A New Year And New Rules
You probably noticed that I have strongly encouraged you to sign up for my new blog announcement list in all of the previous articles here (the form is near the top right corner of this page). The reason is that, except for my paid product lists, I will be purging all of my Internet business email lists in a week or two. So the only way for me to keep you updated will be through the new list. I hope you’ll choose to join me here.
(Note that the paid product lists will not receive blog update announcements. You must join this list if you want to keep up with what I’m doing here.)
Now, before you rush off to sign up for my list, there are a few rules you need to keep in mind:
1. You must whitelist my email address BEFORE signing up to make sure that you get the confirmation email and all of my blog update announcements. That address is announcements[at]internetbusinessbench[dot]com. If you don’t know, whitelisting means that you tell your email provider that you want to receive email messages from me. Depending on what ISP or web hosting service you use, that can be accomplished in any one of several different ways. Ask your ISP or hosting provider what you need to do.
2. No free email addresses. Also, I reserve the right to block email addresses associated with ISPs that generate an inordinate number of SPAM complaints. If you don’t have your own domain with an email address on your own hosting account, then you need to think about how serious you really are about starting and running an Internet business. When you’re ready, go get a hosting account here or at any of the dozens of other low cost hosting companies.
3. No AOL addresses. AOL has built a system that encourages people to click the SPAM button rather than the unsubscribe link at the bottom of every message I send. I am done dealing with SPAM complaints generated by AOL users too lazy to unsubscribe from newsletters they don’t want anymore.
4. No autoresponder addresses. This includes challenge/response autoresponders supposedly used to block SPAM. If you use one of these (useless, pointless) services, whitelist my address BEFORE you subscribe.
5. Just because you subscribe to my announcement list, does not mean that I am subscribing to yours. List members who send me unsolicited email messages — especially if you put the lame disclaimer at the bottom saying “This is not spam. You sent me an email I asked for so I get to send one back to you even though you didn’t ask me to.” — will be dropped from the list and banned from rejoining. No exceptions. This includes autoresponder messages (see #4 above).
6. This is my blog, not a discussion forum. Comments will be closed for most posts. However, trackbacks are welcomed. If you’d like to comment on anything I write here, post your comment on your own blog and include a trackback to the post on my blog. Don’t have your own blog? Get one. The WordPress blogging platform, like I use here on InternetBusinessBench.com, is a free download at WordPress.org. And if you don’t have your own hosting account, you can always use a free service like Blogger.com or WordPress.com.
7. How can you contact me if I don’t accept email messages or blog comments? You may contact me through my helpdesk at http://www.internetbusinessbench.com/helpdesk/ for valid business reasons only. Valid business reasons include support for products you have bought from me* and little else. Please do not use the helpdesk to ask for free advice. You’re going to get plenty of free advice just by reading this blog.
(*As long as your purchase includes support…check the sales page to make sure.)
8. Don’t ask me to promote your product or service through my helpdesk or email. The best way to get my attention is to use the trackback method in #6 above. I’ll see your post and if I like your blog I might give you special mention in a future blog post.
That’s it. Pretty simple, huh?
What? You say you feel these rules are Draconian? You think they’re unfair? Then go complain about it…ON YOUR OWN BLOG!
However, I hope you see how reasonable these rules are given that I’m trying to build an Internet business, not create a low paying job for myself. If you don’t see it yet, then I hope you’ll let me explain it to you in more detail on this blog in the days and weeks ahead.
It’s going to be a wild ride. I hope you’re ready.
“Build Systems And Prosper!”
- Daniel Joseph Moran
