"Carbon Copies"
By Ralph Moore

Let's clear the air about sending copies of email to a list.

You may not know it, but there is a right way and a wrong
way to send a copy of an email to more than one person, or
to a list.

The right way causes no problems and improves everyone's
security. The wrong way certainly reduces security, can
add to the "spam" problem and could even be dangerous to
the person(s) to whom you are sending your message.

And chances are, you may not even know the difference.

Have you ever sent or received an email with addresses that
look like this?:

To: you@yoursite.com
Cc: yourpal@othersite.com, secondpal@othersite.com, etc.

If you said yes, then more than likely you are sending
or seeing email that should never have been sent using
that method.

The ONLY reason that you should ever send an email to more
than one person, using the "Cc:" (Carbon Copy) method,
would be to ALLOW everyone to whom you are sending the
message to see the email addresses of everyone on the list.

This might be used within a business environment, for
example, if there were a question about updating email
addresses for everyone.

Here are some reasons why "Cc:" should seldom be used.

Anytime you use the "Cc:" method to copy a message to
someone, "spam email harvesters", machines that have been
specifically set up for that one purpose, can (and will)
"harvest" the email addresses for their own use, or to
resell.

Furthermore, you are disregarding the basic security of
everyone on the list, and in some cases, you could even
be endangering someone, depending upon the information
that you are sending in the email.

Suppose you send an email to 5 or 6 of your friends.

One or more of them decides to "copy" the message to a
few of THEIR fellow workers or acquaintances, and so on.

Pretty soon, your email could be in the hands of tens, or
even hundreds of people that you don't even know, and for
whom your message was NOT originally intended.

And in the "real world", it is a safe bet that not every
"friend of a friend of a friend" is someone that you would
choose to spend your time with, or introduce to your loved
ones.

If the message contains details such as the time and place
of a meeting or appointment, someone could even find that
they are in physical danger, without ever knowing why.

Fortunately, there is a better way to accomplish the same
thing. It is known as "Bcc:" (Blind Carbon Copy).

By using the "Bcc:" method, you are telling the machine
that is sending the message, to copy the body of the email
and send it in a separate message to each of the addresses
that are listed in the "Bcc:" field.

That way, the message appears to be a single message that
has been sent from you to each person on your "list", and
no one on the list has any idea that you have sent the same
message to anyone else.

Best of all, no one on the list will see the email address
of anyone else.

In the business arena, this method is often used to notify
those who have a "need to know", without affecting those
who are not so entitled to privilidged information.

Whether in business or in personal communications, using
the "Bcc:" method is the right way to "copy" email to a
small group of people.

In many email clients, the "Bcc:" field may not be shown
by "default" or may have been "turned off".

Here are some ways to find and use "Bcc:" in some of the
more common email clients.

~~~~~~~
To use "Bcc:" in Eudora:

Start a new message in Eudora.
Press Alt-B, or click in the Bcc: entry field.
Type the "Bcc" email address in the Bcc: field or insert
it quickly from the Address Book.
Separate multiple addresses by commas in the "Bcc:" field.
Finish and send your message.

~~~~~~~
To use "Bcc:" in Outlook Express:

Start a new message in Outlook Express.
Select View from the message menu.
Make sure All Headers is checked.
Type the "Bcc" email address in the Bcc: field.
Separate multiple addresses by commas in the "Bcc:" field.
Finish and send your message.

~~~~~~~
To use "Bcc:" in Outlook:

Start a new message in Outlook.
Select View from the message menu.
Make sure Bcc Field is selected.
Type the "Bcc" email address in the Bcc: field.
Separate multiple addresses by commas in the "Bcc:" field.
Finish and send your message.

~~~~~~~
To add a Bcc recipient in AOL:

Start a new message (click the Write icon in the toolbar).
Type the "Bcc" email address in the Copy To: box.
Be sure to put the Bcc addresses in parentheses.
For example: "(123abcaolmember, 123abc@123abc.com)"
Separate multiple addresses by commas in the "Bcc:" field.
Finish and send your message.

~~~~~~~
To use "Bcc:" in Mac OS X Mail:

Select Edit / Add Bcc Header from the Mac OS X Mail menu,
or hit Command-Shift-B.
Type the "Bcc" email address in the Bcc: field.
Finish and send your message.

Using "Bcc:" (Blind Carbon Copy) is the professional,
secure "right way" to copy messages to people in today's
online world!

Ralph Moore, editor of the FREE Eagle Flyer Newsletter,
Provides "Motivational, Marketing and How To Technology
Tips That Can Multiply Your Business Online".
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