The email newsletter for this blog is delivered via FeedBlitz and I have lot of good things to say about the company. The service is completely free and they have always delivered the email messages on time.
This week FeedBlitz introduced Custom Domains that allow publishers to add some their own branding to landing pages.
Let me explain – if someone considers subscribing to the email newsletter of this blog, he is taken to a page like feedblitz.com/f/f.fbz for confirming the mode of subscription (whether he wants to receive updates via email, twitter, Skype, etc).
With Custom Domain, you can secure a sub-domain on FeedBlitz servers so your landing page has a more simple address and your brand is included in the URL. For instance, I could choose a domain like labnol.feedblitz.com or digitalinspiration.feedblitz.com instead of that cryptic feedblitz.com/f/f.fbz?Sub=753.
Alternatively, if you have control over your DNS records, you can set up a CNAME entry like newsletters.labnol.org and point it to FeedBlitz. You need to pay around $10 a year for a FeedBlitz custom domain.
Sound pretty reasonable to me but this morning some really respectable sites have blasted this new FeedBlitz service as "ill-conceived" and for using "extortion as a business model." I can’t see a reason why these "custom domains" would invoke such a strong reaction or maybe I am missing something. Phil Hollows?
Find this article at: http://www.labnol.org/internet/blogging/feedblitz-email-custom-domains/4135/
Reader Comments
so far they are right, it is done for their bussiness boost. Fblitz is altough a nice service, i am thinking to start using on my new site.
Written by PakSpeaker on 08.05.08
Hi Amit:
No, you’re not missing anything. Mashable clearly decided that sensationalism and hyperbole were more important than figuring out the offering. Obviously we want to boost revenues, and it’s reasonable to be paid for something that has value. But “extortion”? That’s some alternative reality that bears no resemblance at all to what we’re offering. Is “ill-conceived” perhaps code for “not free”? Says much more about the author’s attitude than it does a nice usabilty feature from FeedBlitz.
Phil
Written by Phil Hollows on 08.06.08
$10 an year is not at all a problem. I don’t see any signs of so called ‘extortion’ or ill-conceived business model’.
Infact I have checked one of the live sample (weathersnob one) provided in their blog post and found it very professional.
In my opinion getting a custom feedblitz domain will certainly give a better branding and pro looks to a blog..
Written by Arpit on 08.07.08
I think that this service is a bit of a rip off, especially for $10 a year which is enough money to buy a top-level domain name not just a sub domain of feedblitz.com.
If you want the FeedBlitz subscription page to have a branded URL, why not just make a new page on your own site (like labnol.org/subscriptions), then embed the page at feedblitz.com/f/f.fbz?Sub=753 on labnol.org/subscriptions using an iframe: <iframe src=”http://feedblitz.com/f/f.fbz?Sub=753″ /> ?
So much easier to set up, and costs $0.
Written by Blake on 08.11.08
I am also using Feedblitz for my newsletter and I am very happy with the results. I had not realized that they offer a custom domain and I will definitely look into that.
HP
Written by HP on 11.28.08