Stop Junk Mail - Part 1
A free guide to reducing unwanted or intrusive advertising Junk mail may seem as inevitable as death and taxes, but with a little patience there are effective ways to tackle the problem. This guide provides clear, simple and proven reduction techniques. About 20 minutes investment now will clear the junk for between two and five years. General Techniques Your name, address, and buying habits are a commodity that is regularly sold & traded on the open market. These days organizations you deal with virtually all sell your name unless you specifically ask them to stop. Here are some general techniques:
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posted by Clint at 2:46 PM - 1 comments
Stop Junk Mail - Part 2
To stop specific types of unwanted paper mail: The amount of paper junk mail sent each year in the USA is staggering -- some 4 million tons, nearly half of which is never opened. Even if you recycle there are still enormous environmental costs in terms of ink, energy to produce deliver and recycle the paper, recycling inefficiencies and loss of virgin forest to create the high quality glossy paper much junk mail uses. There is a lot you can do to reduce the cost to the environment and your own time:
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posted by Clint at 2:53 PM - 0 comments
Stop Junk Mail - Part 3
To stop mail addressed to former residents, or a former spouse: If you rent you are probably familiar with receiving mail for a dozen or more former residents of your dwelling. Since you probably don't want any of the stuff, you can use two powerful techniques that might not be appropriate for yourself:
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posted by Clint at 3:03 PM - 0 comments
Stop Junk Mail - Part 4
To stop unwanted email (spam): It is very hard to effectively combat junk electronic mail. It costs nothing to send out a few million email messages, so there is no disincentive for people to do so. Most SPAM mailers forge the headers, email return address and sending machine name because they are sick of reading the thousands of inevitable complaints. The offers to remove your name from a list are generally untrue, and often result in your name getting added to yet another list. Many internet providers have policies against SPAM, and will take action. Unfortunately some providers either don't care or are SPAM-friendly. There are ways you can reduce exposure and complain:
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posted by Clint at 3:08 PM - 0 comments
How to Stop Unwanted Mail
The amount of junk mail sent each year in the USA is staggering - some four million tons, nearly half of which is never opened. Reducing the amount of junk mail you receive will lessen the impact that junk mail production has on the environment. Most companies and organizations sell your name and address unless you specifically ask them to stop. To remove your name from most mailing lists, send your name and address to:
Mail Preference Service Include your name and address in all the ways it appears on your junk mail. The Direct Marketing Association estimates that listing with their mail preference service will stop 75% of all national mailings to your address. Requests to stop junk mail are kept active for five years and will not affect companies you have previously ordered from. It may take up to six months for a request to make a noticeable difference in your mailbox. Additional Ways To Stop Unwanted Mail When you give your name to a publication, store or organization, or when you order a product, service or fill out a warranty card, request that your name not be shared. Credit card companies probably sell your name most often. Call and ask them not to release your name and address to anyone for marketing, mailing or promotional purposes. Call 1-888-5-OPT-OUT (1-888-567-8688) to stop major credit companies from sending you credit card offers. |
posted by Clint at 3:20 PM - 0 comments
How to Stop Receiving Junk Mail
Reduce the Amount of Junk Mail You Receive by 90 Percent: According to information from sources such as the Center for a New American Dream (CNAD)—a Maryland-based nonprofit organization that helps people consume responsibly to protect the environment, enhance quality of life, and promote social justice—reducing the amount of junk mail you receive will save energy, natural resources, landfill space, tax dollars, and a lot of your personal time. For example:
