New Blog Milestone - 15,000 RSS Subscribers
Yesterday, this blog showed a RSS count of 10,685 because Feedburner forgot to show the number of RSS by email subscribers. Today, that oversight has been corrected and this blog broke 15,000 RSS readers. It took the blog 20 months to go from zero to 6,000 RSS readers and just six months to go from 6,000 to 15,000.
As I’ve stated in my BlogOnExpo video, your RSS subscription base is your blog foundation. RSS is the main thing I work on because it’s the only thing that I can control. As hard as I tried, I can’t control Google (if anything, Google controls you) so I don’t worry about it. However, RSS is something within my control. I know that if my RSS base is big enough, then nothing can take me down. I have wrote several articles on how to increase RSS subscription. For those who missed them, here they are again:
- How To Increase RSS Subscriptions
- How I Gain 4,691 RSS Reader In 1 Month
- How To Get RSS Readers To Visit Your Blog
- Evil Way To Increase RSS Subscriptions (This is more of a joke post)
You want people to add your feed to their RSS reader because it serves the same purpose as a bookmark. Remember how hard web publishers used to encourage readers to bookmark their sites? RSS is the new bookmark - having 15K RSS readers is the same as having 15K bookmarks.
RSS Number Double, RSS Ad Price Stay The Same
I opened RSS text ads back in August when the FeedBurner reader showed 7,727 RSS. Back then the price was $200 per month. Today, the RSS numbers have more than double but the price is still $200 per month. If you haven’t taken advantage of this advertising opportunity, then now would be the time to do so.
RSS text ads can have a full 80 character title and 150 letter description. It’s a great value and a fantastic way to reach over 15,000 readers everyday. If you’re interested in buying a RSS text ad, send the text and URL to johnchow@johnchow.com and pay with the PayPal link below.
- Posted in Make Money Online, The Net
- 92 comments what's your take?
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- New Blog Milestone - 38,000 RSS Subscribers
- New Blog Milestone - 6000 RSS Readers
- Miscellaneous Ramblings - 2/20/2008
- Miscellaneous Rambling - Quantum of Solace Edition
- New Blog Milestone - 7000 RSS Readers
- What You Should Know About RSS Advertising on JohnChow.com
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Congratulations on the huge increase in readers!
Reply to this commentCongrats, I think the competition helped a lot.
Reply to this commentJohn, ProBlogger has you beat. They jumped up by almost 60k in one day! http://www.problogger.net/archives/2008/01/18/the-day-feedburner-stats-went-crazy/
Reply to this commentOk, so it’s a glitch but still…
Yeah, but how long did it take to get the first 100 RSS subscribers?
Reply to this commentA long time! Back then I didn’t even display my RSS link.
Reply to this commentIf you don’t blow your trumpet, who is going to blow it for you
Reply to this commentThe flip side of that would be if you have to blow your own trumpet maybe it’s not worth blowing…
Reply to this commentIt becomes easier with each barrier you cross. It will be far easier to go from 1k readers to 2k, for example, than it was to reach a RSS readership of 1k people in the first place.
Alan Johnson
Reply to this commentI hope so! I’m closing in on 1k myself and would love to be able to hit 2k quicker than I hit 1.
Reply to this commentFirst of all, congratulations
Secondly, it will certainly be the case since, think about it: when your blog is new and you don’t have an impressive RSS readership, your content should definitely be something special in order to convince people that they should subscribe.
But when you display your RSS link and visitors see that 1k people have already subscribed to your blog via RSS, the “hey, 1k people can’t be wrong, this one must be worth it” thought starts kicking in.
Best wishes,
Alan Johnson
Reply to this commentCongratulations, John. It must definitely feel good to hit such a milestone.. I’m still working on getting to 100, lol.
Reply to this commentYea same here. then again I have zero rss subscribers
Reply to this commentI just subscribed, so now you have at least one.
You should make it more obvious for people to subscribe to your feed. Haven’t you been reading johnchow.com?
Reply to this commentAll blogs, even this one, start with 0 RSS subscribers. If your blog is worth it, people will gladly subscribe and in the end, it’s all up to you: you can either leave things at that or start working towards achieving your desired results.
Alan Johnson
Reply to this commentI only keep going from 0-10 every so often and I’m currently sitting at 2, so hopefully it will just take time, effort, good content and things should happen. I’ve subscribed to your blog, so there is another subscriber for you
Carl - Thatblogsite.com
Reply to this commentcongrats man! 15k rss viewers is insane!
