(We also have a tutorial showing you how to create a handcrafted email newsletter. Find that tutorial here<\/a>).<\/p>\n Whether you’re a serious blogger, or just dabble with publishing occasionally, it’s an excellent idea to build an email list.<\/p>\n This is simply a list of people who have opted in to get an email notification when you publish a new post on your blog.<\/p>\n It’s not a good idea to send out emails from your own personal email account. You’ll need to use a (free) email marketing platform (such as Mailchimp<\/a>).<\/p>\n This software will help you collect email addresses, organize them, and send out emails. You’ll also be able to do more advanced things if you wish, like segment your list or analyze statistics to see who’s opening your emails and what they’re clicking on.<\/p>\n Many bloggers have a box on the sidebar of their site where people can enter their email address. There are other places to put these opt-in or sign-up forms too.<\/p>\n You might:<\/p>\n Many bloggers like to share their latest post on social media after they hit publish.<\/p>\n Great idea!<\/p>\n Sharing your work with your community can be a nice way to build your audience and start generating conversation.<\/p>\n Social media is a great way to share but<\/em> here are a few thoughts to keep in mind about the power of offering an email subscription:<\/p>\n As well known marketer Michael Hyatt says, a website\/blog and an email list are more valuable home bases than social media:<\/p>\n So we\u2019ve established that it\u2019s definitely a good idea to have some sort of option available for readers who would like to subscribe to your blog via email.<\/p>\n Now you have two choices:<\/strong><\/p>\n This post explains how to set up an automated email subscription via RSS using Mailchimp. This is a good option if you’re time-poor and need a quick “set-and-forget” method.<\/p>\n Our next post<\/a> goes through creating handcrafted emails. This is a good option if you want to step up your relationship building and really create a community around your email list.<\/p>\n There are many email marketing platforms out there and many are free to use until you reach a certain number of subscribers.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re interested in comparing different email platforms, check out this guide from ProBlogger<\/a> or comparison chart from PC Mag.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n I’m writing this guide about Mailchimp because it’s the provider I’ve used myself for almost a decade.<\/p>\n Note: We have no affiliations with Mailchimp and encourage you to find the service provider that works best for your needs.<\/p>\n Mailchimp<\/a> is one of the most popular email service providers.<\/p>\n Check out the\u00a0Getting Started With Mailchimp<\/a>\u00a0guide for more information.<\/p>\n RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. It’s a way to have information that you’re interested in delivered to you.<\/p>\n Instead of you having to check a blog regularly to see if there is a new post, RSS can do that for you.<\/p>\n You can access the new content using a news aggregator (like Feedly<\/a>). Or it can be delivered straight to your inbox!<\/p>\n When an RSS feed is updated with new blog posts, Mailchimp can pull that content into an email and send it to your subscribers. It will be sent according to the schedule you choose (e.g. daily at 9am or every Sunday at 6pm).<\/p>\n It’s now time to learn how to set up your emails in Mailchimp using RSS.<\/p>\n Let’s get started!<\/p>\n We’re going to go through four steps to getting your RSS emails set up:<\/p>\n This part is fairly straightforward although we recommend Mailchimp’s getting started guide<\/a> if you’re unsure.<\/p>\n The three most important steps to explore are:<\/p>\n Click on “Campaigns”.<\/p>\n Click “Email”.<\/p>\n You would have started setting up your audience when you set up your Mailchimp account. Don\u2019t worry if there\u2019s only one or two people on your audience list! It will continue to grow over time.<\/p>\n Click “Begin”.<\/p>\n You’ll now be asked to enter the feed of your blog and select when you want emails to go out automatically.<\/p>\n You can choose the time you want your emails to go out (daily, weekly, monthly) by using the drop-down menus and checkboxes. Note that an email will only be sent if there’s new content on your blog.