What can I do about the ezine?

It seems like even paying out for a subscription email hosting service isn't enough to keep the spam from getting through and two more messages actually got sent out this week, to my horror. I'm paying as much as I can afford to, considering the ezine is free, but I'm not happy. If I can't find a solution, I'll end up closing the ezine down, unfortunately. I'd rather do that than take a chance that the next breach sees someone else actually get hold of your email addresses.

It's a bit like trying to figure out how to watch tv without seeing any ads, really. Not easy! (You can't even pay to see a movie at the cinema without getting them, these days, which I think is just rude, but that's another story.) I can only see about 4 options that have any hope of creating a spam-free list. I've put a quick poll up on the left for an instant response, but the details, pros and cons are:

1. I an abandon the ezine, and let you subscribe to "receive updates via email" (or RSS if you use a feedreader instead) when I post to this blog. On the plus side, it would still let you control your subscription and the spam (if any) would go into comments, which I can then delete. The down side is that it means I can't send you out private notices or negotiate any subscriber only specials & deals anymore, it would just be generic information which anyone could access.

2. I can ramp up the ezine and turn it into a membership site that can also give you access to downloads, forums, instant chat etc. The down side is that I've noticed a lot of the free membership sites are still subject to spam posting, including some pretty shocking videos on topics you wouldn't want your kids seeing, so I'd want to make sure I locked them out, and the only way to guarantee that right now is to have the site locked for subscription access - ie charge an access fee. To start off with, I'd only be looking at something like $7 a month, which would just about cover the cost of the software and the payment processing. As I add more bells and whistles and start getting more valuable stuff in there for you, the entry cost would have to go up, although that would be for new subscribers, not existing ones. You could post a comment below with what kind of things you'd want to get with this, as well, and I could work off that.

3. Download the list and send your ezine out manually. This would be slow, would take away the 'instant' ability to subscribe or unsubscribe because I'd have to find time to add, confirm, edit and remove email addresses, and I'd also have to keep up with changes in can-spam law etc. I really don't want to go down this road, since it would basically mean I'd only be posting every month or two, but it might be tolerable as an interim measure while I set up something else.

4. Upgrade to a subscription management service like aweber. Unfortunately again that's paid, and beyond what I've been forking out already to keep this ezine going. I'd need to turn the ezine into a paid subscription, although as with the membership option, this would mean I'd be putting a lot more time & effort into delivering you as much value as I could.

5. Anything else? Maybe you have a suggestion I haven't thought of yet - if you have then please just add your comment below and click the 'other' button on the poll. Comments do need you to put your email address, but that, ironically, is to prevent spam, and so if I have a reply I can send it to you.

Thanks heaps for your help, guys. I hope that this represents a growth opportunity for you as well as the ezine, because I've really enjoyed sharing with you. I wouldn't have been paying out of my own pocket to do so otherwise...

New url

Hi again. Long time no hear, but 14 hr days tend to do that to you. I'm travelling to and from work now, between 5 & 7 hrs a day. It's given rise to a new passion to build something online that can support me all the way out of this. So, between that and the fact that I lost the self-positivity domain while Mum was in hospital last year, I've re-kindled an old website and am blogging to that one as I test my way around the web.

You can see it at http://crystalsquest.blogspot.com - you won't miss out on anything since I've copied my posts of the past few months across, but that's where I'll be posting for now until I get the domain live. Oh, and I've finally figured out You-Tube so you'll actually see a bit of video there! (Web 2.0, here I come, ready or not...)

Take care, best wishes, and I hope to see you there.

Crystal

What I learnt in 2006

As part of my end of year process, I like to look back at what's happened in my life for the year, and what major lessons I've been facing (and hopefully learnt).

This year, of course, has mostly been taken up with the battle at work, facing off against a management culture of bullying and harassment who decided I was their next target, fighting to get the equipment I needed to do my job instead of rolling over and leaving like it seemed they wanted me to do. That's now been going on since November 2005, with the monitor anyway. The culture of course has been going for far longer than that and seen several others leave already.

The lesson I've learnt from it is summed up in a beautiful quote I found a few days back, author unknown:

"The only rights you have, are the ones you are willing to claim and fight for."

In the end, regardless of how much power or authority somebody has, when they try to abuse it and take actions that are against my own interest, it comes down to whether or not I allow it to happen. Nobody has any authority over me except with my consent, and I can withdraw it at any time so long as I am willing to pay the price. In this case, while the easier move would have been to leave the job, I knew that it would mean the next target/s would have it so much harder, just like my situation was worsened by how much they had already got away with. That was a price I didn't want on my conscience, and now, I know it won't be, because as a result of my actions there are more safeguards in place for others under the same management that they can draw on, than there were when I started fighting back. Of course that will only help if they choose to fight for their rights too, but that's not something I can make a decision about for anyone.

Of course, the end of this year was also marked by the illness and passing of my mother. There are many lessons she gifted me with throughout my life, but we had some wonderful conversations towards the end, and she told me how much it resonated with her when I told her of the ancient celtic attitude to birth and death - that a birth was to be mourned because life could be hard, but a death is a cause for celebration and rejoicing in the regained freedom of the soul. She asked me to take that attitude and apply it to her passing, and mostly I have been able to. I know and believe that she is not gone, just because there isn't something for me to see anymore. I feel her touching my life still, and the love between us will never pass, no matter what happens.

Most of all, though, I learnt that age is irrelevant - the people who touch your life are no more than a temporary loan to you, and you cannot expect it to last for any length of time, it can end with little or no warning at all. So, my new resolution is to take nobody for granted, and to live as though each day I have with friends and family might be the last. Since I can't say for sure that it won't be, it seems to be the best approach, and the richness of my connections since I've taken this attitude has been it's own reward.

So, in summary, what I choose to carry forward into 2007 are:

• my resolution to treasure every moment I have with those around me, and
  
• to continue refusing to allow the rights I have determined are important to me (freedom, health and welfare in particular) to be taken by ANYONE, no matter how much authority they appear to have.
  

Best wishes for a wonderful new year and may 2007 bring you all you wish for.

Crystal