Register Your Name OK, now that you’ve decided to reduce the volume of junk mail you receive, how do you go about it? Start by registering with the Mail Preference Service of the Direct Marketing Association (DMA). It won’t guarantee you a life free of junk mail, but it can help. DMA will list you in its database in the “Do Not Mail” category. Direct marketers are not required to check the database, but most companies that send large volumes of bulk mail do use the DMA service. They realize there is no percentage in routinely sending mail to people who don’t want it and have taken action to prevent it. Get Off the Lists You can also go to OptOutPreScreen.com, which can enable you to remove your name from lists that mortgage, credit card and insurance companies use to mail you offers and solicitations. It’s a centralized website run by the four major credit bureaus in the United States: Equifax, Experian, Innovis and TransUnion. Most businesses check with one or more of these companies before accepting your credit card or granting you credit for a long-term purchase. They are also a huge source of names and addresses for credit card, mortgage and insurance companies that routinely send junk mail to attract new customers and solicit new business. But there’s a way to fight back. The federal Fair Credit Reporting Act requires credit bureaus to delete your name from their rented lists if you make the request. Contact Companies That Send You Mail If you’re serious about ridding your life of as much junk mail as possible, then simply registering with these services may not leave enough space in your mailbox. In addition, you should ask all of the companies you patronize to place your name on their “do not promote” or “in-house suppress” lists. If you do business with a company by mail, it should be on your contact list. That includes magazine publishers, any companies that send you catalogs, credit card companies, etc. It’s best to make this request the first time you do business with a company, because it will prevent them from selling your name to other organizations, but you can make the request at any time. Keep Track of Your Name As an extra precaution, some organizations recommend that you track where companies are getting your name by using a slightly different name whenever you subscribe to a magazine or begin a new mail relationship with a company. One strategy is to give yourself fictional middle initials that match the name of the company. If your name is Jennifer Jones and you subscribe to Vanity Fair, simply give your name as Jennifer V.F. Jones, and ask the magazine not to rent your name. If you ever receive a piece of junk mail from other companies addressed to Jennifer V.F. Jones, you’ll know where they got your name. If this all still seems a bit daunting, there are resources to help you get through it. One option is to use the Stop the Junk Mail Kit developed by the Consumer Research Institute. The website JunkBusters.com provides further guidelines for reducing junk mail and other intrusions, from unwanted e-mail (Spam) to telemarketing. So do yourself and the environment a favor. Keep the junk mail out of your mailbox and out of the landfill. Source: About.com |
posted by Clint at 3:23 PM - 0 comments
How to Stop Junk Mail For Businesses
Unfortunately, the Direct Marketing Association’s Mail Preference Service does not work for businesses. The two largest business-to-business direct marketers are: Dun and Bradstreet One Diamond Hill Road Murray Hill, NJ 07974-1218 (800) 333-0505 InfoUSA Attention - Business Update Department P.O. Box 27347 Omaha NE 68127 (402) 331-0176 1. Cut credit card overload. Credit bureaus may sell your name, address & credit history to potential lenders. Calling the following number will remove yourself from the lists of Trans Union, Equifax, Experience, and Anovis. (888)5OPT-OUT (567-8688) 2. Exclude your name from new lists. Whenever you donate money, order a new product or service, send in a warranty card or change of address card, always include a note that says, Please DO NOT LEND, SELL or TRADE my name to any other organization for its mailing lists. According to experts, “filling out warranty cards puts you in fast lane of the junk information superhighway.” In general, be careful about who you give your address away to. 3. Write “Reject — Return to Sender” on the envelope and the Post Office will mail it back to the return address. However, this only works for certain types of mail: letters sent First-Class, letters sent First-Class Pre-Sort, letters marked "Return Service Requested," letters marked "Change Service Requested," or periodicals marked "Postmaster Send Change of Address to". Also, these letters must not be opened. 4. Through the Post Office, issue an “Prohibitory order against sender of pandering advertisement in the mails.” It’s on Form 2150 and 1500, which can be obtained from some, but not all, Post Offices. It is free, and once lodged with the Post Office, it will be illegal for the company to send you any more junk mail. It stems from a law barring pornographic junk mail. Interestingly, it is your sole opinion to decide what is pornographic, as upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court, so your calling unwanted mail pornographic and filing the form should keep the company from sending you further junk mail. 5. Private Citizen, Inc. is a consumer organization that actively fights direct marketers and telemarketers for its members. Fees to join are $10 to fight junk mail, and $20 for telemarketing. It claims a very high reduction in junk mail and telemarketing calls. http://www.private-citizen.com Private Citizen Inc. P.O. Box 233 Naperville, IL 60566 (800) CUT-JUNK |
posted by Clint at 3:34 PM - 0 comments