How to Set Up Spam Filters

As Internet users we have to deal with the problem of spam Email. Most people already have effective tools for dealing with spam but may find that they are aware of it.. It is a simple matter to set up spam filters which will protect us from all of that unwanted spam.

Internet users normally fall into one of two categories. It is likely that we either have an ISP which offers spam filters or we have an online hosting service which offers them. We shall take a look at the spam filters that are a part of online hosting services. I speak of those included in the cPanel of your hosting account. Most that I have seen are very similar.

On the cPanel you will see a section entitled Mail. Under the Mail section chose the option "User Level Filtering". This option will allow you to set filters for each email account that exists under your hosting account. Choose the particular account that you want to set filters for. Click the button at the top labeled "Create A New Filter". When you do this you will get a page which looks much like a web form. At the top chose a name for the filter. You may set up a number of rules (think conditions) which if met, will allow the server to deal with your spam mail.

In my instance I had used a particular account to inquire of some software on a particular website. It turned out that the site was not particularly reputable. From that point on I got a large amount of spam from this and perhaps other companies. Common things about the emails were that they were always from a hotmail.com address and always had a long string of key words all run together in the subject line similar to the following: HugeSotwareAdobeDealsMicroDiscountOffice2010Photoshop. By keeping in mind these commonalities I was able to put together a good profile to filter these mails out.

If you are getting recurring mail from one mail service like Hotmail, here is an effective first step. Chose "From" under the left side of the form. On the right side choose "matches regex". Regex means "regular expression". This gives you the power to match all mail which has a certain string in the line of spam phrases. It is hard to screen out Hotmail because it is only part of a "From Line". But if you use "matches regex" - Hotmail, then the filter will pick out all mail which includes the expression Hotmail in it even if run together with other words. This will choose all email addresses with a domain of Hotmail in them regardless of what follows the "@" symbol.

Now you may not want to screen out all messages from users who have Hotmail. Second click the plus sign to the far right side of the form. This will give you a new box for a new condition. In that box choose subject and then matches regex again. Set the little drop down between the first two conditions to and. For my example, the regex is going to be "soft". Do not use software because the spammer might cut it short and just use soft. This will pick up both soft and software. Click another option and list a new condition. Here I would use subject and regex again, this time using "or" in the dropdown between the two. Once again list a word out of the long string, one which often occurs in these mails, such as "Adobe". You can repeat this a time or two, using "or" between each choice.

Finally choose a new condition and then select "Spam Bar" and "contains". This is assuming that your Hosting Company has equipped you with SpamAssassin Which most have. SpamAssassin grades all of your email according to some scientific principles which determine the likelihood that it is spam. It does not filter email on its own, merely grades it. Here you will set filters to take out mail with the forgoing conditions and a SpamAssassin score of 5 or 6 or whatever you want. You enter the spam bar into the "contains field" by entering a consecutive number of plus symbols. I chose 5 in my instance. Be careful of setting the spam bar too low or you will run the risk of losing valid mail. It is very unlikely that any of my friends would send me mail from a Hotmail address which had those words in the subject line and also met a SpamAssassin score of 5.

There is a difference between "and" and "or" conditions. If you choose "and" the filtering will have to meet the whole combination of conditions. If you chose "or" the filtering will meet the previous conditions or the new one you are selecting. These choices allow for setting up a filter which is specific to your situation and perhaps very specific.. Be careful of being very general in the conditions for if you do you will probably miss some personal emails. Choose the details that are normally a part of your spam emails and are not like the normal ones that you get.

The last thing to do is to set an action. I chose merely to discard the email. Other options serve mainly to redirect desired mail to a specific folder on your server and this doesn't meet the needs of dealing with spam.

There now, that wasn't really very difficult. You can study different scenarios to meet your own situation. You have now set up a spam filter which will act only on the one email account and only if the problem conditions exist. SpamAssassin will only act on this one account and not system wide. This is a smart, specific spam filter tailored just for you.

It is a shame that we have to deal with this sort of parasite called spam mail. By learning to set up spam filters at the ISP or Hosting level it is possible to be free of a lot of it.

Boat Insurance Policies and Yacht Insurance Policies - The Two Most Critical Considerations

One of the key things to realise before embarking on insurance for your watercraft is to be clear about which type of policy you actually need. The way to differentiate between the two is actually fairly easy. A good rule of thumb is as follows:

Boat Insurance - Watercraft that are up to 26 feet in length

Yacht Insurance - Watercraft that are 27 feet and over in length

Once you have established which type you need (you will find that most boat insurance companies will offer both) then here are two important factors that you need to bear in mind before finally settling on which policy to get:

1/ Agreed Value vs Actual Cash Value Settlements - You want to be clear about this ahead of time, because an agreed value settlement is far more favourable to the boat owner, and an actual cash value settlement is much more favourable to the boat insurance company, because it factors in asset value when the loss, theft etc was ACTUALLY suffered.

