|
|
The Editor's Desk - From Beneath the Clutter
Feature Article - Are Spam Filters Killing Your Home Business?
What's happening on the discussion boards?
Guest Article -
Help in the Laundry Room -- 10 Frugal Tips!
Free Offers
Classified Ads
I hope all the daddies had a great Father's Day. We went to a family picnic, then had a couple hours to ourselves as my sister watched Ariel.
Ariel was absolutely classic at the picnic. When we were getting ready to leave, she started in with "Want kiss Papa. Want kiss Grandma. Want kiss boys," at which point the boys who had been hanging around nearby scattered. Ariel and I played chase with one of the boys. He really seemed to be having fun, considering how close he stayed while avoiding Ariel's kiss.
And I thought I'd have a bit more time before she started kissing boys. Two years old and already wanting to kiss the boys and DRIVE! You can look in my blog for the driving story.
Don't forget, you can contribute your articles or tips anytime for consideration. Just use the contact form.
We all hate spam. It takes time to delete and fills our Inboxes with junk, making it all too easy to miss important emails. Worse, the proliferation of spam has caused many ISPs to add filters to their email service.
This is not an entirely bad thing, don’t get me wrong. Spam filters save many people hours of deleting junk emails. But they also often catch innocent emails as well. Worse, some don’t let the users “whitelist” certain email addresses to ensure that the emails get through or even tell the sender that they have refused to deliver. That is unfair to both sender and recipient.
If you are running a home business, you may have run afoul of overzealous email filters already. You may not have been able to contact a customer through email because their filter destroyed your message rather than bouncing it back to you or even placing it in a “Spam Folder” where your customer would still have a chance of seeing it. This can result in the customer believing that you aren’t running your business professionally and that you don’t care about your customers. When you really do care and do everything you can to be professional, this is very harmful to your business.
Spam, in case you’ve been under a rock and don’t know, is unsolicited commercial email, sometimes also called UCE. Many different individuals have different criteria for calling a given email spam. Some feel that if a customer has bought something from them, they have the right to email them with new offers, others say that customers should have to opt in for such information even after a purchase.
It is understandable that, in the current climate, ISPs need to offer filtering of spam. That’s fine. What is not acceptable is that some refuse to allow whitelisting. This means that they are not letting their customers choose what businesses or even individuals are allowed to contact them. How can it possibly be reasonable to tell a customer “We won’t let some people contact you. We won’t tell you who and we won’t let you decide for yourself if an email is acceptable.” How can it be reasonable for this same service to not tell the business that their email has bounced or refuse to tell them what it would take to get through?
When the email is legitimate and requested, it can’t be reasonable.
There’s a new program out there called “Deliver My Mail.” It’s a program designed to help set standards and unite small businesses to insist that their customers be allowed to whitelist them. It’s not a demand to let spam through, it’s a demand that we be allowed to conduct our business. It is not reasonable to have the ability of your business to earn money be limited by businesses who are profiting by blocking spam.
Deliver My Mail is a free program. You can take a look at it at http://deliver-my-mail.sitesell.com/homewithkids.html. If your business is having problems getting through email filters for no reason, you need to take a look at this program. For that matter, if you think your business ever will be caught unfairly by a spam filter you should take a look. Deliver My Mail will help your email get through. It may even start a class-action lawsuit to deal with the problem. These filters and ISPs have no right to refuse legitimate emails to customers. All customers should be allowed to whitelist, and marketers deserve to know why they have been blacklisted and what they need to do to fix it. It’s only reasonable. Protect your home business now and join at http://deliver-my-mail.sitesell.com/homewithkids.html.
Stephanie Foster is the owner of Home with the Kids, a resource that knows that there's more to staying home with your family than just business. From money saving tips to parenting and marriage tips, to work at home jobs and businesses, you can get information and support here. You can visit the site at http://www.homewiththekids.com/home-business.
