First off, I don’t know who you are, but I want to thank those of you who have taken the time and displayed enough interest in this blog to subscribe to my RSS feed. There’s currently not a lot of you, but you are greatly appreciated. If I knew who you were I’d write you a personal thank you letter! 🙂
For the record, I currently have four hard-core fans following me: my dad, my mom, my cousin Kevin, and my father-in-law Tony. Notice I said “fans” and not “subscribers”. In fact, I hope my relatives don’t subscribe, or else I suspect my daily page count numbers will quickly converge to zero. 😉
And, yes, I did have another official fan who wasn’t a relative, but Courtney the Waitress withdrew her allegiance from my blog.
I really would like to start improving my RSS count, if only to get rid of conversations like this one that I had at a party last weekend:
Jennifer: So, Len, what do you do for fun when you are not designing weapons of mass destruction?
Me: Well, I’ve always enjoyed writing and economics, so I decided to take up blogging as a hobby.
Jennifer: You’re a personal finance blogger? That’s great!
Me: Shucks, thanks. But stop. You’re making me blush.
Jennifer: Stop being so modest. How long have you been blogging?
Me: For about the last five months or so. It’s been a lot of fun.
Jennifer: I bet you have a lot followers. Hey Mandy and Lisa, Len has a personal finance blog on the web!
Mandy: Hey, cool! I’ve always wanted to have a blog, but Twitter takes up all my spare time.
Lisa: I know what you mean, Mandy! So, Len, how many subscribers do you have?
Jennifer: I bet he has thousands!
Me: Well, right now I have two and I plan on quintupling that number by the end of the year!
Lisa: Two. As in two thousand, right?
Me: (nervously laughing) Is it hot in here? No, two, as in (clearing my throat) one plus one equals two.
Lisa: …
Jennifer: …
Mandy: …
Me: What’s wrong, ladies? You all look like you just ate a bad Jeno’s pizza roll.
Mandy: Hey, Jen, I think I heard Patti calling us from the kitchen.
Lisa: Yeah, and I really need to mingle a little more. Nice talking to you.
Me: But wait! I’m on Twitter too! Tweet me!
Anyway, if you enjoy Len Penzo dot Com, please take a second to click on that big orange square and subscribe! It will only take a second. I promise. If you are new here, and aren’t sure whether you want to subscribe just yet, may I suggest you please check out the Editor’s Picks category, or some of the “Best of” posts listed in the left sidebar column. Hopefully, those articles will convince you! 😉
I will share the results of this experiment on a periodic basis and we’ll see how many visitors we encouraged to become RSS subscribers. My goal is to surpass 100 RSS subscribers, although that might be unrealistic right now. Still, it’s great to dream. 🙂
(By the way, a big thank you goes out to Daily Blog Tips for the big orange square idea! You didn’t think I would come up with that on my own, did you? Heck, until recently I couldn’t even spell RSS.)
If you liked this article, please be sure to subscribe to my RSS feed.
Len,
I’m not sure if I’m a subscriber. I cut and paste your RSS feed into my e-mail program because I’m on a Mac and it was easier that way. LOL
Just found you last week from Google by searching Personal Finance – I think you were in the top 5 on the page, so you’re doing something right! I read through some of your past articles, signed up for Mint.com on your suggestion AND added your RSS. Keep up the good work! 🙂
@ Tanya: As a devoted Mac person myself, I know what you mean! Thanks for subscribing! It doesn’t matter how you get there, as long as you get there!
@ Becky: I appreciate your support! If I was on the Top 5, that can only mean that the guys at Google have finally decided to cash my “Pagerank improvement” checks. Whoa, just kidding guys! Please don’t put me back in the Google sandbox again. 😉
Len
Hey Len,
You have one more subscriber – me. I hope that you check out my blog too. I just started a series of articles on F.A. Hayek’s The Road to Serfdom. This book had a profound affect on my life.
Hi Hawk,
Thanks for subscribing! What an honor! 🙂
I can’t wait to read your series on Hayek. From what I know about him and his take on socialism, he sounds like my kind of guy!
Len
[… – lenpenzo.com is another good website of information. Car insurance claims [… –
RSS feeds are really great because you are always updated with the latest news or blog posts.
Hey Len, I’ve been a subscriber to your RSS feed for a few months now but I still haven’t received my personal thank you letter. I’m just wondering if it’s because perhaps you’ve been hiding out in the bunker lately? 🙂
Regardless, I always enjoy the articles and your perspective on the world.
I particularly look forward to Black Coffee every week. Great stuff, thanks!