In practice this is likely to give you a headache, because unless you are an actuary you are going to have a hard job knowing what the insurance would pay out at any particular point.

So, for a quiet life, and the sake of your wallet, you should always get an agreed value policy wherever possible.

2/ Deductible Amounts - Make sure that you are clear how much the deductible on the policy will be. This can vary much more than you might think both from policy to policy, but also depending on the type of accident that the boat suffers that requires you to seek a settlement.

For example, hull damage is likely to be a 3% deductible on a yacht, but windstorm damage is likely to be a totally different amount.

Make sure you know what they are.

The best way to proceed is to get yourself a boat insurance quote right now so that you can immediately get a feel for how much the policy will cost. In this way you will be better prepared, and can better gauge the differences between the policies.

How to Get Traffic to Your Blog

So you have been blogging for months and years, you write about the most interesting stuff and you are confident that your style of writing is fun and sassy. Yet, you keep wondering why your readership remains to be of relatives, friends and co-workers. There are different kinds of blogs out there serving a different purpose for different writers, but mainly the major point of these blogs is to have people read and get traffic. There are a number of ways how to get traffic to your blog and have people read your stuff.

It's all about networking Never underestimate the power of social networking. Link your blog or posts on your social network profile or on social sharing sites to get traffic. People who are interested in the topics you write about will eventually get to visit your blog and read your stuff. There are a lot of sites that you can share a link or two like Facebook, StumbleUpon, or Twitter just make sure you keep on linking. You will be surprised by how a link can get you a lot of blog visitors.

Content Matters So now you've made them visit your blog from the links you posted, the question now is how to turn them into regular visitors of your blog. Content, content, content is a major thing to consider. There are blogs that get so much traffic because of optimizing the words they use but the content does not make sense. There are ways on how to get traffic to your blog but never compromise the quality of content for quantity. You want to make sure that your readership enjoys reading you that they will talk about you to people they know. Be funny and be someone readers can relate to that even if you talk about sci-fi movies you can sell your posts to a girl who loves romantic comedies.

Let them learn from you Writing a funny and entertaining post is one thing, letting your readers learn and use you as a resource is another. Do your homework and research on things you blog about so people who get to read your blog can reference you because you are giving responsible and factual information. Through this you are building a solid foundation and trust between you as the writer and them as your audience.

Consistency is Key Yes, it's inevitable that you may experience a blogging dry spell. You are stuck in a rut that you do not have any idea what you can talk about. Days and weeks go by you post nothing and the people who want to be updated are slowly slipping away. Understand the value of consistency, no matter how short or mundane it may be, you have to write. Through this your readers will know that your presence is still there that they have something they can read after a full day's work. If you are a consistent writer you will have a consistent audience.

These are only a few things that can help on how to get traffic to your blog and there are more tips that you can do. Remember you can get a lot of traffic, any blog can if they do some techniques or strategies, but the difference between a good blog and a great blog is getting a good amount of traffic and keeping it.

How Your Website Can Get More Conversions

A very common question asked by business owners is: "how can my website get more conversions?".

Today we are going to share with you one very simple yet highly effective way to get better conversions from your website.

When we tell you it will make so much sense but for whatever reason most website owners do not seize the massive opportunity we are about to share with you.

How can my website get more conversions?

Before we carry on take a quick look at your analytics.

Notice how you're about page is one of if not the most viewed page of your website.

Now take a look at your about page, do you have any form of lead generation on the page?

Whether it's a contact form or a call to action, is it there?

If so then congratulations you have seized the massive opportunity to generate more leads from your website.

However if you do not have any form of lead generation on your about page then now is the time to take action.

Which lead conversion method works best?

In our personal experience's it is effective to have at least two methods on your about page:

A contact form - not a link to your contact page but instead a form they can easily fill out without leaving the page Calls to action - at least two

This way you are increasing your chances of converting your visitors into leads.

Now you can't just include them anywhere, you have to weave them into the fabric of the page so that the visitor is naturally led to the calls to action and contact form.

You're visitors will appreciate the fact that they do not have to leave the page in order to contact you and by including calls to action such as an email list sign up they will be inclined to take action if they have liked what they have read and if it naturally leads them to take action.

Why don't many websites do this?

We believe it is just one of those default ways of thinking.

People have the preconception that an about page is just for telling the world who you are and what you do.

But by thinking this way they are missing an opportunity to get more leads.

Even those who study their analytics will be fully aware that their about page is getting a considerable amount of traffic.

But they see this as natural, "of course the about page is going to have a high amount of visitors that's common sense" they will say.

But people tend to leave it as that and they do nothing about this fact.

It really is so simple: if the majority of your traffic consistently views a specific page then why not through up a few lead generating methods and get tons of leads out of it?

