What is a mail list?
A mail list is a community that you join where everyone that is a subscriber sends emails to a particular email address and then all subscribers get a copy of that email. Most email communities focus around a particular subject. Our mail list focuses on the subject of women in business issues. When you join a mail list, you will be able to send an email and all subscribers of that list will get a "copy" including yourself because you also are a subscriber. In turn, you will receive a copy of their emails because you are a subscriber. Discussions go on through the mail list.

What is this mail list about?
The Digital-Women mail list is about women in business issues. We are a close-knit community of businesswomen supporting each other by sharing tips, resources, experience, opinions and insights on business-related subjects. Topics range from business licensing to increasing web site traffic to tax rules to multitasking. We discuss what works for our businesses and what doesn't. Our mail list focuses on business issues and does not focus on personal issues such as who's husband is out of work or who's child is having a problem. This is not a parenting or mothering list. Our mail list has been very successful over the last three years. As such, we don't allow these type of personal discussions on the list. There are plenty of other lists for those types of issues. The list is monitored daily and we hope you enjoy the list as we have learned a lot from all the wonderful business-wise women who are subscribed.

What are the mail list rules for this mail list?
This is the most important information you need if you wish to *remain* on this email list! We are now operating under a 3 strikes policy which means that even the slightest bend of the rules can mean you are removed from the list after the 3rd time, whether the offense was accidental or not. Please reread your posts prior to sending. 
 

When replying to a message BE SURE to delete most of the original message you are replying to!!!

If you try to send a message with all of the original message included, it will NOT go through!!!

Be sure to delete most of the original and only keep a small segment of the message that you are referring to.

1. Absolutely no flaming or profanity allowed. Flaming is when you berate, belittle, be mean to, or otherwise be hateful to another member on the list. Malicious intent, however veiled, is not welcome here. You may *never* discipline another member on-list. There are set list moderators and they handle all disciplinary actions in their own way and that is with a tender hand and soft tongue as we *never* want to lose a single valuable member! You are all valuable to this list and we won't see a member "run off" by another member. Flaming will result in immediate unsubscription, without question. When replying to a list mail, you must conduct yourself professionally and with respect. You are a representative of Digital-Women when you reply. We have zero tolerance for disrespect to any member even if you are replying off-list. You are still a DW member and you are replying as a DW member when you are replying to an email that came to the list. The use of profane language will result in immediate unsubscription.

2. Absolutely no advertising or posting your prices. The only place our members are permitted to advertise on the list is in your signature file! (please also see number 12 below) If you do not know what a signature file is, ask the list and they will help you set one up for your email account. Do NOT send referral links or affiliate links to the list. If we all did that we would have nothing but a mailbox full of adverts. If you want to know what constitutes an ad, ask yourself this question. Is your email presenting or asking for a sale from the members? If so, it is an ad. This includes selling items on an auction site for a profit and/or as a business endeavor and also includes selling 'ad space'. 

3. All subjects on the list are to pertain to business. This is not a personal chitchat list. Please keep all personal chats off the list. We are not a *strictly* business in that you can ask a personal question on the list but, please only answer personal questions OFF the list. Answer that person privately please! We ask that all members remain professional in tone and manner, and that even noted off-topic personal issues and questions maintain a common level of taste and tact. If in doubt, email a moderator and ask before posting.

3.a. Announcements you make. You may announce workshops, seminars, convention, tradeshows, and classes ONLY if they are free to the members! If you charge for anything it is considered an "advertisement" and advertisements are not allowed on the list EXCEPT in your signature file only.

4. DO NOT SCREAM IN YOUR POSTS. SCREAMING IS WHEN YOU TYPE IN ALL CAPS LIKE THIS. Please only relegate screaming for when you have accomplished something extraordinary and you just need to share your excitement with the list. It will not be tolerated in every day conversation.

