News!! Giving Your Subscribers A Costless File (Eg An Ebook) Using Feedburner

This article shows how to brand an eBook (or whatever file) available to your blog's subscribers amongst Feedburner's FeedFlare tool.   It's written for Blogger users, but most of the data applies to anyone using Feedburner.

Feedflare, a no-maintenance tool for giving away files on your blog

Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 give-away is i approach to larn readers to a greater extent than to a greater extent connected amongst your blog:  if you lot plough over people something of value, they'll experience warmer together with fuzzier towards you, together with read your weblog to a greater extent than oft (so the thinking goes).

No affair what you lot are giving away, you lot bespeak a way of getting it to your readers.   This tin last to a greater extent than time-consuming than you lot think, particularly if it's an on-going gift for lots of people, non exactly a one-off gift for i lucky reader.

But if you lot plough over away a file, together with then you lot exactly bespeak a figurer to practise the function for you:  you lot tin seat a link on your weblog either inward a post (linked to from a Picture, or equally an entry inward a Linked-list gadget).

However you lot mightiness desire to larn a chip to a greater extent than cunning, together with solely brand the gift available to people who genuinely subscribe to your blog, because people who direct keep subscribed are to a greater extent than probable to come upwards dorsum again.  This doesn't guarantee an on-going connective - unopen to folks volition subscribe, larn the goodies together with instantly un-subscribe.   But likely unopen to volition travel long-term readers.

Feedburner's FeedFlare tool makes it slow to distribute a file to subscribers, using your feed, by:

• Putting the eBook (or whatever file) somewhere
• Making a FeedFlare script to exhibit the book, together with putting somewhere that it tin last read (it's exactly a text file)
• Telling your Feed to use the script
• Telling (potential) subscribers how to access the eBook from your feed. 

1 Put the file somewhere:

• Load the file that you lot desire to distribute to whatever file-host.

• If the file-host that you lot purpose provides safety (99.9% of them do), brand certain that the access options are laid to either "everyone" or "anyone amongst the link".

• Make a note of the URL of the file on this system.  

• Sign out of your file-hosting concern human relationship together with test that you lot tin access the file fifty-fifty though you're logged out.  
  (Testing it at this phase way that you lot don't direct keep to worry near it later.)

There are lots of places where you lot tin host files (hosting only way storing them, normally amongst unopen to rules near who is allowed to read together with edit them.

I tend to purpose Google tools because at that topographic point are less probable to last compatibility problems, therefore I've been using either Google Docs, or a file cabinet page on a Google Sites site.

2 Make a FeedFlare script:

•  Use Notepad (or whatever other text-editor) to make a text file containing the following:

<FeedFlareUnit>
        <Catalog>
            <Title>THE TITLE TO SHOW *YOU* IN FEEDBURNER </Title>
            <Description>Download the eBook</Description>
        </Catalog>
        <FeedFlare>
            <Text>THE NAME THAT YOU WANT SUBSCRIBERS TO SEE</Text>
        <Link href="http://URL OF THE FILE YOU ARE GIVING AWAY"/>
        </FeedFlare>
    </FeedFlareUnit>

• Customize the text (the bits shown inward bold) to the right values for your file. 

• This file is your FeedFlare script.  Save it to your figurer equally YOUR-FILE-NAME.xml  
  Note that it needs to last .xml, non .txt.   

• Upload the script file to a file host (see the department earlier for options) from where it tin last read equally a text file.  
  

Note:  In the past, I've industrial plant life that Google Docs doesn't function for this, because when something tries to read the file it's "served" amongst a Docs header.   I don't know if it's nonetheless the case, but I to a greater extent than oft than non purpose a filing-cabinet page inward Googe Sites to shop text files, exactly inward case.

• Set the access options for this file to are laid to either "everyone" or "anyone amongst the link".

• Make a note of the URL of the script-file.  

• Sign out of your file-hosting concern human relationship together with test that you lot tin access the file fifty-fifty though you're logged out.  
  (Testing it at this phase way that you lot don't direct keep to worry near it later.)

three Tell your Feed to purpose the script:

• Log in to Feedburner account, amongst the concern human relationship that owns your blog's feed.

• Click on your Feed, to run across the details near it.

• Go to the Optimize tab.

• Click on Feedflare (currently inward bill of fare on the left manus side, nether Services)
  The Official FeedFlare department gives you lot a disclose of options for adding social networking tools to your feeds.
  In the Personal FeedFlare section, enter the URL of the XML file amongst your script (ie the i you lot uploaded inward department 2)

• Click Activate (if you lot haven't been using Feedflare before) or Save (if you lot have)

What your subscribers volition see

Once you lot direct keep done this, hereafter posts that larn out inward your feed (both emailed feeds together with via feed-reader software) volition direct keep an icon at the bottom, labelled amongst the value you lot seat inward for "THE NAME THAT YOU WANT SUBSCRIBERS TO SEE".

When a subscriber clicks on this link, your eBook (or whatever the fileis ) volition download to their computer, together with may opened upwards depending on their settings for downloaded files.   In Google Reader, it looks similar this - you lot may desire to exam it inward a few feed-reader tools, depending on what your readers use.

Troubleshooting:

• If the URL of your feedflare file, or your eBook file, starts amongst HTTPS:// , together with then accept the "S" out, therefore it becomes http://...

• If you lot already had Feedflare activated together with are exactly adding a script, you lot may larn an fault message when you lot click Save.   Try changing i of the Official Feedflare settings at the same fourth dimension equally you lot add together the script name.

Note that the link to the file is non included inward items that direct keep already been sent out inward your blog's feed, solely inward new feed items that are generated after the script is added.

Tell your readers together with subscribers how to access the file:

Making the eBook available through your feed is solely the outset footstep inward getting value from it.  You also bespeak to:

By edited past times Felipe Micaroni Lalli
(http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cc_.png) 
[CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Tell your subscribers that it's at that topographic point together with how to access it:
These peole are already using a feed-reader or electronic mail subscription, they likely won't direct keep difficulty clicking the link - i time they know it's there.  But it may last worth telling them what type of software they bespeak to purpose to opened upwards the file.

Tell potential subscribers near it:
Casual readers, at nowadays together with inward the future, bespeak to know that if they subscribe, they volition larn access to the eBook.   How much particular you lot bespeak to supply (eg telling them how to subscribe, explaining what subscribing way etc), depends on your blog's niche together with how "subscription-savvy" your typical reader is.

You may uncovering that unopen to readers bespeak a really detailed explanation.  It's probable that at that topographic point are unopen to expert articles near this on the cyberspace already, but I don't currently direct keep whatever links - if you lot uncovering one, delight practise leave of absence a comment below.

Acknowledgement together with farther info:

This article was inspired by:

• A Feedflare Developer's guide for to a greater extent than inforation.  Also, their outset "Hello world" script is a useful tool if you lot bespeak to diagnose if problems getting this approach to function are due to file-hosting or to the feed itself.
  
  
  

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