Help! Aweber Giving Out My Home Address!!

[Snow_Predator]

Aweber's giving out my home address to all who subscribe to my list! How do I stop this?

I'm quite new to this whole internet marketing thing, and although I believe I'm providing some real value, I'm not comfortable giving out my home address to everyone who joins my list.

I know the setting to change so a different address is given out, but if I use a fake address, will I get banned by Aweber?

All suggestions appreciated. Thanks

And btw, from what I've heard with a PO Box, absolutely anyone has the right to know the home address of the owner, so that probably isn't an option.

[SimonHarrison]

Originally Posted by Snow_Predator

Aweber's giving out my home address to all who subscribe to my list! How do I stop this?

I'm quite new to this whole internet marketing thing, and although I believe I'm providing some real value, I'm not comfortable giving out my home address to everyone who joins my list.

I know the setting to change so a different address is given out, but if I use a fake address, will I get banned by Aweber?

All suggestions appreciated. Thanks

And btw, from what I've heard with a PO Box, absolutely anyone has the right to know the home address of the owner, so that probably isn't an option.

Type in "virtual postal address or mail forwarding address etc " into Google.

Pretty simple process.

You pay a small monthly fee for an address in a real office building.

They forward your snail mail to you.

Job done.

[Rebtl]

There is nothing you can do to make Aweber stop giving out the address because of the Can Spam Act.

You can get a P.O. box so people won't know your home address.

I think you might be mistaken about anyone being able to find out your home address, especially if you get a P.O. box from a private company.

But if someone is that motivated to track you down they could just trace your IP

[CDarklock]

Originally Posted by Snow_Predator

Aweber's giving out my home address to all who subscribe to my list!

I've always said "conduct your business as though every customer knows who you are and where you live."

If you're bothered by them knowing these things, maybe you're not conducting your business that way, hmm?

[SimonHarrison]

Originally Posted by CDarklock

I've always said "conduct your business as though every customer knows who you are and where you live."

If you're bothered by them knowing these things, maybe you're not conducting your business that way, hmm?

Never understood this argument.

We have 120,000 people on a list.

It's a very popular and well thought of product.

I still don't want them popping around to my house to ask me questions about it while I'm sat watching the TV.

There are nutters out there.

I don't need them coming around to say hello.

It has nothing at all to do with credibilty of your business.

Normal bricks and mortar busineses don't put signs up telling you where their staff live.

There's a good reason for that.

Just because you run your business from home, doesn't mean you want every customer on your list to know where you sunbathe naked.

[Mark Hess]

If you wish to change your address:



Hover your mouse over "my lists" and click "global fields".

The first box is your address... change it to whatever you want.

[Nicola Lane]

Or perhaps they are a disabled single woman, who could do without a violent ex turning up on her doorstep?

Originally Posted by CDarklock

I've always said "conduct your business as though every customer knows who you are and where you live."

If you're bothered by them knowing these things, maybe you're not conducting your business that way, hmm?

[zeroism]

Just get a P.O Box and never give out your home address. It has nothing to do with being credible and everything to do with be safe. There are nutters out there, and there are also thousands of marketing companies scraping addresses.

[Honest Abe]

Originally Posted by SimonHarrison

Never understood this argument.

We have 120,000 people on a list.

It's a very popular and well thought of product.

I still don't want them popping around to my house to ask me questions about it while I'm sat watching the TV.

There are nutters out there.

I don't need them coming around to say hello.

It has nothing at all to do with credibilty of your business.

Normal bricks and mortar busineses don't put signs up telling you where their staff live.

There's a good reason for that.

Just because you run your business from home, doesn't mean you want every customer on your list to know where you sunbathe naked.

I agree. There are so many nuts out there you have to be careful. No matter how honest you run your business you may tick off a nut job. Especially when your talking email. Some people get really sensitive about receiving email. You really can't be to carefull. You also have to be can spam compliant though. Go to the post office and get a p.o. box. Its like $50 for the year. If someone is going to go threw the trouble to find out your house address threw the post office your probably not going to stop them. P.O. box is a little security though. If they really wanted they could probably just call aweber up and get your info too.

