I'm Just Sharing

Posted by Mitch on Nov 11, 2008

I was reading this post on Daily Blog Tips called 50 Simple Ways To Gain RSS Subscribers, and one of 50 points, number 5 to be more specific, said this: Write a post asking for people to subscribe.

I had to think about it, and truthfully, I don’t think I’ve ever written a post requesting that people subscribe to any of my feeds. I did write this post on what RSS feeds were, with a video no less, and mentioned that it would be nice if people subscribed to my feed, but I’ve never come right out and asked for it.

So I’m doing it now. For those readers who have no idea what RSS stands for, I recommend you click on the link I just gave you and watch the video I posted, which breaks it down nicely. For everyone else, though I can’t believe I’d have to tell you why it’s a good idea to subscribe to my feeds, of all things, well, y’all see how often I tend to write. I’d hate for you to miss any of my posts, especially the really poignant and funny ones, just because you happened to show up late. The front page only holds so many posts, after all, and some of my posts only stay on the main page 3 or 4 days. And, I’ve given people two ways to subscribe to the feeds, the regular way or by email. Now, the regular way offers different feed readers, one that can be put right into Firefox with an add-on called Sage. Of course there’s always Google Reader, which a lot of people like, and I’m a major advocate of Feedreader, the program I use because it’s not dependent upon browsers. There are many other programs, obviously, but I think these three get it done best.

Subscribe to my feed! Subscribe to my feed! Subscribe to my feed! Okay, now I’ve said it, and I’ve written it. And, by the way, this post now has me using 8 of the top 10 recommendations. That’s never a bad place to be.

33 Comments »

Sire:

Too late Mitch I’ve already subscribed

Sire´s last blog post..A Post That Will Inspire And Motivate

Mitch Reply:
November 11th, 2008 at 11:51 PM

You’re the man, Sire!

Sire Reply:
November 11th, 2008 at 11:55 PM

I know! That’s what I keep telling everybody but no-one will believe me

Mitch Reply:
November 11th, 2008 at 11:58 PM

Probably because once you’re a married man, it’s harder to find people who’ll say it to you. Trust me on that one.

Sire Reply:
November 12th, 2008 at 12:26 AM

Are you kidding, they wouldn’t even say it when I was single. No matter, cos we know that I’m the man. lol

Sire´s last blog post..A Post That Will Inspire And Motivate

November 11th, 2008 | 11:44 PM

Riyanne:

At first, I didnt get the RSS and why it is important in blogging. As I’ve started subscribing, it hit me that the purpose of subscriptions is to build a long term relationship between the blogger and the readers.

Riyanne´s last blog post..Teh Coolest Blog Contest!

Mitch Reply:
November 12th, 2008 at 8:06 AM

Yes, exactly Riyanne. People sometimes forget to stop by, but hope not to miss anything. By subscribing, one makes sure to never forget.

November 12th, 2008 | 5:11 AM

Dan:

I’v subscribed Mitch Its a good idea, albeit I did visit today on the realisation I wasnt getting emails from you haha – brilliant co-incidence!

Dan´s last blog post..Make Money From Blogs With No Readers

Mitch Reply:
November 12th, 2008 at 8:07 AM

That’s funny, Dan. I’m glad to help you figure out your coincidence.

November 12th, 2008 | 7:24 AM

Ar:

I’ve always thought that RSS was Really Sophisticated Syndication…and…it’ll always be (for me alone?).

Mitch Reply:
November 12th, 2008 at 11:00 AM

I agree with you, AR, the term “simple: is a misnomer because it seems quite difficult to me.

November 12th, 2008 | 10:08 AM

How To Get More RSS Subscribers For Legitimate Home Internet Business | Work From Home Business Blog:

[...] Yes very often your readers need some coaxing even when it is free, good quality stuff and no strings attached. So don’t think twice about putting it on your posts. Just get that message across and ask them nicely “subscribe to my blog“. [...]

November 12th, 2008 | 10:41 AM

rummuser:

I have subscribed Mitch. All the best.

rummuser´s last blog post..The Refugee Problem In India – II

Mitch Reply:
November 12th, 2008 at 1:42 PM

Thanks rummuser; I appreciate the follow.

November 12th, 2008 | 12:01 PM

Trade Show Guru:

hi Mitch,
I’ve been meaning to subscribe to your blog, but to be honest, it was this post that got me to do it. So I guess you’re right, sometimes you just have to ask.
~ Steve (aka the trade show guru)
PS. The second link in your post (RSS feeds) goes to the same place as the first link, not the post you wrote.