Add to Your Social Bookmarks:
Del.icio.us
Furl
Reddit
Simpy
Spurl
Y! MyWeb - Netscape
Got my 303rd find this morning! in General Chatter - Knight, Sun 07-Sep-08 (261 Replies)
Newbie from Maryland in Introduce Yourself - BarbB, Sun 07-Sep-08 (4 Replies)
Ok, so what do you do to save money, really? in Saving Money - Audrey, Sun 07-Sep-08 (17 Replies)
Hello from Southern California in Introduce Yourself - Audrey, Sun 07-Sep-08 (3 Replies)
Guess what? I made $26 on my ads Thursday! in General Home Business - stephfoster, Sun 07-Sep-08 (1 Reply)
Finding bargains on clothing is one of the primary goals of frugal living.
But, making that clothing last and look good for as long as possible is sometimes a real challenge, given today's high prices on laundry products.
Here are a few tips to help you keep your clothes looking their best without spending a fortune!
1. Buy good quality. If you are buying new clothing, it is especially important to get the best quality you can afford. Poor quality garments just won't last no matter how carefully you care for them.
2. Wash as directed on the label. If it says wash in cold water, then be sure you do. One sure way to ruin an article of clothing is to use an improper cleaning method.
3. Wash everything you can in cold water. Most experts say clothes get just as clean in cold water as in warm or hot. For sure, there will be less shrinkage. And if there's a stain you didn't see and pre-treat, it won't be set in by hot water and maybe you can still get it out!
4. Always rinse in cold water; hot water sets wrinkles.
5. Turn T-shirts and sweatshirts inside out before washing. This will cut down on the "pilling" on the fabric caused by the clothes rubbing together during the wash cycle.
6. Hang those T-shirts and sweatshirts to dry instead of throwing them in the dryer. The decals or printing on the front and back will stay looking nice much longer.
7. In fact, hang dry everything you can. Especially if it's 100% cotton. Heat sets wrinkles and shrinks cotton. Smooth the garments out as you hang them, whether you're hanging them directly on a hanger or on the clothesline outdoors.
8. If you accidentally leave a load of clothes in your washer overnight and they have that sour smell, just add about 1/2 cup white vinegar and run through a rinse cycle. They'll smell sweet again!
9. Here's a recipe for homemade pre-treatment: mix equal parts of water, ammonia ( maybe lemon-scented), Wisk and water. Put in a spray bottle and keep it handy in your laundry room. Spray on spots just like you would the expensive kind!
10. Instead of buying an expensive specialty product for your fine washables--try using a small amount of baby shampoo. Works just as good!
But, of all the things you wear, your expression is the most important!
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Cyndi Roberts' website, "1 Frugal Friend 2 Another" will show you ways to save money everyday. Receive a free e-course on saving money at the supermarket! To learn more, visit http://www.cynroberts.com
New feature here. You may have to fill out a survey or give out personal information for your freebies, so decide if the offer looks worthwhile to you.
If you offer a freebie, let me know! I will consider it for inclusion here and in the freebie section of the website.
Want to find more free offers? Search here to see if there's a freebie for your needs.
============================================================
The Internet Marketing Center's top rated Affiliate Program
is 100% free to join and gives you the ability to INSTANTLY
GENERATE AN ONGOING STREAM OF INCOME without any cost or
obligation on your part.
To start maximizing the profit-producing power of your web
site in the next 10 minutes, click here and take advantage of the arsenal of Internet marketing
tools they provide you with just for joining!
============================================================
Make bundles of Cash on Google P/T F/T
Let us tell you about people who are doing it and how you
can do it too… It's fast, easy and can be done from home
part or full time (no previous experience necessary).
Click here to start making money on Google.
Site Map - Press Room - Disclaimer - Disclosure
Copyright © 2003-2008 Stephanie Foster unless otherwise indicated
Enter to win a FREE SBI website! Drawing held on the first of each month.
Post your resume on Yahoo HotJobstoday!
Get your emails to your customers. Unlimited autoresponders and newsletter management.