5. Do NOT send newsletters OR press releases OR articles to the list! We don't even send our own newsletter to this list and so we don't want to see others sent either. Written permission from the author is required to copy someone else's newsletter. If you have a great newsletter that you just have to share with everyone or you will just burst, then tell them like this:
"Dear List,
I received a great newsletter and it has a ton of free stuff in it. To get a copy,
email me at: somebody@whowhere.com and I will send it to you!"

6. Do not solicit our members for private donations which includes money, food, or clothing or fundraisers to the list. List should be used for business issues only.

7. Do NOT send jokes to the list ever! Jokes usually poke fun at someone whether they are blonde, or female or male or dumb or whatever and it's not allowed on the list at all because it might offend more people than you realize!!

8. Do NOT send daily motivations or thoughts for the day. This is a list for business resources and not an arena for sending daily motivational or inspirational "thought of the day" type emails. While you may find value in it, many other members who have come here for professional guidance simply see it as more junk mail.

9. The following subjects are BANNED from this list:
Political issues or subjects of war in any country.
Religious issues or subjects
Pornography or sexually explicit subjects
We are an INTERNATIONAL list. That means we come from a huge variety of backgrounds including political and religious beliefs! It's already been established that wars, real wars, occur over these very subjects! If the rest of the world can't all agree, then it makes perfect sense that we wouldn't all agree either, so those subjects are NEVER allowed. DO NOT ask the list for "prayers" or that the membership "prays" for anyone.

10. PLEASE use your "subject" line properly! This helps us weed out the emails that don't pertain to us and we can get through our busy days easier. If you are making an "announcement", then use that as your subject line. If you need to ask about "web design", then use that in your subject line. If you need to ask about "press releases", then use that in your subject line. Example: if I were looking for a bargain on printer ink, my subject line would read "Need printer ink!" If your email is off-topic, then please note that in the subject line by using the letters OT. Also, PLEASE delete most of the original message when you reply!

10b. When replying to list mail you have the option to reply personally or to include the list address when replying. IF IF IF you are replying to someone personally and you do NOT want to share your response with the list then be SURE to add that statement to your reply! You can do this with a statement like: "This is for your eyes only! Do not share my response with the list"

10c. IF someone replies to you personally and they do NOT want to share their response with the list then do NOT send a reply to the list where their message is included. OMIT thier part of the message that they did not want to share!

11. Absolutely no discussions on how much to charge for a product or service!. This subject falls way to close to "price-fixing" which is a felony in the US. 

12. Signature files may be no longer than 8 lines total!
This includes your actual signature and all your little squigglies and doo dads to make them stand out. You may have advertising IN YOUR SIGNATURE file only. Your advertising may include prices or discounts. This is your "free space" but it is NOT to exceed 8 lines.
Up to 8 lines of text (blank lines count as a line)
Up to 65 characters wide (spaces count as characters)
Example 5 lines total:

(1)===========================
(2) Women with their modems running....
(3) http://ww.digital-women.com
(4) Come join us!
(5)===========================
The above sig file is 5 lines

Example 7 lines total:

(1)===========================
(2)
(3) Women with their modems running...
(4) http://www.digital-women.com
(5) Come join us!
(6)
(7)===========================

Blank lines count as a line in your total sig file.

13 .Absolutely no chain letters or ANY letters that suggest we mail them to everyone we know.
This is never permitted no matter how sad the story. Do not send horror stories to the list. These are 99% hoaxes! Do NOT send a post to the list that asks you to mail this letter to 5 people or 10 people or even 1 other person. This includes "send this to every woman you care about" emails that are typically discussing personal safety or health-related issues.

14. Do not send contest announcements to the list. Please use a contest announcement list to announce your contests. You may ask the members if they want to help sponsor your contest by donating a prize or service as this is a business issue, but you may not just announce a contest.

15. The rules of *this* list must be followed even when cross-posting to other lists at the same time. While we recognize and understand that our members usually belong to several mailing list and groups, our list rules must be followed even if you are cross-posting elsewhere. Example: This means DO NOT send parenting related posts to Digital-Women simply because you are sending the same post to every other list you belong to. Digital-Women is NOT a parenting or mothering-based list. Quite a few of our members our single and/or do not have children.

