Take a look around many popular blogs, and you’ll find several options for subscriptions. On this site, there are at least three ways to subscribe to On Living By Learning and additional options for subscribing to the comments. You can’t miss the prominently displayed links to subscribe by Email or RSS Feed Reader on the upper-right-hand corner and also at the end of each post. I’ve even included an Email subscription box above.
So, why am I making such a big deal about reader subscriptions?
Reasons For Subscriptions
I’ve done just about everything I can think of to entice you, Dear Reader, to return for more of my articles.
You may be wondering if I’m doing this to make money.
And yes, someday, I would love to earn an income from my writing. Some blog authors command a lucrative income from renting advertising space on blogs with a high subscription rate. My blog; however, is not in that league. Far from it.
No, I want to encourage visitors to subscribe to On Living By Learning because I want a diverse audience.
One of the best aspects of posting a blog article is that it is a didactic conversation. When I post an article, that isn’t the end of the story. Readers can add so much to the topic through comments. They can elaborate on the subject, pick up on unconsidered elements, even provide a worthy dissent. In this sense, blog posts are collaborative.
It’s even better when a myriad of voices, from across the country and around the world, weigh in with their point of view. Subscribed readers, who receive every article when it is posted, can add to the blog post with their comments as soon as it’s published.
Even when readers don’t comment, it’s encouraging to know that I’m writing for a wide audience.
How Can Visitors Subscribe To On Living By Learning
Readers have two basic ways to subscribe: on a RSS Feed Reader, or via Email subscription.
In Control Online Information: Use RSS, I describe feed readers and explain how they can enable readers to stay on top of the Internet information overload. I highly recommend that everyone learn to take advantage of this technological breakthrough.
For those who aren’t ready to set up a feed reader, it’s even easier to subscribe by Email in just 5 Steps:
- Click on the hyperlink that says “Click here for updates by Email.”
- You will be directed to the Feedburner Email Subscription Request page where you will input your Email address.
- Enter the Spam Prevention Text.
- Click on the Complete Subscription Request button.
- Check your Email Inbox for the Verification Email. It will be there within hours; however, it sometimes goes to your Junk or Spam folder. Check there if it isn’t in your regular Email Inbox. You have to click on the hyperlink in the Verification Email or you won’t be subscribed to receive articles.
Personally, I use both methods to subscribe to blogs. I put all the blogs that I want to follow into various folders (ex. Education News, Blog Tools) in my Bloglines Feed Reader. This way, I know that I don’t miss any articles and I can catch up with them in batches.
For those blogs that I want to be able to comment on as soon as articles post, I subscribe by Email.
Audience Information
Now, you may be questioning, how does the blog owner know anything about the audience?
This is where Internet tools get really interesting.
Blog owners can use programs like FeedBurner, Pmetrics, or Google Analytics to see reader locations, language used, what topics interest them, pages visited, outgoing clicks, previous site, and incoming links.
I get a thrill when I see that my reader subscription has gone up, and that readers are joining from all over the world.
So, pretty please with sugar and icing on top, won’t you please subscribe to my blog?
If you would like to receive free articles from On Living By Learning by email, click this link. You can also click here to receive updates on a RSS Feed Reader.
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