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Home::Newsletters
Hey Chicken Little, The Sky Ain't Fall'in
Author : Jim Schulte
Hey Chicken Little......The Sky Ain't Fall'in by Jim Schulte
copyright (c) 2003
When Chicken Little was running around telling everyone the sky
was falling, many people believed him. In the end however, we
all knew the sky was in fact, not able to fall.
But if you are a subscriber to any number of newsletters, and
most of us are. Then you would have thought that Chicken Little
was back again, and that the sky was really falling this time.
I haven't seen that much chaos since the terrorist attacks of
9/11. Publishers running scared, and trying to re-subscribe all
of their current subs before October 31st 2003.
It's those damn new laws about that dreaded "S" word that nobody
can type because you will be accused of S "ing" someone and
you'll lose your entire ezine, newsletter, and whatever else you
own on the Internet. And why can't anybody's keyboard spell that
awful "S" word anyhow?
About a month ago I was involved in one of those panic things
with that stupid "Teddy Bear Virus" hoax. I believed that what
the person emailed me about the virus was absolutely true. I
spent a lot of time fixing the virus, then I spent more time
sending out an email to my entire mailbox list since the
beginning of time.
When I found out it was a hoax from over 1 year ago I was, to
say this least, very embarrassed. I then of course had to sent
out another email apologizing to everyone and tell them it was a
hoax. They had to do the same for all the people they sent those
emails to.
All I needed to do was stop and think, before I reacted. I
should have done some investigating or research before I ran off
uninformed and told all of my mailing list that "Rome was
burning" and they needed to put out the fire.
This past week many publishers were afraid of the effect the new
S*am laws being enacted in Europe and California were going to
do to their newsletters. If they would have researched the topic
a little they would have found out that those laws will not be
an issue.
If you are using an opt-in or double opt-in subscribing system
(and you SHOULD be) you don't have to worry. If you're not using
a system like that, then you need to start. That's all there is
to it.
Shooting from the hip, and acting on emotion, only clouds your
sense of good and honest judgment. Panic does not allow you to
process thoughts in a rational way. To think clearly, one must
remain calm, cool, and collected. Don't cry wolf if there is a
sheep in the backyard.
It's a good thing to be protective of what you own. Nobody wants
to lose what they've worked so hard to build. In the same token,
you can't be over reactive and make crass decisions based on
something some one or somebody told you.
Even the best sources, and people we have trusted for years are
prone to giving out misinformation, for whatever reason. Always
check the source and do your own research. Don't do something
because everybody else is doing it, or because "they" said it
was the right thing to do or else! Check everything out for
yourself, then make a decision.
There is always opportunity in a crisis situation. I am the
eternal optimist so I always look for the good when bad things
happen. Sort of like, all clouds have a silver lining kind of
outlook.
Here is a Chicken Little joke about how a second grader saw an
opportunity in that potential sky falling incident.
A teacher was telling her students the story of Chicken Little.
She asked Mary what she thought Farmer Brown said when Chicken
Little knocked on his door and told him the sky was falling.
Little Mary thought for a moment and then replied..........I
think Farmer Brown said....Holy shit, a talking chicken!
You see, Mary thought for a moment and concentrated on the
talking chicken aspect of that whole disaster, and could have
cared less whether or not the sky was falling.
As publishers, that's what we should be doing. Looking for, and
finding out about new laws and what's good for our subs. They
are counting on us to give them honest and accurate information.
We cannot ask them to re-subscribe in the next 48 hours, or they
will be deleted from our sub base, because of the new laws. When
we do that, we are sending a message to them that we were not
aware of things we should have been. I myself did not
re-subscribe to two newsletters because of that reason.
We have to do our homework and be on top of situations before
they happen. When I saw the trend of re-subscribing starting to
develop, I started asking questions of people I trust, and did
my own research.
I did not send my subs a re-subscribe email, because I knew I
was handling the new subs correctly. That's not being an in
-your-face know it all, that's the honest truth.
When we react hastily to any given situation we give up some of
our credibility as a professional. We don't want to do that, nor
do we want to create undo panic in the subscribers we all work
so hard to gain.
So, to everyone that publishes an ezine or newsletter, including
myself. I say, let's all remember this....... Hey Chicken
Little, The Sky Ain't Fall'in.
**************************************************************
Authors note: If any publishers would like information on where
to go to view the new s*am laws, (I have some great links from
Michelle at SDT AdVantage) or a copy of the welcome letter I
send to new subs, or other things related to protecting your
newsletter. Please feel free to contact me at
mailto:jcs795@adelphia.net. I will be more then happy to give
you all of the info I have gathered in last week.
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