Those who use spam as method of getting their advertisements out should be stopped. But not by taking all innocent people down with them.

True spam is usually fairly easy to spot. There is a bogus return address consisting of nonsensical numbers and letters, either no way is provided to remove yourself from list or a bogus address is provided as a means of removing yourself from list, there is a footer in message which contains a supposed act of United States Congress defining spam, or other such obvious items.

99.9% of ezines I have read have a clear and easy way to unsubscribe. Should you use link and find you have not been unsubscribed, it is possible you subscribed using another email address which is being forwarded to your current address. The ezine publisher cannot unsubscribe you without original address from which you subscribed.

If you are really upset by spam, why not concentrate on those who are truly guilty of spamming, and not innocents. Use your efforts to punish guilty instead of indiscriminately crying spam every time a piece of email hits your inbox.

As an ezine publisher I get a great deal of spam in my inboxes. Rather than waste my precious time trying to track spammers down or reporting them to Spam Cop, I use my delete button. It is efficient and deadly. The spam is gone as soon as I hit delete.

One of truly great characteristics of internet is its use for free exchange of information. This freedom is being seriously challenged by those who believe in indiscriminate use of Spam Cop or other such anti-spam organizations.

I can't speak for you, but I get a great deal of information, education and entertainment from many ezines to which I subscribe. It would be a severe loss if they all quit publishing because of fear of false spam accusals shutting them down.

In conclusion, spam should be stopped. However, it must be stopped with common sense and discrimination, not with a vigilante mentality. Being accused of spamming is one of rare instances in current human history where you are considered guilty until proven innocent.

Whatever happened to concept of innocent until proven guilty?

Should anyone out there in cyberspace have a universally acceptable definition of spam and a means of fairly and judiciously enforcing it, I am extremely interested in your viewpoints.

< mailto:DirectSelling-subscribe@yahoogroups.com > For direct sales consultants who exchange ideas and suggestions on building a client base, fund raising, recruiting, booking, inspiration, motivation, party games, contests, merchandising, holiday ideas and more.

< mailto:EP-subscribe@yahoogroups.com > This is a function of Entrepreneurial Parents (http://www.en-parent.com ) website. A forum for Entrepreneurial Parents (EPs) to connect directly with each other, discussing topics ranging from balancing work and family under one roof, to sharing practical business tips, to collective brainstorming, to supporting each other in responsible parenthood.

< mailto:themompack-subscribe@yahoogroups.com > The MomPack (TM) is a cooperative, not-for-profit organization, founded by working moms, run by working moms and for working moms to exchange business information amongst each other to help promote and advertise each other's businesses on and offline.

DON'T FORGET THE SEARCH ENGINES!

Do not overlook value of getting your site listed in search engines, which will bring prospective customers to *you*. There are still many engines that will list your site for free. If you plan to do this yourself, walk do not run to < http://www.jimtools.com >. Jim Wilson carries one of most complete free site submission resources we have seen.

Merle at < http://www.mcpromotions.com > also has a wealth of resources at her site. She specializes in promoting websites and handles our monthly search engine submissions for ParentPreneur Club. Her prices are very reasonable.

GET PUBLICITY

Press releases should be part of your marketing plan, as well. There is nothing so cost effective as having your business mentioned in an offline publication or other medium. One newspaper article could result in dozens of leads for your business. Karon Thackston has put together a free email course on how to write effective press releases. To receive it, send a blank email to < mailto:pressrelease@zipresponse.com > Karon can also handle your PR needs. < http://www.ktamarketing.com >

Another interesting offer comes from JeriLynn Thomas of Womens News Bureau. Jerilynn is offering a PR Boot Camp tailored to needs of female entrepreneurs. Check it out at < http://www.womensnewsbureau.com/prbootcamp.htm >

EZINE ADVERTISING

Finally, there will come a time when you will need to pay for some advertising. Ezines that go out to your target audience give you a big bang for your advertising buck - your cost per thousand (CPM) is generally way less than what you could expect to pay in other media. Most sites that publish an ezine carry an advertising page.

We could devote several more articles to particulars of writing ads and creating marketing campaigns. The one thing you need to keep in mind is that writing advertising copy is not an exact science. No one can guarantee how your audience will respond to an ad, no matter how well you think it turned out. The big marketers always test ads first and we suggest you do. You can buy ezine ads at deep discounts at < http://www.ezineadauction.com > (another site run by Merle of MCPromotions). We use it ourselves to sell remnant space in our ezines and have bought ads in other newsletters at a fraction of their published rates. This is a great resource for anyone who needs to advertise their businesses.

As you can see, there are lots of low-cost options for promoting your business online that do not entail bulk email. They're easy to implement and are proven to work... try them and see!