Definition of Spam
The word "Spam" as applied to Email means Unsolicited Bulk Email ("UBE").
Unsolicited means that the Recipient has not granted verifiable permission for the message to be sent. Bulk means that the message is sent as part of a larger collection of messages, all having substantively identical content.
A message is Spam only if it is both Unsolicited and Bulk.
Unsolicited Email is normal email (examples: first contact enquiries, job enquiries, sales enquiries)
Bulk Email is normal email (examples: subscriber newsletters, customer communications, discussion lists)
Steps to minimise Spam
Problem - Email address as text on your website
Reason - This is the number one way that spammers can get your email address. They use web crawlers, a program that crawls websites and searches for email address
Solution - JBEHosting can create an image of your email address that is linked to a simple online form for people to contact you, this is the most effective way of minimising this type of address harvesting.
Problem - You send for bulk mail
Reason - If one of those people(or their ISP) has a program or virus that harvests email address, then you could be added to a spammers list.
Solution - Have an alternate generic email address for
advertising that can be deleted if it gets too much spam (ie. sales@domain.com.au
, mail@domain.com.au, enquiries@domain.com.au) or use a specific email
address for projects (eg. collection06@domain.com.au)
You can forward this address to your real email address (ie. joe.blow@domain.com)
if required.
Problem - When sending emails with multiple recipients
Reason - Lets say you send an email to 50 people, if one of those people(or their ISP) has a program or virus that harvests email address, then each of those 50 could be added to a spammers list.
Solution - When sending emails with multiple recipients use BCC (Blind Carbon Copy), Sending BCC sends an email to each recipient without revealing all email address
Problem - You are on an email list that reveals all the recipients
Reason - In an email to 50 people, if one of those people(or their ISP)
has a program or virus that harvests email address, then you could be added
to a spammers list.
Solution - Ask for the email to be sent BCC or have yourself removed from
the list.
Problem - Entering your email address on websites
Reason - Some websites sell email address to spammers.
Solution - Do not register with your email address online unless you are sure the site is reputable, or use an alternate address eg. emaillist@domain. com.au (you can also setup a free email address at hotmail or yahoo etc. eg joeblow345@hotmail.com)