[Magpieguy]

Cracking suggestion. My address is on and didn't know there was a way around it. Thank you.

[Magpieguy]

Didn't realise it was that simple!!

Originally Posted by Mark Hess

If you wish to change your address:



Hover your mouse over "my lists" and click "global fields".

The first box is your address... change it to whatever you want.

[ILUVCA$H]

I do like the idea of using a virtual mail box that's a good suggestions rather then fake it which violates the can spam act anyway even if your mailing software allows it.

-Luke

[Hamida Harland]

Originally Posted by CDarklock

If you're bothered by them knowing these things, maybe you're not conducting your business that way, hmm?

Would I really want thousands of complete strangers knowing my home address? Absolutely not (mainly for the reasons Simon Harrison outlined) and I don't think it's very nice to make insinuations about how someone conducts their business just because they want to maintain their safety and privacy.

[Marakatapolis]

The UPS Store / Mailboxes has PO Boxes but they give you an actual street address and you can either pick up your mail or have it forwarded to you (they charge a small fee + shipping). However if you do this once a week it doesn't cost much, and for small businesses it's only $75 per 3 months. So basically, for $25/month you get an actual street address for your business.

[CDarklock]

Originally Posted by SimonHarrison

Normal bricks and mortar busineses don't put signs up telling you where their staff live.

No, but they're required by law to put one up that says where you can contact the owner.

[Raygun]

Originally Posted by SimonHarrison

Never understood this argument.

We have 120,000 people on a list.

It's a very popular and well thought of product.

I still don't want them popping around to my house to ask me questions about it while I'm sat watching the TV.

There are nutters out there.

I don't need them coming around to say hello.

It has nothing at all to do with credibilty of your business.

Normal bricks and mortar busineses don't put signs up telling you where their staff live.

There's a good reason for that.

Just because you run your business from home, doesn't mean you want every customer on your list to know where you sunbathe naked.

I seriously almost spit out the tea I was drinking when I read your post. But I do agree, it is good to have a separate address for your online business.

[PaulaC]

I use a PO Box and I have to agree with Simon. There is no way I would put my home address on every email I send out to my list.

[JayXtreme]

Originally Posted by CDarklock

I've always said "conduct your business as though every customer knows who you are and where you live."

If you're bothered by them knowing these things, maybe you're not conducting your business that way, hmm?

[NK]

I think getting a virtual post address is the best solution. I'm planning to do that myself as well actually.

[Michael Oksa]

Originally Posted by CDarklock

I've always said "conduct your business as though every customer knows who you are and where you live."

If you're bothered by them knowing these things, maybe you're not conducting your business that way, hmm?

I normally like your posts, C, but I think your thinly-veiled accusation is 100% out of place here.

Isn't it possible that someone could just be freaked out by the thought of 1,000s; 10,000s; or more STRANGERS knowing where they live? Especially if they have a family and home of their own that they wish to proctect.

Also, newer people may not be aware that CAN-SPAM requires such a provision.

To say that anyone who doesn't want their HOME address shared with the entire world are somehow conducting an out-of-the-cellar business isn't really fair.

Hmm...?

All the best,
Michael

[Andyf]

I didn't know Aweber did this...kind of a bummer. There are weirdos out there...doesn't have anything to do with how you run your business. Some dude just might wake up one day and "hear voices"...and your email was the last one he looked at. Kind of like in the movie "The Jerk"...remember the wacked out sniper. "Die Navan Johnson!"...got the name right out of the phone book. Pretty funny scene.


If you get a P.O. address, do they still use your name or do they use your website address....or business name if you actually have one? You can still find almost anyone once you have a name.


Andyf

[LB]

Originally Posted by SimonHarrison

Never understood this argument.

We have 120,000 people on a list.

It's a very popular and well thought of product.

I still don't want them popping around to my house to ask me questions about it while I'm sat watching the TV.

There are nutters out there.

I don't need them coming around to say hello.