Our challenge for you

Go ahead to your analytics and see just how much traffic your about page gets. Weave in a contact form and calls to action on your about page. Analyse how many leads now come through from that page. Tell us how well this tip has done for you

Who Needs Umbrella Insurance? You Will Be Surprised!

Insurance by definition protects you against unforseen acts of man or nature---fire, floods, death and taxes. Yes, taxes----people who have large estates buy life insurance to pay for estate tax upon their death so their children and spouse do not have to make rash decisions to sell the business or assets to pay for estate duty.

But it is very important to consider another form of insurance not commonly in practice--Personal Umbrella Insurance Policy.

Personal umbrella insurance protects you against excess liability claims. Here is what it means. Your car, home and rental property all have specific liability insured---damage to property, theft, uninsured motorist etc. But one liability that is paramount in our litigious society is excess liability. That is where umbrella insurance protects you.

Let us say you rent your property to a tenant. There is a gas leak--thankfully it is detected in time and there is no blowup, but your tenant breathes fumes. He will definitely consider suing you beyond just the health cost and property damage if any. If you are found to be liable, and damages exceed your tenant property insurance, he can then come after your other assets, even in a civil case.

A friend had a fender bender---in fact, his car just nudged the other car in traffic. Both drivers got out, looked at their cars, agreed there was no need to inform police because there were no dents or marks on either car. My friend went home, thanking his stars NOT SO FAST! Two days later, he got a call from the other driver that she suffered neck pain, whiplash and was seeking treatment from expensive specialists. Again, lucky for my friend, his policy maximum limit was not breached for medical insurance. But what if it had? What if the neuro-surgeon had prescribed expensive diagnostics and treatment? My friend would be fighting the lawsuit and a large amount of damage claim which could only be satisfied using his personal savings, since the auto policy would have been exhausted.

Unfortunately we live in a society where lawyers, some of them not all, make a living chasing ambulance claims. This includes trauma, mental injury, incident impact and other claims that leave no physical evidence of damage, yet can cost you hundreds of thousands of dollars.

A good personal umbrella policy is one of the cheapest forms of insurance to protect against catastrophic damage claims and awards. They start covering you when your specific damage policies give up.

Some experts advise against personal umbrella policy. Their logic is, if the other party knows you have a large umbrella coverage, they are that much more incented to go after you even on frivolous charges. I disagree. Most attorneys who practice ambulance chasing act first, i.e. sue, then worry about how much they can collect. You do not want to risk your personal savings and assets being subject to such greed.

So how much insurance should you have. I suggest you add up the maximum coverages from all your policies. Then add up your gross assets. Multiply the total assets by 150%, deduct maximum coverage and if the result is a positive, that is the amount you should cover. Why 150%? Because over time your assets will grow, but your maximum coverages may not. You may also drop some policies.

Remember, when buying any insurance, cost while it is a factor should not be an overriding one. Instead look for reputable, A+ rated insurance companies and make sure your policy covers negligence.

Good luck.

Earn Money Through the Internet Selling Books

If you are willing to earn money through the internet, I should say there are numbers of ideas already used by thousands of people around the globe that are really fast money makers if you can take the time to do these things step-by-step. Some of them take a bit longer because they are somehow related to 3rd party companies and those 3rd party companies generally set an amount of time before they pay out. You will learn about the art of selling books embedded in what I am going to share with you, and I know that you will make money from the idea very fast and effectively. I follow these principles that I am going to write about and you wouldn't believe that I am making more than $2500 a month solely from doing this. So Enjoy!

Many people will give you the false advice that you should research the top-selling kindle books, and find out what is selling. The simple fact is that there are thousands of books selling nicely that will never reach the top 100 best sellers on Amazon. Write about something you are passionate about, and can effectively teach others. Or, if you are writing a fiction novel, make it the best one on the market.

Don't stress about whether it will sell or not. Even, the first book I wrote didn't sell a single copy, which actually made me think deeply about what I had to do to make it sell. Use the first book as your learning platform, and just start writing. Polish it off before you put it up for sale. While many of you may think that writing a book takes a lot of time, that simply isn't true. You can certainly write a book within a couple of days; create graphics, consider screenshots and design the cover, all within that short period. Creating a book in a short time period doesn't mean that it sucks. As a matter of fact, it could be the best book in the industry. You can cover a lot of in-depth material within a couple of days. What matters more is how much coffee you drank that day. LOL

Selling eBooks could be an awesome thing if you want to earn money through the internet in a real fast way. You just have to make yourself stop procrastinating and get to work! The biggest obstacle for many people is that they procrastinate far too long which is the very thing that blows out your writer's fire. If you give yourself a reason for why it's not a good idea to get started, then you can never finish. Make sure this does not happen to you, or you could end up wasting a heap of your valuable time.