Most of us have a 'built-in' resistance to change even when it's for our own good. Have you noticed that? It's understandable when faced with a death in the family or health issues or a job loss. There are ways to deal with that kind of loss and I came across an interesting article by Anne Riches in The Four Emotional Stages of Change.

The resistance to change I'm referring to is adapting to new technologies when they benefit both the publisher and the subscriber in equal measure.


The perfect example here is Quikonnex. Yes, I'm going to get on my little soapbox for a minute. I see many new publishers adopting the Quikonnex system for their ezines but they still send out an email issue. This is understandable in the beginning as they explain the new delivery process to their subscribers.

However, with all the challenges involved in using email as your main method of delivery, I don't understand why you'd want to keep using email as your main delivery mechanism when you could be publishing exclusively through Quikonnex.

I chose to publish using Quikonnex to decrease my workload - not add to it. eMail delivery just isn't worth the hassle - ISP filters, mail filters, spam and more spam, list maintenance tasks that drive you to distraction, optin vs. double optin and on and on. Through no fault of my own, I've had to suspend all my autoresponders because the addresses have been harvested. It's happened to all of us. Why? I think the biggest reason was that we wanted to be approachable - let people know we were real people operating a real business. Instead, email has brought most of us nothing but grief. Until a solution to that dilemma becomes apparent, email has lost its effectiveness as a viable delivery method. That's why I chose Quikonnex.

It's my feeling that we are sitting on a little goldmine here with Quikonnex. We should be shouting Quikonnex Rocks from the rooftops. We should be approaching every publisher we know and show them why publishing with Quikonnex makes sense. We have an excellent service that provides tons of support which is rare today.

Where else are you going to find a safe environment that provides the kind of support that Quikonnex does? I've seen other ezines tell their readers to go to their blog, download a reader and then tell them 'you figure it out'.

Quikonnex outshines any service that I've seen so far. It makes life easier for both the publisher and the subscriber. Quikonnex is a content management system that can be tied in to your website if you have one or run on its own if you don't have a site. You have the choice to publish in text, html, audio and even video. The database is fully searchable in QSearch. Do you understand the value that presents? Every article you post, every product or service you offer becomes part of a searchable database within the Quikonnex community.

The Quikonnex Forum is a treasure chest of information that will help you get your channel up and running efficiently in very little time. You just have to do a little reading.

The QMTP private messaging system saves loads of time on its own because I don't have to wade through email to communicate with people. How cool is that? You even have the option to set up QChat for your readers if you choose that option.

Last but certainly not least is QuikView. Now you have a cross-browser, cross-platform tool that will bring the channels to your subscriber's desktop using their browser. There is no longer any excuse for publishers to have to double up on their workload when they use Quikonnex to publish their content. Subscribers can easily subscribe to a channel using the QuikView sidebar in the browser of their choice.

I know it takes time to build a good list. And if it is a good list and your readers trust your judgment, they will listen to you when you tell them why you chose Quikonnex to publish your ezine.

I spent 3 1/4 hours on a teleseminar call with internet attorney Bruce Safran on Monday. It was an excellent call - very informative and I'll expand more on that later. There is one point that really stood out in my mind. The CAN-SPAM law went into effect on January 1st, 2004 however the FTC won't have the regulations set until September 2004.

So, while most publishers are responsible marketers and already follow the guidelines set out by the FTC, there will be some confusion until these regulations are actually set down.

To make 2004 a year to be remembered, we need to embrace the changes that are good for our business. We need to research and understand how the new laws affect us in business. We have to stay on top of new techonology. Those who resist these changes just aren't ready to move forward.

And that's My Two Cents.