You'll notice over to the right (-->) that there is a subscription option, where you can subscribe to receive updates by email when the ClickNewz blog is updated. You might remember my post about this last year titled Blog Email Notification, and that I use Aweber's Feed Broadcaster to manage the subscriptions and automated mailings.
Aweber is just under $20/month is the industry leader in mailing list management. I would recommend their services to anyone building a serious online business. It is one of those investments that will pay for itself time and again. Especially if you have multiple sites, autoresponders and offers (or plan to).
That said, it may be overkill for the freelance blogger. There are plugins and scripts that you can use for free to send out email notifications to your readers when you have new posts... but in my original write-up on Blog Email Notifications, I suggested you find an option with these criteria in mind:
- Do I own the email list?
- If I move my blog, can I transfer the notification feature without disrupting my subscribers?
- Can I email my list directly (not just via blog posts)?
- Can I add things to the outgoing emails? (customizable templates)
- Do I control frequency, and number of posts included?
- Is it double-optin, and can I edit those confirmation messages?
The best option that I have seen so far, in regards to free email marketing services, is Zookoda...
--> www.zookoda.com
Not only is it completely FREE, but it is the most flexible tool I have seen yet for bloggers who would like to set up an email notification system for their readers. Like Aweber, they offer full customization options and reporting, giving you much more control over the output than with most free scripts on the market.
Also interesting to note was this snippet from their FAQ:
Can I control what information my subscribers receive?
Yes. When you suck in your RSS or Atom feed you have the ability to manually edit the email content. You may wish to change the order of the articles, add or delete articles or change the headers or layout. You have full editorial control.
You can manage multiple blogs, choose from various templates for your emails, export your mailing lists anytime, and much more. This one is definitely worth checking out if you have not yet set up Email Notification on your own blog! 😉
Best,
Technorati Tags: zookoda, email notification, subscribers, mailing list management, email marketing, email list
About Lynn Terry
I checked it out, I notice you use it with aweber, can it be used for those without an autoresponder?
Interesting, thanks.
Think I may have seen it before, but cant think where.
Rob
No, no - Aweber is $20/mo, a professional mailing list manager. Zookoda is a free service, but one I would recommend to anyone that doesnt need the full-blown paid services of Aweber. For freelance bloggers, for example. They are two completely separate stand-alone services.
Sorry for the confusion!
Yes, Zookoda can be used by those who dont currently have any mailing lists set up, as that's what it does for you.