RSS Feed Email - Help or Hindrance {Work @ Home Blogger} + A Little R & R Wednesdays a Linky Party #46
If you subscribe to A Little R & R or Missional Call, you receive an email each time an article posts. Lately I have played around with "excerpts", which means, you receive the title and a link to click over to the blog to read it, and "full feed", which means the full post (including the graphic) appears in the email. You can read it right in your email inbox.
I actually have a question - a poll - about that. but before we get to that, let's look at whether or not this poses a problem.
Earlier this month, Amy Lynn Andrews revealed an issue with RSS feed emails and Amazon Associates. Fact is, if your full RSS feed goes out in an email to your subscribers, whether via Feedburner, MailChimp, Mad Mimi or any other subscriber service, you could be violating Amazon Associates' terms of service.
You can read her article here, because she clearly laid out a personal conversation she had with a representative at Amazon.
If you are an Amazon Associate, you need to read her article!
The question arises: do other affiliate programs have similar terms?
The bigger question is: how do we alert our subscribers to new content without violating Amazon's (and possibly other affiliate services') terms of service?
Here is where I need your help in decided which avenue YOU - my reader - prefer.
a) You can "truncate" your feed.
Blogger users: That means you place a "jump break" in your post where you want the "read more" to show up. Note: this will affect how your home page appears. When you do this, it will cause all of your posts on your home page to shorten to a excerpt with a "read now" where you placed your "jump break". (I actually like how this makes my home page appear - people can view more posts at one time) The same thing will happen in your newsletter.
Wordpress users: You don't have to do anything but set up your email service to send excerpts and not the full feed. The email service will automatically shorten the feed or simply send a title with a link attached.
The downside: Your image will not appear in the email. I have had very little action with this. My open and click rates are pretty low
b) You can send a weekly newsletter
At the end of each week, you send out a short newsletter. You can recap your week with a short personal note at the top, place thumbnail images from your posts with a small excerpt or description of the post and a link for your subscribers to click over and read what you offered that week.
The upside: This does not clog your subscribers' mailboxes with emails multiple times a week. It also offers them an overview of more content and a choice of what they will find. Another plus is that fewer emails combined with some personal content from you (and I would emphasize that you should write in a very personal, down-to-home nature...and brief!!) could offer more incentive to open and click over.
The downside: It will take a little more time on your part each week to put the newsletter together; and if there is something we all lack, it is time.
In the end, you have to know what your end goal is and weigh your options. Could you find an extra 20-30 minutes a week to do a nice, personal weekly newsletter? It could be very effective.
As my reader, which would you prefer from A Little R & R and Missional Call? A or B?
Take a few moments and sound off below. Vote and/or share any other options you think could be helpful in avoiding violations with affiliate merchants.
Be sure to enter to win a FREE copy of Tidbits from Help Meets' Hearts!!
Read my introduction to this new series here
**********
And now for the party!!!!
Here are the "rules"
1. Link up as many posts as you'd like (even giveaways!)
2. Link up old posts you wish would have received more attention!
3. Link back here by posting my button in your post or sidebar - or with a link
4. Visit the post just before yours
The party runs through next Tuesday evening!
So have FUN!
Click here to receive a weekly reminder about this party!
An InLinkz Link-up
Receive more articles like this by email
Receive more articles like this by email here: http://eepurl.com/B1WDf
I actually have a question - a poll - about that. but before we get to that, let's look at whether or not this poses a problem.
Earlier this month, Amy Lynn Andrews revealed an issue with RSS feed emails and Amazon Associates. Fact is, if your full RSS feed goes out in an email to your subscribers, whether via Feedburner, MailChimp, Mad Mimi or any other subscriber service, you could be violating Amazon Associates' terms of service.
You can read her article here, because she clearly laid out a personal conversation she had with a representative at Amazon.
If you are an Amazon Associate, you need to read her article!
The question arises: do other affiliate programs have similar terms?
The bigger question is: how do we alert our subscribers to new content without violating Amazon's (and possibly other affiliate services') terms of service?
Here is where I need your help in decided which avenue YOU - my reader - prefer.
a) You can "truncate" your feed.
Blogger users: That means you place a "jump break" in your post where you want the "read more" to show up. Note: this will affect how your home page appears. When you do this, it will cause all of your posts on your home page to shorten to a excerpt with a "read now" where you placed your "jump break". (I actually like how this makes my home page appear - people can view more posts at one time) The same thing will happen in your newsletter.
Wordpress users: You don't have to do anything but set up your email service to send excerpts and not the full feed. The email service will automatically shorten the feed or simply send a title with a link attached.
The downside: Your image will not appear in the email. I have had very little action with this. My open and click rates are pretty low
b) You can send a weekly newsletter
At the end of each week, you send out a short newsletter. You can recap your week with a short personal note at the top, place thumbnail images from your posts with a small excerpt or description of the post and a link for your subscribers to click over and read what you offered that week.
The upside: This does not clog your subscribers' mailboxes with emails multiple times a week. It also offers them an overview of more content and a choice of what they will find. Another plus is that fewer emails combined with some personal content from you (and I would emphasize that you should write in a very personal, down-to-home nature...and brief!!) could offer more incentive to open and click over.
The downside: It will take a little more time on your part each week to put the newsletter together; and if there is something we all lack, it is time.
In the end, you have to know what your end goal is and weigh your options. Could you find an extra 20-30 minutes a week to do a nice, personal weekly newsletter? It could be very effective.
As my reader, which would you prefer from A Little R & R and Missional Call? A or B?
Take a few moments and sound off below. Vote and/or share any other options you think could be helpful in avoiding violations with affiliate merchants.
Be sure to enter to win a FREE copy of Tidbits from Help Meets' Hearts!!
Read my introduction to this new series here
**********
And now for the party!!!!
Here are the "rules"
1. Link up as many posts as you'd like (even giveaways!)
2. Link up old posts you wish would have received more attention!
3. Link back here by posting my button in your post or sidebar - or with a link
4. Visit the post just before yours
The party runs through next Tuesday evening!
So have FUN!
Click here to receive a weekly reminder about this party!
An InLinkz Link-up
Receive more articles like this by email
Receive more articles like this by email here: http://eepurl.com/B1WDf
No comments have been added yet.
Rosilind Jukic's Blog
- Rosilind Jukic's profile
- 6 followers
Rosilind Jukic isn't a Goodreads Author
(yet),
but they
do have a blog,
so here are some recent posts imported from
their feed.
