Rodlie, using ChurchCrunch’s GetSatisfaction board (which I’m not really using anymore), asked a question a little while back about the “Proper Etiquette for Using the Feedburner Chicklet.” He writes:
Hey John: Here’s a question that that may be a good blog post. Not sure. But my question is concerning the feedburner chicklet that shows how many subscribers you have.
What is the proper “etiquette” for that concerning locations, when you recommend starting to use one. I have 50 subscribers right now, but I’m not using one. And for some reason I feel a little funny using one, like it’s self-serving ala “look at how popular I am-therefore you should sign up.” I don’t know….just a question I’ve been having. What do you think?
The short answer is that you should use it, no matter how many subscribers you have, because it is fast-becoming one of the most recognizable subscription-buttons on blogs.
It also suggests to more than a few visitors that you put the time into actually creating a Feedburner account and that you care about RSS Feed management.
More thoughts after the jump.
Two of the biggest reasons that people do not show their Feedburner Chicklet is because they feel like they are “boasting” or “bragging” about their numbers by having it displayed prominently on their blog or they feel somewhat “ashamed” that they do not have the staggering numbers of subscribers that others may have.
Who cares what those people think. (This is my own personal opinion, obviously).
Taking a quick look at my RSS Feed subscription “hits” I can see a vast majority (on this blog) click the Feedburner chicklet in order to subscribe.
I consider that a “win” in my book.
The other thing to remember is that everyone started, at one point in time, at level zero: No subscribers, no traffic.
By making random comparison’s to the people that make their entire living off their blogs and who have tens of thousands of subscribers, it’s nothing more than a waste of your time and an emotional drain.
The stat-run and stat-race is an issue that you have, not the content creator or blogger who has the chicklet.
One final thought is that I’ve always thought that it’s been a nice visual cue for people who are now “regulars” on my blogs. They can visually see that the blog is gaining momentum and that they are a part of something valuable and meaningful.
I can always check my stats in the background and never let anyone know, but I like providing a daily glimpse to my visitors and readers that the blog is growing. My desire is that people ultimately feel a part of this blog as much as I do.
Thanks Rodlie for the question! If you’ve got one just like him, feel free to ask away!
Hmm I think I should move the Chicklet on my blog, and put it with the rest of the feed/subscription things.
Now that you are not using Get Satisfaction – where is the best place to pose a question to you we’d like to see answered? That is if you like our question:)
I've got a post coming that might help with this… i hope for you to 'help' out…?
think I'll move mine when I get to 50, currently on 30.
30 great people
what about the idea of displaying the number of people that have registered to the RSS feed and email notifications separately? Too much info?
no, that's pretty cool too!
OK. I'll move it up from the bottom.
Thanks for the encouragement to add this! I added it this morning on one of my blogs and 80% of today's visitors have clicked out to the Feedburner subscription page!
wow. testimonial time…!
See, you're a perfect example…
I understand your issue with "not feeling like people will respect you" but the fact is that they can look at your archives and simply "tell" how many posts you have and how long you've been blogging (or not blogging).
In addition, perhaps one of the most important parts is that you're beginning to establish "culture" on your blog. From the get go, it appears one of your core cultural components isn't "transparency"… that's a shame, since the more transparent you are, generally speaking, the better the long term results are.
Finally, it's so easy to find out how many subscribers someone has it's better that you do it anyway. If you don't, it makes it even more apparent that you're hiding your shame than owning it.
For example, i've got your stats right here:
http://twitpic.com/3iw8d
I have swallowed my pride and added the chicklet counter. Thanks for the encouragement!
David,
good thing man. proud of you. it's tough… but everyone starts at square one!
i like the fact that your chicklet is up at the top, very nice and something to think about. i don't even try to play Pious Pete and hide the numbers. If someone wants to do that, go for it. We need to be cutting edge and represent current trends with our blogs. And continue to transfer this continuity to all aspects of the creative process.
Thanks for the answer John. I went ahead and added it to my blog. My follow up question would have been about location. I noticed that you used to have yours at the bottom, but now it’s towards the top. Any reason for the change?
more prominent location. better click through.
i'm using one and it makes me happy everytime i see it increases. that's one good thing about it. it's not about what others would think but what would you feel when you see it. that's more important!
Very cool!
john this is a great post. being on staff with campus crusade i'm involved in a lot of start-ups so to speak. i've noticed that start-ups tend to draw people who like start-ups (go figure
i think a blog just like anything else gains a different kind of audience as it goes from infancy to maturity. failing to show the amount of readers might cause one to miss out on readers looking to be a part of something from the beginning.
brian,
good call here. thanks for adding to the convo.
how's CCC going?
Okay, you got me. I'm in.
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Good article and well written, regarding showing RSS button, it is a call one have to take. How comfortable a person is in showing his feed count and what is the level.
Justy look around and what you feel with feed count displays on others web site, what's your opinion. If inspite of low no.s you are OK with relaibility of content, go ahead and show it on your site as well else vice versa.
Thanks again, for the interesting take on Feedburner’s many options. My sister and I co-write our blog, and to be honest, we have only a handful of followers. So, yes, we’re hesitant to show the world that our count is low. However, I never looked at it from the other point of view – i.e. our loyal subscribers might like knowing that the blog is getting more popular….