It has nothing at all to do with credibilty of your business.

Normal bricks and mortar busineses don't put signs up telling you where their staff live.

There's a good reason for that.

Just because you run your business from home, doesn't mean you want every customer on your list to know where you sunbathe naked.

I was going to respond but you pretty much nailed it.

In addition to the nutters out there, there are plenty of people (especially in niches where can-spam means just as much to your prospects as "canned spam") who think "why would he put his address on there if he didn't want me to know it?" They feel if your address is published then obviously it's cool to stop by. They probably don't even realize it's a residential address in many cases.

And yes, years ago I had some people show up at my home. In at least one case this person was not playing with a full deck.

So...get a mail forwarder. Imagine some disgruntled customers appearing when your wife was home alone?

[Andrew Maule]

I just use a PO box. No problem at all.

[marciayudkin]

I've always said "conduct your business as though every customer knows who you are and where you live."

I don't think you'd say this if you'd had some of the experiences I and my women friends have had - being stalked, targeted by prisoners and harassed by customers who had a screw loose.

There is a huge difference between getting a threat from someone who can't easily find you at home and someone whom you know knows where you live.

Come to think of it, I recommend changing the saying to...

"Conduct your business as though every customer knows who you are and where you live - but keep your home address private."

Marcia Yudkin

[Jeff Henshaw]

Ok. Problem solved.

Go through your list of whom you hate the most - and use their home address in your Aweber emails.

Jeff.

[Andrew Maule]

Originally Posted by Michael Oksa

I normally like your posts, C, but I think your thinly-veiled accusation is 100% out of place here.

Isn't it possible that someone could just be freaked out by the thought of 1,000s; 10,000s; or more STRANGERS knowing where they live? Especially if they have a family and home of their own that they wish to proctect.

Also, newer people may not be aware that CAN-SPAM requires such a provision.

To say that anyone who doesn't want their HOME address shared with the entire world are somehow conducting an out-of-the-cellar business isn't really fair.

Hmm...?

All the best,
Michael

Agree 100% from start to finish with your post.

There are so many crazy people out there it's ridiculous. I've received 10 death threats via YouTube messages alone--the internet can be a scary place.

[CDarklock]

Originally Posted by Michael Oksa

Isn't it possible that someone could just be freaked out by the thought of 1,000s; 10,000s; or more STRANGERS knowing where they live?

Reality check.

You send your address to all kinds of companies that have services you use.

Electric companies, phone companies, cable companies, all sorts of them.

Thousands of strangers work for those companies.

You order stuff from Amazon and tell them where you live.

You order stuff from random marketers and tell them where you live.

There are ALREADY thousands of strangers who know where you live.

So yeah, I understand why someone would be freaked out. Denial. Refusal to believe that when they hand their address to Amazon, someone might read it.

That when they throw some movie into the queue at Netflix, some creep might be over there looking at their history and falling into some weirdo fantasy about what kind of person has that history and how happy they could be together.

You're worried about the address in your email? Grow up. Your list is SQUAT compared to the people who already see your address. If you're insecure about your list knowing your address, you have much bigger problems already.

And once you solve those problems, you won't care about your list knowing your address. Your address is on the list so you'll treat that list with care and respect, because they know where to send the process server if they file a lawsuit, or the authorities if you break the law. The price of bringing the bad guys out in the open is that the good guys have to come out, too.

But since they're the good guys, there's nothing to be afraid of.

[LB]

And once you solve those problems, you won't care about your list knowing your address. Your address is on the list so you'll treat that list with care and respect, because they know where to send the process server if they file a lawsuit, or the authorities if you break the law. The price of bringing the bad guys out in the open is that the good guys have to come out, too.

But since they're the good guys, there's nothing to be afraid of.

I'd like to purchase a ticket to your magical world.

[CDarklock]

Originally Posted by LB

I'd like to purchase a ticket to your magical world.

Magical?

You already live here.

All the people on your list fall into one of two categories.

1. People you should not be afraid of and do not need to worry about.

2. People you should already be afraid of and worrying about.

See? You don't need to be any more afraid or worried when your address goes out on your list, because it doesn't change anything.

