It’s Time To Bury The Shoe
As many of you know, Shoemoney and I are in a little RSS competition this month. The rules are simple enough. We take our FeedBurner chicklet reading at the start of the month, then take it again at the end of the month to see who can generate the most new RSS subscribers. This was the chicklet reading at October 1.
I came flying out of the gate but Shoe didn’t do much (other than an annoying pop up asking readers to subscribe to his blog) until last week. That’s when he unloaded a huge $13,000 RSS contest. You would think with a promotion like that he’ll be able to blow right pass me. Well, as of today, I have widen my lead by 1,670 readers. Here is where the FeedBurner chicklets stands today.
This competition is pretty much over. Unless Shoe does something amazing, there’s no way he’ll catch up. Shoe unleashed his big $13,000 gun and I pulled away by over 1,600 readers. As a matter of fact, I am only 579 readers away from having more total RSS readers than Shoemoney!
Be Part of Internet History
I have a new goal. Not only will I beat Shoemoney in this competition, but at the end of the month I will have more total RSS readers than him! And you can be part of it! Imagine the kind of underdog story that would make? I started this competition with 2,248 fewer RSS readers. Now, I’m only 579 away from overtaking him!
Subscribe to my feed, sign up to my RSS by Email, download my toolbar and tell all your friends to do that same. Blog about it and tell your readers to subscribe. Be part of Internet history by making one of the biggest Internet marketer go down in humiliating defeat! 
More Prizes To Be Given Away
Tomorrow, I will be giving away two $25 New Egg Gift card from Team Tutorials, two $25 Barnes & Noble gift cards by Shaun Carter, a 300×250 ad spot on John Cow, and $300 of promotional pens from 1234.pens. I will be drawing the winners from the readers who subscribed to my RSS by Email. If you haven’t done so, do it now. Sign up here.
*Update – I am now just 279 away from overtaking the Shoe!
Did you enjoy this post? Get John Chow Dot Com updates via email...
Stay up to date with all of John Chow’s tips for making money online and blog posts by subscribing via email. Your email will be kept private and never shared with anyone.
One of the most common complaint (or excuse) I hear from potential new bloggers is they don’t know how to install WordPress. Terms like FTP and CPanel are like a foreign language and setting up a database might as well be setting up the space shuttle for a launch. Because of the technology barrier, many would-be bloggers never start their blogs...
{ 67 comments }
Hi John.
Any bonus points for unsubscribing to Shoe and subscribing to your feed?
You should make a push for that.
Jason
If you think either Shoe or myself would ask readers to unsubscribe from the other’s feed, then you missed the whole point of this competition.
Apparently so, but I do read both of your regularly.
Id imagine the goal of the contest was to help both of them gain RSS subscribers, not just to win a contest.
Precisely. The aim wasn’t to attack the other, but improve one’s self.
lol
I think this is a “friendly competition”. I subscribed both blogs.
There are few points to be watched :
1. it promotes the awareness of RSS for the blogging community.
2. it generates a wave of traffic in the blogsphere.
3. it attracts more new readers to the blogsphere.
4. traffic brings more $$$.
5. it brings more internet users to read blogs. The 10k or 20k readers is null compare to the internet users.
Just my 2c.
You got it! I will help, a few good little prizes
Thats the spirit. Keep it up
I love underdog competition…go go go
If you measure the number of subscribers on one day exactly at the end of the month, here’s the secret for winning.
You must help feedburner estimate your existing number of readers higher.
You can do this by increasing both the number of people who view your posts, and those who click-through.
Here are some ideas to do that, focusing one or two days just before the final stats are taken:
1. Post many times (more than usual) with really catchy titles.
2. Include a posts that requests your feed readers to view and clickthrough.
3. Use a video posts that does not embed the flash, but has an image with links through to the video itself.
4. Post content that everyone is waiting for… (e.g. exclusive preview of your earnings this month). Encourage clickthrough for more insights on a separate page.
5. Also, you could encourage feedburner’s stats a bit by embedding their tracking “img” tag on your website too!!! (This is a feedburner PRO feature.)
I hope that helps!
alexjc
Haha… you crack me up John. This is a great idea you have going here. *Clicks Subscribe*
As for the post above me – this guy deserves to win something…
You have this one in the bag John.
you never came above Shoemoneys RSS feed count, and probably will never do.. imo.
You are about to be proven wrong.
I think who ever has the most RSS feed readers after the competition is the most successful
ok , show me
give me $20 if you can do so 
Are you seeking for trouble here? John Chow’s supporters is all over the place and you are having this kind of statement?
Well done man, didn’t think you could do it!
This has really been an interesting competition. Not only that, but it got me to think about the importance of RSS subscriptions.
I just subscribed to your feeds.
