by Sali Earls
With the numbers of email and internet users continuing to increase, the problem of spam is not going to go away anytime soon. With the right advice, and appropriate technology in place, however, the situation can be much improved.
Swansea based NetBop is an innovative web technologies company that offer a range of products and services including the award winning anti-spam product Bopspam. The company hit the headlines earlier this month when they became the first UK or European organisation to win the right to use the term "spam" within their product trade mark.
In addition to
anti-spam, the company offer content editing and online statistics
software, and provide bespoke web design, development and hosting for businesses and individuals.
Sali Earls spoke to Andrew Downie, the 24-year old Managing Director of NetBop to find out how businesses can avoid the spammers, and the impact that the trademark ruling has had on the company.
Recent research has shown that 85% of emails in 2005 were classed as spam. Why does the problem seem to be getting worse?
Without any doubts at all it's clear the problem is getting worse. But the figures are skewed slightly as more and more people are now getting online and using email, whether it be getting connected at home or are using it down at the local library.
Spam has become such an issue that now it is unusual for anyone using email without some kind of filter to feel the effect of it. But the sad thing is that it's starting to become a vicious circle as spammers know that more of their emails will be blocked. So what do they do - send more spam!
Ignorance is no defence in the face of spam, so what advice would you give businesses and home users to ensure that their emails are spam free?
It is fairly safe to say that the worst affected email boxes are generally hit because they published on a website somewhere. So the key to trying to preserve your 'main' email address is to try and make sure that this address isn't published anywhere on the internet. But this is not as easy as it sounds and in many cases it is out of your control.
A lot of people use 'disposable' addresses like Hotmail or Gmail accounts for specific uses perhaps for entering competition or newsletters. But again this is not ideal.
There are to really only two options and here are a few suggestions.
Businesses are increasingly using email for marketing purposes, sending out regular newsletters or eshots. What can they do to make sure their emails get through, and are not classed as spam?
The thing to always consider before sending out your any marketing e-shot is how would you react if you were receiving it? The key to any eshot would be to make sure that the database is current and to make sure that you have permission to send them an email. You should also follow best practice and give people an easy option on the email to opt-out.
Emails are just like everything else and are never guaranteed to be delivered so they could be blocked by a 'spam filter'. Our Bopspam filter is like many of the others in the way that the systems will look for familiar terms within the email that are considered to be associated with a legitimate email. So from an advice point of view it would be beneficial to send the e-shot from your normal email address and not newsletter@ Also there would be a big benefit in starting the email with a personalised greeting with their name. e.g. Hello Andrew.
You recently attracted a lot of media interest when you single handedly took on Hormel Foods, the makers of SPAM, and won the rights to use the term "spam" in your product's trademark. What has this meant to you personally and your business generally. What advice would you give other SMEs on the issue of trademarks?
We were overwhelmed with the uptake response from our recent PR activity and certainly did not expect it to get picked up worldwide. Just yesterday another article has been written in a publication in South Africa!
Personally, it is a real
achievement to be able to continue using the name Bopspam and had we
lost we would have had to change the name. We did it ourselves, won and have achieved where other multi national companies had failed.
The NetBop company has been thrust into the limelight and has seen a rise in all of the services we offer. Predominantly the increase has been with Bopspam 30 day free trial. But we have also seen an increase in creating e-commerce stores and website development services in general.
We went into the process without any professional guidance and the Patent Office do an excellent job at explaining the process to you. But the assistance stops as soon as an objection is raised as they have to remain impartial.
A lot of people oversee the importance of owning their Trademark but is of the utmost importance if you have a product or service. The question to ask yourself is would it affect you if you had to change your product name tomorrow? If the answer is "yes" then it is worthwhile consulting a first Patent Attorney to discuss your options.
From going throughout the process and from the contacts I have made a good first port of call would be a fellow ITWales Business Club member Hedley Austin of Swansea based Chapman Molony.
As a successful young business owner, what tips would you give to budding entrepreneurs thinking of setting up their own IT company?
Running a business is always exciting and you need to take on the everyday challenges whilst still remaining focused with your goals.
I would encourage anyone to give it a go if it is what they really want to do and if you plan and persevere then anyone can make a success of it.
For those who are just graduating there is an excellent 'Graduating 2 Enterprise' scheme which will help and assist your starting up in business.
As a Swansea University graduate, what skills would you look for in young people that are considering a career in IT?
It is interesting actually as I have met and spoken to quite a few graduates over the past few months who are all looking to pursue a career in IT.
Whilst I was at Swansea University I was studying Mechanical Engineering and although many students complained about it, there were some well rounded modules in there covering aspects of Business and Law. Sometimes the general problem with IT related courses is that they can be too focused on the academic topics and have few everyday business related scenarios added to the mix.
Although we are currently not actively looking for staff, we would be looking for people with passion about what they do, keen to learn and who are willing to explore new technologies and ways of doing things.
For further information visit www.netbop.co.uk.
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