If you utilize a computer at home or work it is likely that you use email. Email is an electronic message that is sent from one computer to another following a specific protocol (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol or SMTP). As email\'s popularity has grown so too have the inherent problems with email.

In order to send email you must have the exact spelling of the email address. If there are any typographical errors in the recipient\'s email address then an unintended recipient could receive the email message. When creating an email address avoid characters that cause confusion, like the number 1 (one) and the letter l (el), computer fonts often cause those two characters to have similar appearances. Try to create an email address that cannot easily be misspelled.

As email has become a popular communication medium the email address should not be too long or complicated, but easily said in a phone message. Choose an email address that is easy for others to remember, as a pen is not always handy.

Unfortunately spam, unsolicited email has become common place, though many countries are taking action to make spamming illegal, these measures will unlikely have any short term effect on your email inbox. Many email clients that are used to read and respond to email messages, include basic filtering options that will sort your email messages into folders, based on rules that you define. Email messages can typically be stored and filtered by sender, subject and contents. There are also a number of 3rd party tools available for limiting the amount of spam received. Spam filters typically use different filtering technologies. When evaluating whether a spam solution fits your needs consider sorting filtered email into a specific mailbox for review prior to deletion. This will prevent any important messages from being unintentionally deleted.

As with almost anything, the best defense is a good offense. It is best not to post your email address in public forums, where spammers can harvest it. If you have a website consider typing out the email address: \'name at domain.com\', without using the \"@\" symbol, as this will prevent the address from being abused by email harvesting bots. Another alternative is to provide a contact form rather than an email address.

Resources: Email Clients - http://www.messaging-software.net/e-mail-client-software.htmSpam

Filters - http://www.email-software.org/spam-filter-software.htm

-----------------------------------------

Sharon Housley manages marketing for NotePage, Inc. http://www.notepage.net a company specializing in alphanumeric paging, SMS and wireless messaging software solutions. Other sites by Sharon can be found at http://www.softwaremarketingresource.com, and http://www.small-business-software.net