16. If you are new, then send an introduction about yourself to the list! We want to hear all about you and what you chose as your career! (Do not use your introduction to send a canned advertisement about your business. In other words, don't send something like, "I sell Mary Avon, the nations leading soap manufacturer and rated #1 on CBS for 3 years straight. This company has proven its track record in.... blah, blah, blah...) We want to hear about YOU and what you do!
 

Frequently Asked Questions by Rebecca Game, Founder:

1. "How do I announce my contest to the list without advertising?" 
You can't. We no longer allow contest announcements. We started receiving too many of them and our list was starting to look like a contest announcement list instead of a business list.

2. "I want to offer a discount or sale to the members. How do I do that without breaking list rules?" 
You can't. There is no advertising allowed on the list. If you have something you want to offer our members at a discount, please join our Digital-Women Monday Offers list by sending an email to mondayoffers-subscribe@yahoogroups.com. 

3. "I joined this list to increase my sales! How can I get the members to visit me without mentioning my sales or discounts?"
This is not your store. I didn't create this list so that someone could come in and act like they had a new store with ready-made customers. I created this list to share business do's and don'ts. I created this list so we could help each other succeed by sharing resources we have come across, experience we can share with each other and for making friends around the globe. If that's why you joined then you joined the wrong list. Participation in email discussions will bring you MORE business then advertising on the list, BECAUSE you become known as an "expert" in your field when you HELP the members in your area of expertise! 

4. "You have 53 web designers on this list. How am I supposed to compete? Even if I help the members with participation, I am still competing with the other designers!" 
Coke and Pepsi and Dr. Pepper sit SIDE-by-SIDE on the grocery shelf. It hasn't seemed to hurt them any...  Tampax and Kotex serve the same purpose, but are unique in design. You TOO are unique! Find out what makes you special and capitalize on that feature about your service or product. We have over 15,000members. If they all asked you tomorrow to create a web site for them, could you handle it? I bet not. There's enough business for everyone without feeling like you are competing. Share your "space" with 7-Up, you might be surprised. 

If you are in question about an email you want to send to the list, please send it to a moderator FIRST. We can show you HOW to word it so it won't be construed as an ad. You may always reach us at 
digital-women-owner@yahoogroups.com

5. How do I JOIN this mail list?
You need to be a member of Digital Women to participate in the mail list. The list is for members only and is only available through an invitation sent by the Moderators.

6. How do I UNSUBSCRIBE?
To unsubscribe from this mail list you click HERE

7. What is a Digest Version?
A digest version of the mail list is where instead of getting copies of each "individual" emails from the subscribers, you get an email comprised of around 25 messages in one email. Each Digest version contains around 25 emails that have been sent to the list. When REPLYING to a digest version, you MUST compose a NEW message, otherwise you bombard the list with all 25 of those messages at once.

8. How can I get the Digest Version?
You can subscribe to the Digest Version HERE

9. What are all those initials people are using and what do they stand for?
Those initials are like a mail list code and stand for sayings. Instead of typing out the same saying over and over, they shorten it with initials. An example of one is SFMP. This stands for "Sorry for multiple posts". What the person is saying is that they have sent the same email message to all the mail lists they belong to and if you are a subscriber to those lists then you will get the same message in each one.  They have usually made an announcement of some sort and they want each mail list they belong to , to get a copy of that announcement.

10. What is a Signature File?
A signature file is a pre-written message that "automatically" goes at the bottom of each email you send out. Most browsers such as Netscape and MSIE have an option where you can set up a signature file. We limit signature files to 8 lines total. You should create a signature file for advertising your business. It's the only place where advertising is allowed on the Digital-Women mail list. We just started a new feature!! Instead of signature files, we now have PS files! Everybody reads a PS so treat your PS file just like a signature file. 8 lines total.

11. How can I make a signature file for my emails?
Read you email program preferences, options or help, to find out how to set up a signature file for your emails.