SpamAssassin Upgrade A couple of weeks ago, we released a new tool from SpamAssassin to filter out a majority of the spam (unwanted, unsolicited commercial e-mail) that is forwarded to your e-mail accounts. In fact, you should already have noticed a significant decrease in the amount of spam coming through your e-mail aliases. SpamAssassin is one of the most trusted and well-known mail filtering programs on the market, with over 900 different tests to analyze each e-mail and determine whether or not it is spam. Each one of these tests looks for specific characteristics associated with spam, like forged return e-mail or IP addresses, and subject lines that don't match the content of the e-mail or contain words like "FREE" or "viagra". Once the e-mail has been subjected to all of these tests, SpamAssassin checks the sender's IP address with a database of known spam sources and ISPs that support spam. If the e-mail violates too many of these rules or tests, it is classified as spam and returned to the sender. You do not need to take any action to start utilizing this new tool; all of your e-mail aliases (and all of your Web site customers' e-mail aliases) have already been upgraded. There are no spam filtering programs that can catch all of these unsolicited e-mails, but SpamAssassin does a good job of minimizing the amount of spam that makes it through to your In box.       Upgraded Flash Tool If you haven't used the Flash Animation tool inside your WebCenter recently, you may not know about the upgraded Flash tool we released last week. The new and improved Flash editor features an easy-to-use interface with more options for customizing the Flash page, and a new dynamic loading process that preserves all of your content whenever you change Flash templates. This new tool gives you access to enhanced and upgraded features like: Text formatting - Change the font, size, color, and alignment of text quickly and easily Music options - Upload MP3 files and play streaming music with each Flash Intro Additional image fields - Replace pre-selected template images with up to six different images of your choice Color options - Choose from 70 different colors to modify the background, foreground, and text on each Flash Intro View Flash Intro button - Simultaneously updates the Flash file with your modifications and allows you to preview the finished Flash Intro Redirect feature - Select which page (or Web site) users will view after the Flash Intro has finished playing Loop option - Automatically restarts the Flash Intro after it has finished playing (ideal for Flash components once the new Flash Animation tool is integrated into the Web site management platform) We'll continue to add new, custom-designed Flash Intros over the next few months, so be sure to check back with us on a regular basis. If you have any questions about using the new features in the Flash Animation tool, please contact Customer Care using the online Chat tool, or call (866) 932-4357 Monday through Friday between 7am and 7pm PST.

Web site Pricing Many of our WebCenter owners use Sales Support to help them negotiate the highest price possible on all of their Web site deals, but there are also many of you who are conducting presentations and closing deals on your own. If you're just starting to do your own walkthroughs, you may be wondering how to determine what price to charge your prospective customers: should you quote everyone the same price, regardless of where they are located, what industry they are in, and how they will use the Web site? Or should you try to take the time and calculate a customized price for each individual prospect? In general, pricing should not be an arbitrary, one-price-fits-all process; you should try to use it as a tool that allows you to sell more Web sites and maximize your profit on each sale. If you set the price too high, it will be difficult to close the sale. On the other hand, if you set your prices too low, you are missing out on additional money you could have made on the sale. If you are selling Web sites in many different areas to prospects in a variety of industries, flexible pricing can improve your chances of closing more deals. Here are three guidelines that can help you competitively price your Web sites, and maximize your closing potential. Know the market value of a Web site in the prospect's area. If you've sold Web sites in the prospect's area before, you should already know how much other Web design companies are charging. If you have never sold a Web site in that market, you'll have to do a bit of research to find out how much competitors in the area are charging for Web site development. In our experience, we have found that similar Web site packages sell between $1,000 and $1,500, but you should try to establish a guide for pricing Web sites in each individual city, state, or region. Start by looking through the online Yellow Pages or using a search engine to look for "Web site development PROSPECT'S CITY", and then compare your Web site package and prices to what your competition offers. Know what the prospect can afford. Not all prospects in the same market, or industry, can afford to pay the same price for a Web site. If you can find out how much your prospect has budgeted for advertising and marketing, you will have a good idea of how much they can afford to spend on a Web site. If you aren't comfortable asking the prospect about their budget directly, you can estimate how much they spend on advertising and marketing by asking a few questions, like: Do you currently advertise in the Yellow Pages? Do you run any ads in the newspaper? How about on TV or radio? Do you ever send out fliers in the mail? If you know how much it costs to advertise in each medium, you should be able to approximate how much they spend on advertising—and how much they can afford to spend on a Web site. Decide when you will be flexible with your pricing. Many of your prospects will be small start-up companies or non-profit organizations that cannot afford to spend much money on a Web site, but some of your prospects will be successful small- to mid-sized businesses that are trying to get a Web site at the lowest price possible. Make exceptions when the situation requires a bit of flexibility, but do not let anyone negotiate an unreasonably low price simply because they are unwilling to pay a fair price. Learning to distinguish between the two types of prospects will help you decide when to be flexible with your pricing.     Did you know that in January 60% of all e-mail, or 51 billion messages (a 2% increase from December), sent in January were spam? If spam continues to increase by 2% every month, by the end of the year spam could account for 80% of all e-mail. SOURCE: CyberAtlas 01/04     As always, if you have any topics you would like to see covered in upcoming newsletters, or if you have any good sales or marketing tips, please contact us at newsletter@mawebcenters.com, and let us know how we can help make your WebCenter business more successful!