It's not that there aren't any psychos on your list. It's that there are no more and no worse than you already should have been dealing with anyway.

If you're not dealing with it, you're already screwed.

And if you are, what's the problem?

[Taylor French]

Originally Posted by CDarklock

Reality check.

You send your address to all kinds of companies that have services you use.

Electric companies, phone companies, cable companies, all sorts of them.

Thousands of strangers work for those companies.

You order stuff from Amazon and tell them where you live.

You order stuff from random marketers and tell them where you live.

There are ALREADY thousands of strangers who know where you live.

So yeah, I understand why someone would be freaked out. Denial. Refusal to believe that when they hand their address to Amazon, someone might read it.

That when they throw some movie into the queue at Netflix, some creep might be over there looking at their history and falling into some weirdo fantasy about what kind of person has that history and how happy they could be together.

You're worried about the address in your email? Grow up. Your list is SQUAT compared to the people who already see your address. If you're insecure about your list knowing your address, you have much bigger problems already.

And once you solve those problems, you won't care about your list knowing your address. Your address is on the list so you'll treat that list with care and respect, because they know where to send the process server if they file a lawsuit, or the authorities if you break the law. The price of bringing the bad guys out in the open is that the good guys have to come out, too.

But since they're the good guys, there's nothing to be afraid of.

Are you kidding?

You think some random worker at Amazon or Netflix is as likely as some psycho who can't figure out where the unsubscribe link is to come to your home and scare your wife or kid half to death or worse?

Have you read some of the threads here where people have received death threats because some idiot couldn't figure out how to unzip a file or unsubscribe from a list?

Haven't you read the news stories where people go so angry at spammers they started threatening physical harm to them if they didn't stop emailing them?

Where have you been living for the last decade?

[LB]

Originally Posted by CDarklock

Magical?

You already live here.

All the people on your list fall into one of two categories.

1. People you should not be afraid of and do not need to worry about.

2. People you should already be afraid of and worrying about.

See? You don't need to be any more afraid or worried when your address goes out on your list, because it doesn't change anything.

It's not that there aren't any psychos on your list. It's that there are no more and no worse than you already should have been dealing with anyway.

If you're not dealing with it, you're already screwed.

And if you are, what's the problem?

I'm not even sure what you're saying here...so because someone on my list might be a psycho then I should just give them my home address and hope for the best.

How do I "deal with it"?

Real story: Guy signs up for my list, doesn't even confirm- just gets the "please confirm mail" and replies to me "take me off this list or I'll come to your house and fu$%ing kill you." Should that nice man have my home address?

[oneplusone]

You can change it in 30 seconds as Mark Hess has kindly pointed out to whatever you want.

To be safe and above board ideally you need to use a real address, so you may want to look into opening up a mailbox or P.O Box then stick the new address in.

[Joseph Then]

Some years back, a well-known marketer actually have to move his house because one of the subscriber kept visiting his house asking him how to make money online.

And I mean PESTERING this marketer, because he has his home address sent by mistake.

So there is a reason why you shouldn't use a home address.

[Floyd Fisher]

Originally Posted by CDarklock

I've always said "conduct your business as though every customer knows who you are and where you live."

If you're bothered by them knowing these things, maybe you're not conducting your business that way, hmm?

So why don't you post your actual home address on this forum if that is how you fee;?

After all, you do do business here, right?

[Kay King]

It's no one's business but mine whether I list my address or not.

It says nothing about how I do business. If had an apartment or moved frequently I might not think anything of it. As a homeowner staying in one place, I'm not giving out my address to people I don't know.

Those who think it's fine should do it - and the rest of us can what we want.
There's nothing to argue about.

kay

[CDarklock]

Originally Posted by Floyd Fisher

So why don't you post your actual home address on this forum if that is how you fee;?

Oh, I just love it when people challenge me to actually believe what I say.

16512 SE Green Valley, Auburn, WA 98092.

And my phone number is 504-383-3275.