Trade Show Guru´s last blog post..Trade Show Zen

Mitch Reply:
November 12th, 2008 at 1:46 PM

It’s fixed now, Steve; thanks for catching that. And thanks for subscribing. I subscribe to a lot of feeds myself, which is easy to do with my reader.

November 12th, 2008 | 12:32 PM

Kikolani | Poetry, Photography, Blogging Tips:

I’ve already subscribed too! One thing you could try is posting in groups related to blogs or RSS subscription exchanges, and ask people to subscribed to your blog if they are interested in [description of your blog's topic here]. BlogCatalog has a lot of RSS subscription exchange groups, and you can actually stumble upon great blogs by doing that.

~ Kristi

Kikolani | Poetry, Photography, Blogging Tips´s last blog post..Using Demotivators Posters to Find Motivation

Mitch Reply:
November 12th, 2008 at 7:25 PM

Well Kristi, I don’t want to overdo it in that fashion. Whereas this post was somewhat tongue in cheek, I can’t see pimping myself in such a fashion just to gain subscribers. What I will hope, though, is that the boost I get from some folks who see this post will trickle over into others who might see it through CommentLuv and wander over to see what the fuss is all about.

Besides, I want to catch Dennis the honest way. lol

Dennis Edell Reply:
November 13th, 2008 at 11:23 AM

You callin’ me out? LOL

There’s nothing “dishonest” there. There are feed lists everywhere and you should be on as many as possible…it’s one of my next steps.

Dennis Edell´s last blog post..10 Effective Joint Venture Ideas To Get You Started

Mitch Reply:
November 13th, 2008 at 11:59 AM

Who, me, calling you out? :-O Nah! Who knows, I might look into certain things, but I’m not going to push myself for subscribers. I’d like people to come here and subscribe, and I’ll pimp myself here, but that’s about it for now.

Dennis Edell Reply:
November 13th, 2008 at 2:52 PM

“I’d like people to come here and subscribe”

Exactly the point my man! How will they do that if you don’t put yourself out there!

What am I missing?

Dennis Edell´s last blog post..10 Effective Joint Venture Ideas To Get You Started

Mitch Reply:
November 13th, 2008 at 3:17 PM

I guess I should have said by trying to be a bit more organic, leaving comments on other posts and such. Course, maybe you should explain more about these RSS exchange groups.

Dennis Edell Reply:
November 13th, 2008 at 3:59 PM

I’ve never been a part of one, but you can check blogcatalog as Kristi suggested.

What I’m going to start doing is submitting to feed directories…similar to blog directories except you enter your feed URL instead.

Like other directories, I’m sure you can Google a ton of ‘em… here’s one of a few I have saved.

Dennis Edell´s last blog post..10 Effective Joint Venture Ideas To Get You Started

November 12th, 2008 | 5:10 PM

John Sullivan@POTPOLITICS™:

Hi Mitch
Wanted to thank you for stopping by my blog and i can see that you already have some cool people coming around your place here.Some cool information also. I resist the whole marketing affiliate thing and don’t know why But I’m making great money as one so it doesn’t make much sense:)You seem like real cool people so I’m going to look around and sign up and hope to see and hear more from you Thanks
Your new friend
Feel free to stop by and if there’s anything I can do to help ya just give me a holla,in fact if you need to do a guest post about your blog just let me know:)And I never had anyone guest post or any marketing on my blog
Stumbled

John Sullivan@POTPOLITICS™´s last blog post..Why do you blog ?

Mitch Reply:
November 12th, 2008 at 8:22 PM

Hi John; thanks for stopping by, and for the nice words about my blog. Truthfully, I like the affiliate marketing thing, and I like experimenting with it, then writing about the experiments as I go along. I figure I’ll either make money because people are clicking on things, or make money because people trust what I’ll say enough to buy other stuff I’ll market. All in all, though, it’s a lot of fun. Thanks; I’ve subscribed to your feed also.

November 12th, 2008 | 7:49 PM

Danny Brown:

Nothing wrong with asking, Mitch!

One thing you could do (and it’s worked pretty well for me) is to encourage at the end of each post. Just a simple message or footer:

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment and subscribe to my RSS feed or via email to ensure you can enjoy the latest post(s).

It’s not too “in your face” and it does encourage a response.

Danny Brown´s last blog post..5 Ways to Ruin a Perfectly Good Twitter Relationship

Mitch Reply:
November 13th, 2008 at 1:55 AM

Based on your recommendation, and a post I read in Yan’s blog, I have added something at the end of each post. Take a look; I hope that works wonders for me.

November 12th, 2008 | 10:55 PM

Blog for Beginners:

Writing a good landing page is really a good idea. Something I’m yet to do it myself. I guess I need to go back to my drawing board for some brainstorming.