Hey Chicken Little, The Sky Ain't Fall'in

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.