And my email address is in my title.

And you could have found all of that out with a WHOIS search on darklock.com, because I don't believe in domain privacy either.

[Hanz]

Originally Posted by CDarklock

Oh, I just love it when people challenge me to actually believe what I say.

16512 SE Green Valley, Auburn, WA 98092.

And my phone number is 504-383-3275.

And my email address is in my title.

And you could have found all of that out with a WHOIS search on darklock.com, because I don't believe in domain privacy either.

CDarklock is all about keepin' it real!

[Hanz]

Some good options here. For those uncomfortable with having their home addresses exposed to their list, the PO box idea is a good one. If not that, then buy yourself a raging rottweiler to keep the psychos away!

[willard]

You can change it in the Global Fields tab, get a P.O Box or a UPS store address.

[Floyd Fisher]

Originally Posted by CDarklock

Oh, I just love it when people challenge me to actually believe what I say.

16512 SE Green Valley, Auburn, WA 98092.

And my phone number is 504-383-3275.

And my email address is in my title.

And you could have found all of that out with a WHOIS search on darklock.com, because I don't believe in domain privacy either.

You got guts, that is for sure. I salute you!

Clickbank has all my info. You buy a product from me, they will be happy to furnish it to you.

What I don't need is some deranged person confusing me for a professional spammer (which I am not by a long shot) coming out to my house and exacting some revenge on me because their email inbox is filled with unsolicited viagra ads. There isn't enough bullets on earth to rid the world of that kind of stupidity, so I perfer not to engage in that crusade.

[Terry Crim]

Originally Posted by CDarklock

Oh, I just love it when people challenge me to actually believe what I say.

16512 SE Green Valley, Auburn, WA 98092.

And my phone number is 504-383-3275.

And my email address is in my title.

And you could have found all of that out with a WHOIS search on darklock.com, because I don't believe in domain privacy either.

I completely agree with you. We are in the minority here but I have no problem at all with people knowing where I live or having REAL methods of contacting me.

I have had people come to my house and I turned the situation into a sale or I could of proposed a JV or just addressed the persons questions directed them to other sources or put them to work helping me do yard work or minor repairs I need done around the house.

You also have the option to call the police. If someone sends you email or other contact and threatens you then it is simple. Call the police and their ISP.

I had a situation back in early 2000 where someone threatened me over a spam email they sent me. I contacted their ISP and had their website shut down, they used a free hosting service. The person emailed me threatening me and said I cost them hundreds of dollars in lost business.

I contacted their ISP got information about this person and together we contacted the local Police for their area.

It happens. You have more chance of getting sued than some nut coming knocking on your door. If your business practices take advantage of people, you charge people and don't deliver for what they paid for then you probably have more of something to be concerned with getting an unwelcome visitor.

My belief system on this subject is, if you are really doing business online. Have paying customers and working one on one with people then why would you hide from them? When I buy something from someone I want to be able to contact them. If I am entertaining the idea of purchasing from you I want to know you are REAL, have a personal presence in your business are readily available for me to contact you if I need questions addresed or there is a problem with your product or service.

If I don't see an address on your website and contact methods, I don't buy from you.

Though there are a few here that think this way, I have no problem at all with people knowing how to get a hold of me. I find it suspicious when business owners don't have a way to be contacted. I want to get a hold of a real person not some bot or 3rd party that takes messages and relays them. That's just me though.

- T

[Hanz]

Originally Posted by Floyd Fisher

You got guts, that is for sure. I salute you!

Clickbank has all my info. You buy a product from me, they will be happy to furnish it to you.

What I don't need is some deranged person confusing me for a professional spammer (which I am not by a long shot) coming out to my house and exacting some revenge on me because their email inbox is filled with unsolicited viagra ads. There isn't enough bullets on earth to rid the world of that kind of stupidity, so I perfer not to engage in that crusade.

Oh please! You couldn't find CDarklock's house even with Sherlock Holmes' help. He lives in the middle of nothing and nowhere. LOL! Even Google Maps can't find it. According to Google, CDarklock's location ends in the middle of some old deserted road in some old deserted land. After that, Google is lost!

