When I scout for a web host, first thing I look for are testimonials from those who are already with web host. If their testimonials include their Web site or e-mail address, I visit their site or e-mail them for reaffirmation.

When I buy books on Amazon, I read readers' reviews first because they help me in my book-buying decision.

The same thing goes when I'm reading a sales page. What people think of a product, e-book, service or software matters a great deal, and can influence my decision to buy or not to buy.

As an e-zine publisher or Web site owner, you have an "influence" on your readers or visitors. When you recommend a product or service to them, your words will have an effect on their decision.

Many of us buy products (e-books, reports, software) that help us in our online marketing efforts. Which of these products do you honestly feel you can endorse to your r eaders and/or visitors?

Write an honest evaluation or review of products you have bought.

Talk about many benefits you have derived from owning them.

Many companies have tried to offer Spam solutions that are based primarily on filtering technology. But, most of these products and services have not worked well in practice - ingenious spammers have learned work arounds by constantly changing their fake e-mail addresses and text to avoid blocking filters. It's been a war of attrition to date and spammers have been wining so far!

I am pleased to report that one company has developed an elegant but simple solution that has blocked 100% of Spam that was sent to me during a test period of five days. The company is DigiPortal Software, Inc. www.digiportal.com and their Spam killer application is called ChoiceMail. It works extremely well, is easy to setup and only costs $29.95 (introductory price) and they even offer a fourteen-day trial period for no charge to test drive product. And, solution runs on your desktop and does not necessitate your working with a third party server and doesn't require any service charges. Most importantly, it puts burden of proof on Spammers, forcing them to have your permission to contact you.

Here is how DigiPortal's clever solution and software work: You download or purchase software and install it on your PC (sorry PC version only right now) and setup your approval list by exporting your address book. From that point forward ChoiceMail automatically assumes all inbound e-mail is Spam and it blocks any e-mail that is not on an approved list that you have created.