CT Biz Blogs

There are so many blogs and more appearing every day. How do you keep up with the ones you want to read?

You can have bookmarks in your browser, but then you have to remember to check them from time to time. Sometimes there’s a new post, sometimes several, sometimes none. Not very efficient.

You can get an “aggregator” of some sort — a program or service (like Bloglines, which I use) that will keep track of the blogs to which you subscribe, and keep them organized for you. (See my Bloglines subscriptions in the right sidebar — the “Blogs I read” link in Bookmarks.) But you do have to remember to use it and to make time in your day for opening the aggregator to read the posts.

You can get an aggregator that works with Outlook, if you use that regularly, so blogs are now automatically a part of your daily routine. But for me, Outlook is too bloated and slow already, and this just slows it down more.

And if you don’t have Outlook or you only have a few blogs you want to track, what else can you do?

FeedBlitz is a new free service which will send you an email when a blog you’re tracking has a new post to read. I’ve tried it and I like it.

Here’s an image of the email I get from FeedBlitz:

You do need to give your email address to FeedBlitz for this to work, but I feel they’re trustworthy. Here’s what they say in their privacy statement:

No information about your subscriptions, activities or any personally identifiable information we collect is shared outside the company, with the exception of the owners of the feeds you subscribe to ….

If you register with the site, or opt in to receiving notifications when providing personal information, FeedBlitz may use your mailing address, telephone number, or email address to alert you to product upgrades, special offers, updated information, and new services. If you request it, we will cease to contact you using one or more of these methods.

What I see as a blog owner when someone registers with FeedBlitz, is just an email notice that someone has subscribed to my blog. No email or name info. I throw a little confetti and blow on a party paper horn, but that’s it.

Unlike Bloglet, another free email subscription service I tried, there is actually someone there at FeedBlitz, minding the store. I left a question and a suggestion with FeedBlitz support, and was amazed at how quickly they responded (and even changed something based on my suggestion).

For bloggers, this is a good way to help people who are just getting in to reading blogs. This is all still new to most people, and FeedBlitz is an easy way to subscribe and regularly read the blogs, without the chore of checking for updates. In my opinion, one of the reasons that blogging has exploded in popularity is because of the RSS feeds that allow readers to keep up with them.

Bloggers can get a little form for their blogs, such as I have in my left sidebar, in the “Ways to Subscribe” section. Readers can register with FeedBlitz and add subscriptions to any blog they like.

Check it out.