, etc.)

Which one is best for you? Well, in all of the groups, you
are connecting with other business owners, getting to know
them personally and professionally, building trust, and
forging new relationships that can potentially bring you
business. However, with business networking groups, the main
focus, the primary objective, is to boost each member's
business. And isn't that a great objective?

Business networking groups are "exclusive," meaning that
only one member in each category of business can join. So
each group will have only one printer, one residential real
estate agent, one property manager, one web designer, etc.

For many women getting started in business, the business
networking options probably seem abundant. Online, offline,
via email, via telephone, groups meeting weekly, groups
meeting once monthly. Some are geared specifically towards
women business owners; others are not. Some groups are part
of a larger network of regional, national and international
association, while other groups are home grown. The
networking events or meetings are usually structured so that
women feel "welcome" and are designed to maximize
opportunities to meet others. Sounds good, right?

But what if you've never had to network before? Or if you're
an introvert? Like me!

Some people make networking look effortless, but here's a
secret: even for the most gregarious among us, networking
always requires preparation. Introvert who prepare,
practice, practice, and practice can become "Networking
Queens." (And don't forget to breathe!) If you're a
newbie-to-networking, don't let these common myths about
networking de-rail your efforts to become well known in your
industry.

Myth #1: Networking groups are only for new business owners.
Truth: Many networking groups who show sustained growth have
a majority of members who have been in business at least 5
years.

Myth #2: The only business owners who join networking groups
are unsuccessful ones.
Truth: See myth #1.

Myth #3: Men don't join networking groups.
Truth: In the small county I live in, men started 1/3 of the
business networking groups. One group is a women-only group
and the other groups are a mixture of both men and women.

Myth #4: Only home business owners or solo business owners
join networking groups.
Truth: Home business owners join groups quicker because
they're looking for community outside their homes. However,
many bricks 'n' mortar businesses join networking groups and
do extremely well, too.

Myth #5: Only business owners join networking groups.
Truth: Professionals, usually executives and agents who work
for existing companies, join to promote their companies'
services and/or products, too.

Myth #6: Multi-Level Marketing folks are not welcome at
networking groups.
Truth: If you are an MLM-er and attend meetings to sell your
products, you'll get a warmer reception if you're there to
talk about your products - not to increase your downline.

Myth #7: Dues are so very high.
Truth: Membership dues vary from group to group - some
groups have no dues and others charge dues of $500 per year.
Find a group that fits your needs or start your own!

Myth #8: You must refer to those you meet at your meetings
Truth: No one wants to refer people they don't know well, so
your goal at these meetings is to get to know other members
until you're comfortable referring them. Sometimes, you may
have another associate/friend outside the group that you
refer instead of, or in addition to, one of your networking
partners.

Now, while you're usually not "required" to refer a
particular person, remember that referring business to other
members is part of the business networking process. (In a
few groups, not referring others is a big "no-no" and you
will be asked to leave; ask about the rules before you
join.)

Myth #9: You must attend all meetings.
Truth: The commitment of your time and talents to a group is
very important, since you'll be part of a team of business
owners. In some groups, you - or a representative - must
attend all meetings. Most groups have a 75% mandatory
attendance of its members. A rare few groups have no
attendance rules.

Myth #10: I have to join right away.
Truth: Each group has its own "flavor." Many groups allow
you to attend two meetings as a guest before you have to
decide to join or not. Pretty fair rule!

The bottom line is this: People like to do business with
people they know and trust. Relationships -- business and
personal -- take time to develop. Remember that networking
isn't about instant gratification - it's about long-term
partnerships. The opportunities are numerous - business
networking groups are varied enough so that any woman can
find at least one group that feels like "home." Or two… or
three…

So go grab a cup of coffee and visit the list of online and
offline networking groups I've compiled over the years. It's
time to get out and become a Networking Queen! If I can do
it, you can, too!
http://www.coachmaria.com/business/networking.html.

©2005 Maria Marsala. Elevating Your Business makes the business
of business seem S.I.M.P.L.E.! Exceptional programs, informative
articles and training to support business success. Visit our
site for 2 reports www.ElevatingYourBusiness.com right now.

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