There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch - Hotmail

Written by Richard Lowe


Continued from page 1

It's free! You should not expect anything from a free service - There is, however, a certain expectation that goes along with providingrepparttar free service. MSN is trying to build a name and they are touting themselves as safe, easy, comfortable. These actions don't help that perception at all.

And people are paying -repparttar 109589 service is not by any means free, any more than network television is free. Users have to view advertisements in both email and onrepparttar 109590 web site, and those ads are paid for.

The charges are simply indirect.

This just proves you cannot trust Microsoft - it's not just Microsoft. Other large companies (Yahoo comes to mind right away) institute changes with little or no notice and no feelings for their users at all.

I find it interesting that companies can make changes like this at will - imagine ifrepparttar 109591 post office decided to burn all ofrepparttar 109592 mail that sat in PO boxes for more than a month?

It's up to us as consumers to leave services that act like this, and to makerepparttar 109593 reasons why we leave known. It is not acceptable for companies to treat their users, who depend upon their services (regardless ofrepparttar 109594 price), as commodities. Users and customers are people who deserve respect.

Individuals who leave cannot make an impact, so why bother - It does not matter whatrepparttar 109595 impact is uponrepparttar 109596 company or corporation you are leaving. Ifrepparttar 109597 company does not provide decent service, free or not, and treats you (the customer) as a commodity instead of as a human being, then you should leave and find a company that is better suited. This isrepparttar 109598 way to change a corporation.

People should not use free services. Paid services would never do this to their customers - Unfortunately, pay email services makerepparttar 109599 same kind of decisions (or simply fold upon occasion). My experience is you just have be prepared.

Companies such as Hotmail clearly state this kind of thing in their terms and conditions - The problem is that it has because normal and accepted for companies to be able to have a line in their terms and conditions stating "we can change these terms at any time without notice". Imagine if that clause was in your home mortgage or car loan or whatever! The mortgage company could changerepparttar 109600 terms ofrepparttar 109601 loan without notice, or could decide it wanted a parking lot on your property and you wouldn't know untilrepparttar 109602 bulldozers showed up!

That'srepparttar 109603 thing that needs to be changed. Terms and conditions should not be modifiable fromrepparttar 109604 second they are agreed to without permission (not notice, permission).

People should back up their email so it is not a disaster when this kind of thing happens - One ofrepparttar 109605 real issues here is hotmail and msn are touting themselves are easy, comfortable, something even a child or a completely computer illiterate can use. Thus,repparttar 109606 concept from MSN's advertising and promotional materials is you don't need to back up, you don't need to worry, and so on. Now, people "inrepparttar 109607 know" or who have experience know better. But I cannot blame someone for trusting ... shame onrepparttar 109608 corporation for uncaringly breaking that trust and treatingrepparttar 109609 individuals as commodities, no more valuable than any other raw material.

What can we do? We are helpless to large corporations - Has anyone heardrepparttar 109610 words "class action lawsuit"?

On what grounds? - It's time to get corporate America's attention. Doesn't matter whatrepparttar 109611 grounds are ... justrepparttar 109612 mere fact that a lawsuit has been filed by enough people can send shivers downrepparttar 109613 spines of any executive and force change. And I'm sure that any lawyer worth his 50% commission can think of any number of laws that may have been violated.

The point is we (individuals) need to tell corporations that we will not be treated as commodities. There are many ways to do this, and lawsuits are just one of them.

To see a list of article available for reprint, you can send an email to: mailto:article-list@internet-tips.net?subject=send_article_list or visit http://internet-tips.net/requestarticles.htm

Richard Lowe Jr. is the webmaster of Internet Tips And Secrets at http://www.internet-tips.net - Visit our website any time to read over 1,000 complete FREE articles about how to improve your internet profits, enjoyment and knowledge.


Anatomy of a Business Letter

Written by Linda Elizabeth Alexander


Continued from page 1

5. Closing Placerepparttar closing two spaces belowrepparttar 109588 last line ofrepparttar 109589 body. Use a standard closing such as Sincerely or Best regards. Capitalize onlyrepparttar 109590 first word, and followrepparttar 109591 closing with a comma. Four spaces below, type your full name, also aligned withrepparttar 109592 closing atrepparttar 109593 left margin. Finally, sign your name inrepparttar 109594 space betweenrepparttar 109595 closing expression and your typed name.

6. Additional Information Sometimes a business letter requires you to addrepparttar 109596 typist's initials, an enclosure notification, or a note that other people are receivingrepparttar 109597 same letter. Any of this information goes two spaces belowrepparttar 109598 last line of repparttar 109599 closing in a long letter, four spaces below in a very short letter.

The typist's initials followrepparttar 109600 writer's initials, separated by a slash. The writer's initials go in capital letters, whilerepparttar 109601 typist's are lowercase.

Example: LEA/lak or LEA/ald

Ifrepparttar 109602 writer andrepparttar 109603 typist arerepparttar 109604 same person, no initials are needed.

If you are sending material along withrepparttar 109605 letter, such as an invoice or report, indicate this with an enclosure notification. When you use this, you must refer torepparttar 109606 enclosures in your letter. Abbreviate or describerepparttar 109607 enclosure(s).

Examples: Enc. Encs. Enclosure: Report findings

Lastly, if you are sendingrepparttar 109608 same letter to more than one person, notify your recipients with a copy notation. This is abbreviated "cc:" and followed byrepparttar 109609 recipients' names.

Example:

cc: Linda Alexander Janna Bree Smith Emily Lane

7. Formatting. Finally, format your letter so it is easy to scan. Centerrepparttar 109610 letter onrepparttar 109611 page both vertically and horizontally so that plenty of white space surrounds your text. When using your company's letterhead, remember to format your margins insiderepparttar 109612 printed material.

If a letter is very short, consider double spacingrepparttar 109613 entire letter. Also, you may add spaces between paragraphs,repparttar 109614 salutation, etc., if it provides for a fuller appearance and enhancesrepparttar 109615 overall "look" ofrepparttar 109616 letter.



Linda Elizabeth Alexander writes marketing copy for nonprofits and other businesses. Contact her today to get your free consultation! http://www.write2thepointcom.com mailto:lalexander@write2thepointcom.com

Because 9 other people are willing to help build your e-ezine list, for free, click now. http://www.subscriptionrocket.com/cgi-bin/r.cgi?r=1618


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