Would you ever have imagined that the new spam laws around the
world could actually be a good thing? Before you say that I'm
crazy, think about the current situation for email marketers.
Then let me tell you why this could be the best thing that's
happened in a long time for your online home business.

Even considering the financial hit that some email publishers
will take to rebuild their lists after these laws take effect, if
you position yourself the right way, you can still come out on
top. It's called survival of the fittest, and it's all about
being willing to change the way you do business online.

You may be aware of the fact that it has been getting harder and
harder for legitimate email marketers to do business. The ongoing
fight with spam (and the anti-spam services) has been nothing but
a headache for all involved. As an email publisher, one has to
get their ezine or newsletter noticed in a sea of close to a
million others. What was once the great new opportunity is now
in need of major changes. So is the way you think about marketing
your small business by email.

Are you ready for this? It's time to do something that you hate,
it's time to get out of your comfort zone.

Many people have a hard time dealing with change. Any veteran of
business and marketing knows that keeping up with change, and
being able to stay one-step-ahead of it, is an important factor
for any small business. You are soon going to see some online
publishers abandon ship, after they can't get their readers to
submit the proper signup info or to signup again. This situation
will affect publishers that have had ISP problems (due to false
spam complaints) even more. It will cost a lot of time and money
to get their lists back to where they were before all of this
came about. Some people are just not prepared (or willing) to
make drastic changes to how they run their online home-based
business.

This is an opportunity for you. If you can change the way you
think about email marketing, while operating within these new
guidelines, you CAN find yourself at the top when the dust
settles. That's right, YOU can be at the top, along with the
handful of others that were also willing to do what it takes to
keep their email marketing activities alive and growing.

A smart man explained to me recently how important it is to
approach marketing from a proactive, not a reactive position.
Dealing with obstacles in a proactive manner will help prepare
your business for the future. This means planning for and
anticipating future problems directly related to your current
problem. Reacting to a situation will put you in with the rest of
the crowd that all did the same thing. But dealing with it by
turning the situation to your advantage will ensure that you will
be around for a long time.

By the way, the smart man I mentioned is Paul Myers. It would be
in your best interest to read more of what he has to say. Here's
a list building case study he has just completed, after helping
one of his online friends increase their subscriber conversion
rate by an astonishing 1500%. It won't cost you a dime, either.
One simple change can really make a big difference...
http://www.kljonline.com/dl/ListBuildingCaseStudy.pdf )

Soon you'll see that you will have less direct competition, and
your way of dealing with all of this will leave you able to carry
on your relationships with your email contacts with relative
ease. All because you were willing to leave your comfort zone,
and come up with your own ideas. Sure, notice what others are
doing that are in your situation, then use that knowledge to come
up with your own proactive, far-sighted solution to your problem.
Where will this current problem lead to in the next year? How can
I deal with this current situation, and come out on top in the
long-term? Don't be afraid to be different. Thinking differently
will enable you to do what others can't (or won't!).

A great way to get the creative ideas flowing is to ask yourself
one question each day. "What if...?" This question has taken man
to the moon, cured horrible diseases, and will surely give you
the ideas to deal with any problem, while others may see it as
hopeless. Use this question to come up with your own email
marketing strategy, and leave your competition behind. They will
be wondering what happened. You won't be wondering. You'll know
exactly what happened. You were willing to change, and the others
were not.