Reply to this commentI know that it is a good achievement, but John’s Alexa ranking has gone down and he is now over 3500.
Reply to this commentProblogger and Shoemoney are also over 3,000 as well. Ya, we’re all super worry about Alexa.
The fact that you comment about it show you don’t know what it really takes to make money online.
Reply to this commentThat is right John, I don’t make money online for a living and probably don’t have the skill. But don’t you get a little worried when your Alexa is still decreasing? Or is it that more and more people are choosing to read your site via rss feed or that people want to have a look at alternative sites.
Reply to this commentJohn, it seems that you bash which ever service that doesn’t give you a good score.
It means that Alexa goes in trends and is in no way reflective of real traffic. Plot of six month Alexa graph between me, Shoe and Problogger. You’ll see we both go up and down on Alexa at the same time. Alexa only measures traffic from people who run the Alexa toolbar. Don’t run the toolbar? You don’t count. This post should explain it: http://www.johnchow.com/why-alexa-is-worthless/
Here’s another one for you. This blog has a better Alexa ranking than The TechZone. Guess which site gets more traffic? I’ll give you a hint. It’s not JohnChow.com.
Reply to this commentYou’re right John, Alexa sucks, how many people out there have that stupid Alexa_Toolbar. they are presumptuous.
Reply to this commentThanks john for telling us.
Reply to this commentAlexa rank is one of those things about which all webmasters know that they are worthless, yet a lot of advertisers who should know better pay attention to them. I’d say the same thing applies to PR nowadays.
Alan Johnson
Reply to this commentThan why do you still use the Alexa ranking stat in your advertise page. I find it funny that you have updated your feed stat to 15000+ but not your Alexa ranking to 3000+
Reply to this commentwell done!
Reply to this commentJohn,
Not trying to be a hater but I’m not sure why people are subscribing to your RSS now. Is it just a case of success attracts people? For the past couple weeks and I might venture to say months you haven’t really offered any educational or useful blog posts. It’s all been I’m going to this event, I achieved this, I ate this or we ate here and so and so is doing this.
I like you and your blog but haven’t felt there has been a lot of value lately. Hopefully there are some good posts lined up.
Reply to this commentValue is different for everybody. One man’s junk is another man’s treasure. You may not be seeing the value in the past few posts because you haven’t been taught the value of dream building. There are lessons in those post if you can see them.
Reply to this commentAnd tax write-offs in the meals
Reply to this commentDo you get a tax write-off for photographed lunches, even if your blog doesn’t make money?
Reply to this commentIt’s a part of his brand and business model, since even the title states: “I Make Money Online by Telling People How Much Money I Make Online”
Alan Johnson
Reply to this comment15k RSS subscribers is NOT the same as 15k bookmarks. I have tons of bookmarks, most of which I’ll probably never look at again (thanks for keeping them organized del.icio.us), but only the feeds that are truly exceptional will last in my RSS reader. An RSS reader is far superior to a bookmark.
Reply to this commentI was going to write a comment saying pretty much the same thing, but you beat me to it. The key difference between an RSS reader and a bookmark is that the former is (typically) visited on a near-daily basis whereas the latter gets lost in the pile and possibly never revisited again.
Reply to this commentAnd, you beat me too, by about 2:17.
Reply to this commentYou’re right about bookmarks. I never even made much use of bookmarks when they were the “in” thing. You bookmark a site because you want to go back, but then you get so many bookmarks, you rarely ever go back to any of those sites again.
And, I always thought of bookmarks as being for sites you don’t visit every day.
Nowadays, if I find something interesting, I can blog about it and link to the site. Then, if I want to find that link again, I just do a search on my blog! I not only have a title to look for but the related content too. A post is more likely to contain multiple terms for the link, so you have many more words to search for than you would with a bookmark.
I haven’t added a new bookmark to my web browser in months, if not years.
Reply to this commenthohoho..very tactically from admin!!
Reply to this commentCongratulations on your latest blog milestone.
Reply to this commentCongratulations John, I’m working to be there one day.
Reply to this commentWow you beat me of 15k rss readers.. Congratulations John!
Reply to this commentWith the right time, resources and commitment I dare say anyone can get to where John is. Sure it takes a lot of skill and determination but probloggers do tell you how they’re doing a lot of things. Congrats to John for reaching 15k subscribers - very impressive.
It’s all about offering value and shameless self promotion - it’s a simple formula. However the time, skill and (dare I say it) luck that is required means most people fail to get there.
