If you’re going to do it, do it right, right from the start by Andy Bailey of CommentLuv

When it comes to starting a blog there are a number of resources and tools that you will need to consider. There are literally thousands of tutorials and blog posts out there that will take you through the top ten plugins or the seven things you absolutely must do when you start a new site, even down to the way you arrange your home office to get the best productivity.

Some of these things you can just ponder about for a while until the mood takes you like plugins to enhance your site or choosing an East facing computer desk but, there is one thing that you will want to get right if you are at all serious about this thing called blogging.

All you need is love subs

It doesn't matter if you want to write a blog right now for pleasure or for business, you will almost definitely need one and if you leave it too long or got the wrong one in the beginning and then change your mind later on then it's going to feel like you have to start all over again.

You'll see it on those "must do" lists and read the dilemmas on forums where people debate which is the best or when to get one. What is it? It's what is sometimes called, “The List” and sometime in your blogging career it's a certainty that you are going to want your own one and ask people to subscribe to it.

What, why, when, where and how much?

What

A product that will handle your feed for feed readers, send out your feed for feed by email subscribers AND send out emails on demand.

Why

Without a way to notify your readers of what your news/products/services are then how will they know to come back and read/buy/hire them?

When

Right now! Strict anti spam laws requires a double opt in for email subscribers. If you start off using a free service or an inferior one that doesn't allow emails related to marketing then moving to a new provider means that you will have resubscribe everyone again, probably losing half of your subscribers!

Where

Feedblitz.com. That's it, one site does it all.

How Much

From as little as $1.49 per month. That's affordable right now and you don't need to put the pressure of having to pay (for some sites) up to $30 every month right from the start even before you have any subscribers.

3 little words

I run The ComLuv Network for over 30,000 registered users of the widely used CommentLuv blog plugin and I've been using FeedBlitz services for over a year to send out RSS feeds, subscribe to feed by emails and on demand newsletter services (something you can't do with FeedBurner).

I recommend FeedBlitz to all bloggers old and new because of 3 little words:

1. Reliability – it sends out thousands of emails in one shot in literally minutes and works every time
2. Value – you pay on a sliding scale which is perfect for smaller blogs who don’t need a fully $30 a month service.
3. Support – Phil Hollows, its founder, listens to users. You can send him emails, tweets or even shout loud enough and he’ll respond! (He worked with me to ensure CommentLuv users links were given special treatment in comments)

Try it and see for yourself

If you are at all serious about publishing content online, it doesn't matter if it's stock market news or pet food recipes, you'll want to let people know about it. When you do, you should use something that is going to be reliable from day one. Phil offers a free 30 day trial and it takes just a moment to set up. This applies to all bloggers, young, old, new or seasoned - You NEED FeedBlitz!

About the Author

Andy Bailey is the creator of the CommentLuv plugin and ComLuv Network. CommentLuv rewards your readers by automatically placing a link to their last blog post at the end of their comment. It encourages your community and helps vsitors discover new posts.

Follow Andy on Twitter (@CommentLuv) or visit his blog at comluv.com

About FeedBlitz Guest Posts

Guest posts at FeedBlitz are a weekly series from bloggers about email marketing and social media. You do not have to be a FeedBlitz user to guest post here, nor do you have to promote FeedBlitz (but we sure like it if you do!). If you would like to guest post at FeedBlitz News click to find out more here.