How to Create a Whitelist Instruction Page

Weekly Recommended Resource

Did you know that a recent whitelist study showed that only 22 percent of all email newsletters give specific instructions to recipients to whitelist their newsletter?

I came across this nifty free tool by Chris Lang that will create a detailed set of email whitelist instructions for all major ISPs, mobile devices and spam filters. None of your information is recorded or stored, it only creates a web landing page for you as you can see by the image below.

Once you have created your page, simply “View source” and copy the code to your html editor. Voila!

Google Voice Phone Management Service

Google Voice is now available to subscribers in the United States after being in beta mode (with over a million subscribers) since 2007 after Google purchased a company called Grand Central.

As with all new product launches there are good and bad points, ranging from really great to oh no! However Google Voice is a free service and when combined with other free tools available from Google can provide the synergy to make a unified communication solution available to small home-based companies. As the system in its present form does not support ported numbers, users are required to use a new Google Voice phone number which can be a non-starter for businesses with a widely known or published phone number.

To recap:

• You get your own free phone number.
• You can provide customized phone messages depending on who is calling.
• You can have your Google voice number forward to any number you want.
• Voice mail messages can be transcribed to email and emailed to you. However, it should be noted that the inaccuracies are so extensive some companies may decide not to rely upon this feature in its present state.

The following information was pulled from Google’s website:

The first thing you’ll need to decide is whether you’d like to use the full version of Google Voice with a brand new phone number, or add some Google Voice features (like voicemail) to your existing mobile phone number.

The basic differences between these options are:

Google Voice with a Google number

• Use one number to manage all your phones; your Google Voice number is tied to you, not to a particular device or location.
• Voicemail like email: Save voicemail messages for as long as you’d like, star important ones, and search through them
• Voicemail transcription: Voicemail messages will be automatically transcribed to text and sent to you via email and/or SMS.
• Customize your callers’ experience (custom voicemail greetings, decide which of your phones ring based on who’s calling, send some callers straight to voicemail, etc.)
• Define which phones ring, based on who’s calling, and even ListenIn^TM on voicemail before answering the call. We use smart technology to route your calls. So, if you’re already on a Google Voice call, we’ll recognize it and use call waiting to reach you on the phone you’re on.
• Works with mobile phones, desk phones, and work phones. There’s nothing to download, upload, or install, and you don’t have to make or take calls using a computer.
• International calling: Make low priced international calls from the web or from your phone.

Google Voice with your non-Google phone number:  

With this option you won’t get some features (i.e. call forwarding, screening, and call recording), but you’ll still get plenty of others, including:

• Voicemail like email: Save voicemail messages for as long as you’d like, star important ones, and search through them
• Voicemail transcription: Voicemail messages will be automatically transcribed to text and sent to you via email and/or SMS.
• Custom voicemail greetings: Customize your voicemail greeting based on who is calling.
• International calling: Make low priced international calls from the web or from your phone.

For a complete list of the features with each option, click here. You can also check out a video about Google Voice’s You Tube channel for explanatory videos.

Please be sure to drop back by here and let us know how Google Voice works for you.

Domain Registry of America Scam

If you own any domain names you undoubtedly have, or will at some point in the future receive a very official looking Domain Name Expiration Notice from a company called Domain Registry of America informing you that your domain name is due to expire. Shred this document. It is a huge scam and unfortunately too many people view it as an invoice and pay it without further thought.

This company gets its information from publicly available WHOIS records. Unfortunately any legitimate website trying to remain in compliance with ICANN policies on WHOIS accuracy is forced to keep their data publicly accurate, pay for a domain privacy service, or risk losing their domain if the inaccurate data is reported to InterNIC.

If for any reason you are unsure if your domain names are expiring, or even where your domain names are registered (this is not uncommon!) simply go to WHOIS and type in the domain name that you are concerned about. You will instantly find out all you need to know about your domain name.

Here is what Wikipedia has to say about Domain Registry of America

The Domain Registry of America is an Internet domain registrar and Web hosting service originally based in the Canadian province of Ontario and now reportedly based in Buffalo, New York, London, England, and Melbourne, Australia. It is best known for sending solicitations for business that resemble legitimate invoices.

In 2003, the Federal Trade Commission reached a settlement with the company for practices such as transferring domain registrations to their service under the guise of domain renewal, a practice known as domain slamming, and having hidden fees. Despite this action, the company still sends mass direct mail to consumers resembling invoices with “domain name expiration notice” in bold print. Targets for the company’s mass mailings are known to be in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the United States with information obtained in violation of their ICANN registrar agreement.

As of March 2010, McAfee Labs reports the domain slamming solicitations continue.

As I said earlier, SHRED these solicitations!

You Tube Adds Partner Communications Hub

Did you know that YouTube recently released its Partner Communication Hub?

This, according to YouTube, is the place to go for news on latest features, updates, and events for partners. They have revamped the Optimization Resources section and added some new documents aimed at getting partners to get more out of their YouTube presence. The Hub also has a feed that you can add to your reader to stay up to date.

YouTube says the Hub is a place to:

• Connect with other partners in our Partner Help Forum
• Connect to our Partner Help Center
• Review YouTube’s current site issues
• View the partner support team’s most recent YouTube video
• Receive site updates and announcements
• Keep up-to-date with YouTube blogs
• Get optimization tips