Reply to this commentThe biggest mistake people make is that they give up once they start losing momentum. Sure, it’s great when your project is hot off the stove and you feel excited but you will eventually lose momentum and that’s when a lot of people start giving up on a project with some more than decent potential.
Alan Johnson
Reply to this commentOn the flip side, you can stick to it day after day and still not get anywhere. Building the audience is the toughest part. There are certain milestones to reach, and they only seem easy to reach once you have surpassed them.
Back when I started blogging, I thought it would take a long time to build up my Technorati rank. I was at around 4 or so when I changed domain names, so I had to start all over and worried how long before I’d have 4 again. Then, 10 seemed an impossibility. 100 an improbability. But, I eventually surpassed both of those. Then 150 was much more difficult to reach, but I broke that too. Now, it’s a struggle to even reach 200!
If I were to start a new blog, reaching that 10 ranking would be almost a breeze the second time around!
Now, if only I could break the pennies per month monetization barrier…
Reply to this commentAlan, that’s a very good observation and I think until my latest blog that’s been my mistake. I haven’t had the discipline to stick to it and push through that barrier. However, I will say that making money off a project is a BIG help to me in making sure I stick with it.
Reply to this commentDiscipline is always a must since, let’s face it, none of the A-list bloggers have had it easy when starting out. You have to let people know you’re out there on the one hand and let them know that you’re in it for the long haul on the other.
Sure, sometimes you simply don’t feel like writing and on other occasions, you seem to be able to come up with great content like there’s no tomorrow. Maximizing results on days when inspiration is on your side is the name of the game and the biggest mistake a lot of bloggers make is the fact that they don’t write or at least plan their posts in advance. As a result, they can find themselves staring at their screen and wondering what on earth they should write about on a day when they simply can’t come up with anything
Alan Johnson
Reply to this commentOOOPS - John you broke 15,000 last week, your count hit 15007 I believe. I even made an off topic “CONGRATS!!” comment. You were at the expo at the time. Was everyone else sleeping it off too?
Reply to this commentIt doesn’t count until he’s actually blogged about it.
Reply to this commentHeh, thats very true DCR
Reply to this commentCongratulations John, thats for the links to those RSS help posts to. I keep going between 0 and 10 subscribers, its hard to get going.
Anyway next up 20k Subscribers, good luck!
Reply to this commentGood job, that’s a BIG number. What’s the next milestone? 30000?
Well, I guess my blog stayed behind, but it’s running to catch you! Will i be able to overrun you?
Reply to this commentCongratulation John for yet another milestone. I am proud to be one of the subscriber (via email) of Johnchow.com ………………
Reply to this commentCongrats John! To help you celebrate, how about giving away some free RAM you picked up at CES to one or two lucky readers of this post?
We know how generous you are.
Reply to this commentWow, 15000 subscribers. Congrats on a job well done..
Reply to this commentI don’t recall feedburner having any problems yesterday John. Similar to your blog, I also get mainly e-mail subscribers, but I didn’t see any such drop yesterday.
Is this a global thing or ONLY your RSS dropped? I just want to make sure
-Mike
Reply to this commentI know it affect some. Blog Storm made a post about it.
Reply to this commentCongrats men, keep it up,
Icons gets it all
Reply to this commentwow!… great news john!
Reply to this commentWell John, I’m no dummy, I know you’ve had your RSS #’s rigged for awhile…(just joking ;)) Thanks for the links to all of your previous helpful RSS posts
Reply to this commentIt was never rigged. I just never showed the count until it was over 1,000.
Reply to this commentThats a great tip all by itself. If someone sees that you have 4 subscribers they’ll leave fast (like eeewww!!). New blogs have it TOUGH now unless they know someone. (or tickle John in the right spots)
Reply to this commentExactly, there is little point in showing your RSS count until you have something impressive to show, just like sharing your trafic details when you’re not receiving numbers which are that great is a bad idea as well.
Alan Johnson
Reply to this commentCongragulations… its a bit of a challenge, especially when somebody like me is receiving almost 75-80 unique visitors in the first 2 weeks I’ve been open and only 2 subscribers.
I’m apparently doing something wrong
Reply to this comment75-80 in total? Thats not horrible. Not everyone is going to subscribe. I get about 1000 visitors a day and only have 30-40 subscribers.
Reply to this commentThat is good it means you have a good blog.
Reply to this commentYou may consider strengthening your call to action for the subscription but overall I wouldn’t worry too much about those numbers just yet. Right now it’s all about establishing a base of your content and then promoting it a bit. Worry about the subscription numbers later.
