This article looks at what spam is, how spam email can cost businesses time and money.  An overview is also provided about how spam evolved and is generated.  It also provides a brief guide to phishing as well as providing information on how people can complain about spam emails that they receive.

Spam emails are emails that are essentially junk emails.  They have no real purpose, other than to amuse the spammers who send them and to cause frustration and annoyance to people who receive them.

It is estimated that worldwide around 100 billion ‘spam’ messages are sent everyday. This causes people to waste time by opening up spam, only to find that it is of no relevance to them and it can potentially slow down Internet traffic.  If we could get rid of 100 billion messages being sent everyday, it is likely that we would all find that the Internet was just that little bit quicker.  Dealing with spam email also costs organisations money, since a business has to pay people to deal with emails and many have to deal with spam emails, which costs that organisation money in terms of staff costs and lost productivity when dealing with the unwanted emails.

When the internet was originally launched, no one had any idea of the real potential for success.  Consequently there was little regulation in terms of what went on the internet, indeed, to a large extent, there is still very little regulation in most countries.

However, this was viewed as a golden opportunity by spammers, who realised that they could send out block emails, with details of products or just with meaningless messages.  Sometimes the spammers use software that simply takes a guess at email addresses, but sometimes the emails are generated as a result of a virus.  Some companies even sell email addresses and then spammers use these to spread their word.

Some spam is actually a front for people to try and obtain money through fraud.  Spam mails will arrive that are set up to look like they came from your bank or Paypal, so that you will reply with details of your accounts.  This is usually referred to as phishing.  All Internet users need to be aware that reputable banks and organisations such as Paypal will not ask for your account details over the internet, they already have them and there is no reason for you to provide them; so don’t!

Consider getting a spam blocker

Spam can be reported to the Information Commissioner’s Office in the UK and many Internet Service Providers also encourage users to report spam to them.  Sadly most of the legislation refers to UK produced spam and most spam received in the UK is generated outside this jurisdiction, but if enough people keep complaining then eventually the issue may be resolved!

Many people may not even know what an autoresponder is. An autoresponder is a piece of software, or a service that automatically emails a mailing list. You might wonder why someone would want to use one? I bet that you get a lot of people doing the opt-in but not buying anything, right? Could you make money by mass emailing all those people another offer at a later day? All your hard work is being short changed by relying on a single impression of your website. Some statistics say that it will take some individuals up to seven impressions to decide about a product purchase.

You can send out daily offers to your opt-in list by using an autoresponder. By emailing your list of visitors, you have an increased opportunity to make sales. Perhaps that same person is more awake now than when they first saw your offer. Now, several days later, your email reaches them and they realize it is a great offer!

You should now realize why people claim the money is in the list. It’s true. Autoresponders let you continue to add addresses to your mailing list from your opt-in. The larger your list the happier you will be! If you had a mailing list of a few thousand subscribers, you would have the ability to send them all a new offer whenever you wanted, just by clicking a button or two. However, you need to have a good autoresponder service to ensure that your emails get through and do not end up in the junk box. Try searching Google for best autoresponders before you buy an autoresponder.

Two more searches you might look at before buying are GetResponse reviews and AWeber review. Selecting the best autoresponder can be tough so do some work researching before buying.

Now what are you waiting for? Increase your income over night by getting an autoresponder!