I own a small blog. Can you add review from my blog(about 20$) on prize list?
Thanks for the offer but I don’t need any more prizes.
Ok, no problem. Maybe next time, when my blog will be more popular
Good luck
. I still think Shoe will win though 
.
It’s proven difficult to wear the shoe out, with his $13K giveaway. Still 10+ days to go.
John, got any more tricks up your sleeve?
Of course.
Ofcourse.
Anyhow. Shoe’s strategy is for each person to subscribe multiple times. 5+ reader & email accounts.
thats chows strategy too. i think its dumb. especially since you are only getting 1 actual reader per each of the follwing (rss subscription, email, toolbar). its just pumped up numbers that allow them to sell themselves more. both to potential advertisers (I have 10K readers via email and RSS [when they really only have half of that as actual human beings, or less] ) and to other readers to build up their blogging street cred.
It’s inevitable that, RSS subscribers for both will plummet as soon the competition end. The numbers won’t remain as high.
Nonetheless, they both have lured new unique subscribers in the process that will still be subscribed come November.
I agree with Israel that numbers are bloated and make a wrong impression. Probably advertisers pay a lot more than they actually would. OTOH, isn’t it what most ‘make money’ blogs about? We may not like their techniques but they still work. ….
@Israel
I agree with Israel that numbers are bloated and make a wrong impression. Probably advertisers pay a lot more than they actually would. OTOH, isn’t it what most ‘make money’ blogs about? We may not like their techniques but they still work. ….
You have to remember that a person is more likely to read the blog more often if he is reminded about it in his mail inbox as well as his rss feeder.
I only read RSS at home, and I only read email at work. Even though I am one reader I read more posts and generate more pageviews if I have several RSS subscriptions.
Too bad that number’s going to crash when the competition is over, and people who are subscribed to both the Feed and Email unsubscribe from one of them.
I think there will be quite a crash too, it would be interesting to see who retains the most new RSS subscribers after another month.
indeed and that should be the the contest, whose drops the least, and you cant promote or do anything to keep them high.
go john go!! you got my vote buddy!!
newegg gift certs > crappy ebooks
chow 4tw
Well i am already subscribed so I don’t know of what kind of other help I could be. Of course, i will give that small push I can with blog post
I’m with Mr. Anon — Any NewEgg gift cert blows away ebooks. Unless of course they’re ebooks about making money online
I am guessing its the 13000 USD worth of prices which might have gotten to your subscribers. As soon as you blogged about it, most of your readers jumped the notch and joined the others so to speak.
Genius. All RSS acronyms automatically point to John’s feed.
Well done, John. Again you have shown the Shoe that noone beats good chow.
I have just added myself to e-mail announcements on top of the “usual”/normal RSS-feed just to take part in some of those prizes.
It could always be fun to say this came from you. I might even write on the blog about it at: http://www.tjenfritid.dk/blog….
Shalom
It’s amazing how you’ve added additional 4000 subscribers in just couple weeks! Great job Mr. Chow!
And you just made me so very curious that Shoe’s blog was also added to the RSS-feed…..
It wouldn’t be fair not to do so.
Somehow the Shoemoney site is cluttered with too much graphics, or maybe it’s just me…..
It looks like it`s all but over now.
Haha, nothing like a little competition!
Next month competition : “Help us to retain the most rss reader!”
“They think it’s all over….It is now!!”
Congrats john, well done.
Good idea and Great tool
Go John Go!
I am waiting for the results to come. Lets see who wins the race !!!
Hmmmm I am so excited…
Well I’m subscribed to you via Email and RSS and I would help spread it more by blogging on it and what not but I won a free Million Euro Wiki page like two days ago and still haven’t received my page or login details
Way to go John! I guess your evil toolbar did the trick..
But the toolbar was just release!
I’m in of course, i’m a John’s supporter.
I thought the shoe was buried, but it came back and it haunts you, John
Hey John Cheers again!!!
Update – and your RSS feed status has risen again to over 12000 but still under Shoe’s
No worries, something will happen here sooner or later. Just stay tune for more John Chow tricks.
Check the graph of the competition on my blog:
http://blog.nafurai.com/2007/10/charts-john-chow-vs-shoemoney/
I think John’s number are impressive.. more than 40% increase. Even if Shoe will have increased more than John, I think he will never reach John’s growth rate. 40%!!
WAY TO GO CHOW!!! I hate that Shoe!! Take him down!!!
The shoe is going down in flames
begging for readers is kind of pathetic.
An excellent post to get some subscribers! 300 to go as of now and 9 days left
Well John I just subscribed to your feed then as I hadn’t resubscribed after reinstalling Ubuntu.
hurray go on chow go on ….!! n kick shoe’s ass…. im very excited can’t wait for 1st of November…