Reply to this commentI agree, publishing quality content on a regular basis should be your main concern since, in the end, that’s what will convince people that your blog is worth it in the first place. If your blog is actually worth it, it’s only a matter of time until results start kicking, having a solid foundation upon which you can build is always a must.
Alan Johnson
Reply to this commentJohn when are you going to put out some quality posts? No offense, but your latest posts has all been about CES, and food, videos, and nonsense. This isn’t a bad RSS post but it’s not so much of a good post either. Looks like Michael Kwan is the one writing for this blog now.
Reply to this commentRead the tag line: The miscellaneous Ramblings of a Dot Com Mogul. If you want to apply and write for the blog, then send your a post you consider quality and I’ll take a read.
Reply to this commentThose are just some great numbers there John. I think you should start another contest with another big name blogger (it could help reach 20k? :P).
Reply to this commentGoogle controls you for sure. Nice work on the increase
Reply to this commentah unfortunately many people do that 4th tip
Reply to this commentit’s your fault john! your fault! :kidding:
Your post is good and the number of subscribe readers is a lot, mine only a small amount, still trying to get more feed readers.
Reply to this commentAt this moment I am reading your free make money online book which I downloaded after I become your subscriber, aside from your tutorial of making money, I am curious and wonder (out of my naive as a newbie) is how many email address you have to manage and run all of your blog site and how many passwords you have now? are you using same email for all or each email or each project has it’s own email account? and…how to manage that? I look forward to have a response from you,
have a great day..cheers
Reply to this commentbali dream home
Actually, I was talking about the sudden fall of your subscriber with one of my fellow blogger and here you are with a nice article. Hey, John, I think you read peoples mind or what?
I was awed by the subscriber number when I first visited your blog some 1 month ago. and thanks..seeing you on YouTube, giving interviews,sharing tips, hah?
You hit when it mattered. Now, I suspect If anyone could reach your status. Do we have any chance??
Reply to this commentOf course you have a chance, all blogs start with no RSS subscribers, a PR of 0 and 1 visitor (yourself). In the end, it’s entirely up to you: if you are able to give it 110% even when all goals seem out of reach, you might just stand a chance. If not, then I’m afraid that a 9-5 job is the way to go.
Alan Johnson
Reply to this commentCongratulation John. Nice work and nice blog you have.
Reply to this commentHi John. Nice to see your blog. I have just subscribed to your news letter and will read your new ebook after this. How is our agloco.com. Have you been paid any by agloco? I haven’t displayed the viewbar this month. Share the news with me if you know more than I do.
Reply to this commentI’ve started liking you
Reply to this commentI used to visit Shoemoney’s blogs for a long-time (not any more)… but you’ve worked for me… last night i read your e-book… was great!
I’ve also hided my RSS-Subscribers as you said it to hide until i have minimum 50 readers… but its a hard job…
You did a fantastic job, 15000+ is huge…. congratulation
Congratulations John, because you are blogging very early very much useful informations. Early bird gets its prey. So you are..Very nice. Keep it up for ever.
Reply to this commentJohn, did you check to see if your feed count was hit by the FeedBlitz increase today? Search Engine Land had a post about it and apparently some people gained thousands of extra subscribers over night.
Either way, congrats on 15k. I’m on a push to hit the 1k mark with my blog (currently in the 820 range).
Reply to this commentNo, I didn’t get hit but it looks like Problogger did. He’s showing 100K RSS readers!
Reply to this commentCongrats on hitting 15k. Hopefully the RSS problems won’t make it go back down.
Reply to this commentI saw the sudden increase the other day and it is outstanding!!!
Reply to this commentI just got my 12th subscriber! This is the highest it has ever been! Considering that the other day it was at 7, I’ve almost doubled the amount of subscribers I have.
Sheff
Reply to this commentCongratulations on reaching a new milestone! Just read about you in Entrepreneur magazine and couldn’t wait to check out your site. I registered today as well. My goal is to get moving and get to that level of subscribers quicker than you. I know that is a big challenge but you have provided great info on your site. Best wishes. Go for 20,000! Debbie
Reply to this commentFirst of all, congratulations on the fine result…
That being said, do your four articles dwell on the subject of creating an interest among many hundreds of actual READERS who have READ what you wrote and who are still looking for who actually WON the ruff pc?
Just wondering….
Reply to this commentInteresting comment, “RSS is the new bookmark.” Hadn’t thought of it that way before. Thanks (and congrats). -bill
Reply to this commentCongrats John. You’re neck in neck with Shoemoney. Not that it’s a competition.
Reply to this commentcongratulation john
Reply to this comment