Open letter to our local Community
by Andris Dinsbergs. Average Reading Time: about a minute.
I’m wondering whether the following misconception is too common and what is possibly slowing business response to listing on Foster Community Online.
I had a phone conversation on Wednesday with a business who wanted a listing but didn’t want to give us their email address for fear of spam.
I wanted to reply “why have an email account then” but instead I explained the email is a standard requirement for any website registration and if you are hosting with a reputable host and don’t give your email to questionable websites, there should be no spam issues. I tried to reassure that we are not in the business of reselling email addresses or sending out spam and that FCO is a community not-for-profit website. I said if they don’t want their current email to be shown on the site, I can offer some alternatives…
The current scenario:
- They do not have a business email address, for example: sales@bobsshop.com.au
- Their current email address is with Bigpond (no wonder they are getting spammed!)
- Another is with DCSI
The options I offered:
- to setup a bobsshop@foster.vic.au email address and they can use webmail to access it (until they get there own)
- or register a business domain name and setup a business email account at only $99/year (no spam with Loud Mountain)
The reception was cold as if I was selling something.
So if anyone has any more ideas of what we could do to dissolve these misconceptions about spam I’m willing to put some effort towards it. Maybe some kind of public, informal seminar to learn about emailing and how to avoid spam perhaps?
I wouldn’t want to push any LM services so only email facts ought to be touched upon.
I certainly don’t have the resources to organise such an event. But am happy to make a presentation and design any materials.