[Traffic-Bug]

What you need is to buy a re-routing address or PO box from the USPS. If that is not possible, hire a virtual office address (search for 'virtual office address USA') and use that address!

[CDarklock]

Originally Posted by Hanz

He lives in the middle of nothing and nowhere.

If you actually came out here, it would be the yellow house that stands out like a sore thumb in all the farmland. It may be in the middle of nowhere, but hard to find, it is not.

And you'll generally find that in the Puget Sound area, Microsoft has VERY good maps. Drop down the "Aerial" menu and pick "Bird's Eye View" for best results, the pin is centred on the property but the house is slightly northeast of it:

Bing Map of the house

[Mr. Enthusiastic]

According to the FTC themselves, a PO box is fine. The rule is simply that there is a physical postal address where you can reliably get any mail sent by customers.
The CAN-SPAM Act: A Compliance Guide for Business

Tell recipients where you’re located. Your message must include your valid physical postal address. This can be your current street address, a post office box you’ve registered with the U.S. Postal Service, or a private mailbox you’ve registered with a commercial mail receiving agency established under Postal Service regulations.

I'm not a lawyer so please check w/your attorney if you need clarification. From my layman's opinion, it sure looks to me like a mailbox is fine.
The FTC provides their own contact information right on this page.

According to Aweber, you can watch their step by video or follow their step by step instructions with pictures showing how to change your contact information, including mailing address.
http://www.aweber.com/faq/questions/...Information%3F
Contact them directly: http://www.aweber.com/contact-us.htm

C'mon folks, quit guessing and speculating. It's not hard to go get the information you need directly from the source. The FTC will tell you what the FTC needs if you ask them. AWeber support staff will tell you how to work with AWeber if you ask them.

Chris

[CDarklock]

Originally Posted by Terry Crim

I find it suspicious when business owners don't have a way to be contacted.

So do I. It's just like people who complain about privacy; um, what are you DOING?

There are arguments that can be made in both directions, and they both make perfect sense.

We all want our privacy, so let's all hide what we're doing so it's no longer suspicious to hide it.

But nasty evil people hide what they're doing so they don't get caught, and if we made everyone stop hiding we would see them and then we could lock them up or something.

Now, there are good and smart people on both sides of that argument, but my big "just a moment" concern is that I'll bet we can all tell how the nasty evil people are voting.

That doesn't make it fair to lump the people on that side in with all the nasty evil people, of course, but I find it perfectly fair to say "if you were nasty and evil you would want privacy, and I don't know if you're nasty and evil, but you sure do seem to be on their side about this."

[Victoria Neely]

Hmmm. Kinda reminds me of someone I knew who said you can't fully trust introverts, because you don't know what they're thinking. It's always seems to be the weird quiet ones who go shooting up schools. Most of the quiet ones are probably OK, but you never know, gotta keep an eye on them...

On that note, I don't see anything wrong with using a PO box or virtual address.

[CDarklock]

Originally Posted by Victoria Neely

On that note, I don't see anything wrong with using a PO box or virtual address.

Oh, and just to be clear - neither do I. My problem is exclusively with people who want to conceal ANY information the customer can use to contact them.

[Victoria Neely]

Originally Posted by CDarklock

Oh, and just to be clear - neither do I. My problem is exclusively with people who want to conceal ANY information the customer can use to contact them.

Ohhhh. OK, gotcha. I was misreading some posts in the thread and started to see a horse of a different color.

[Terry Crim]

Originally Posted by CDarklock

Oh, and just to be clear - neither do I. My problem is exclusively with people who want to conceal ANY information the customer can use to contact them.

Another thing I don't like is not just concealing contact information but having old out dated information on their sites. Old address, canceled phone etc...

Using P.O. Box is fine as long as it is current method of getting a hold of you and you check it regularly and not just once a month or something. I don't usually send snail mail to contact someone I purchased something from. The main point is having current contact information. I guess going a little off the topic about it so wont go further about it.

- T