Imagine Your Reality

I’ve heard some pretty interesting claims that email will eventually go away because of the emerging technology that is providing us access to quicker ways to get information. I’m not sure I really believe those claims, if only because I think email is a fairly useful communication platform and something that provides some level of privacy that social media doesn’t provide. Something which surprises me is how many bloggers don’t include a subscribe by email form on their blogs.

I think more bloggers should include this service because it allows people to get the latest blog entries in their email. I recognize that people can also use an RSS reader or a tool such as yahoo pipes to accomplish, and some of it may even reduce the amount of email in your inbox, but not everyone wants to use those tools. Some people, myself included, like using email. A subscribe by email form allows me to get the blog entry in my inbox, without having to go anywhere else to look at the information.

I don’t think it’s ever wise to to write off one form of communication in favor of others, mainly because there are people who will prefer to be communicated with the technology they already use. This is why, for instance, I believe in the power of a hand-written card. Some people will prefer, even as others prefer phone, RSS feeds, or email. For a blogger, I think it’s essential to make email subscriptions available t readers so that they can increase the readership and enable potential commentary. I read the blogs I email subscribe to and sometimes comment on them as well.

Also from a marketing standpoint, providing multiple means of disseminating information can only improve how that information is received and dispersed by others. An email subscription form or link isn’t hard to set up, and very likely could improve the number of reads your blog gets.