<\/p>\n There is also a box to select if you want Mailchimp to resize the images in your feed to fit your template. This will help prevent stretching.<\/p>\n The final step involves clicking through the menu bar at the bottom of the page to complete the RSS campaign.<\/p>\n You will have chosen your audience when you started setting up your campaign. You can change it here if you need to (free accounts can only have one audience).<\/p>\n You can also segment your audience so it only goes out to certain people on the list (e.g. parents or colleagues) but this is more of an advanced feature.<\/p>\n Type in campaign details:<\/p>\n If you’re not sure what template to choose, stick with the basic “1 column” template. You can always change it later.<\/p>\n It’s now time to design the look of your emails. If you’re new to Mailchimp, you can definitely keep this simple!<\/p>\n Here are the most important steps:<\/p>\n Hover over the word “Logo” and click on the pencil icon. Follow the prompts to upload an image that represents you and your website.<\/p>\n Hover over the block of text and click on the pencil icon. Write a short generic introduction that people will see before the contents of your latest post.<\/p>\n For example,<\/p>\n “Thanks for subscribing to my email updates. Here’s what I’ve been writing about this week…”<\/p>\n You’ll now need to drag in the RSS components from the right-hand side. This will ensure your latest posts appear in the email.<\/p>\n Hover over “RSS items”, click on it and drag it to your email underneath the text.<\/p>\n Using the drop-down menu on the right-hand side, you can select whether you want the full post or just an excerpt to be shown in the email.<\/p>\n There are two schools of thoughts here:<\/p>\n Select “Save and Close” when you’ve made this choice.<\/p>\n A final helpful tip is to preview what your email will look like and\/or send a test email to yourself or someone else who can offer you feedback.<\/p>\n You’ll find these options at the top of the page under “Preview and Test”.<\/p>\n Select “Next” in the bottom right-hand corner of the page when you’re ready to move on.<\/p>\n Once your email is all set up, you can check your details and then press “Start RSS” in the bottom right-hand corner of the page. Your first email will go out automatically at the time you selected (as long as you have published something new on your blog).<\/p>\n If you don’t want to start immediately, press “Save and Exit” in the top right-hand corner of the page and you can come back to it later. You’ll find the draft when you go to Campaigns.<\/p>\n Whether you write a blog for teachers, students, colleagues, or members of the wider public, there is a group of people out there who’d love to keep up to date with your new posts.<\/p>\n If you’re short on time, one of the easiest ways to send out your new blog posts to your loyal readers is through RSS using a platform like Mailchimp.<\/p>\n In our next post<\/a>, I’ll explain how to set up a hand-curated email newsletter using Mailchimp. It takes a little bit more time as you’ll be sending emails manually, however, you might find there are greater rewards to enjoy! Click here<\/a> to read the next post.<\/p>\n Some people also like to use a combination of RSS and personal emails.<\/p>\n Any tips or questions? Leave a comment below. We’d love to hear from you!<\/p>\n You might also enjoy:<\/p>\n![\"Learn](\"https:\/\/www.theedublogger.com\/files\/2019\/10\/Share-Your-Blog-Posts-With-Automated-Mailchimp-Emails-RSS.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nWhat is an email list?<\/h2>\n
How can people join your email list?<\/h2>\n
\n
![\"Screenshot](\"https:\/\/www.theedublogger.com\/files\/2019\/11\/Larry-Ferlazzo-newsletter.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nWhy Set Up An Email Subscription?<\/h2>\n
\n
![\"Michael](\"https:\/\/www.theedublogger.com\/files\/2019\/11\/Michael-Hyatt-quote-home-base.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nShould You Send Emails Automatically Or Manually?<\/h2>\n
\n
![\"If](\"https:\/\/www.theedublogger.com\/files\/2019\/10\/Share-new-blog-posts-via-email.png\")
<\/a>Which Email Software Should You Use?<\/h2>\nMailchimp Tips And Information<\/span><\/h3>\n
\n
What Is RSS?<\/h2>\n
How To Set Up Your Automatic Emails<\/h2>\n
\n
Part One: Register For Mailchimp And Set Up Your Account<\/h3>\n
\n
Registration tips:<\/h4>\n
\n
Part Two: Create An RSS Campaign<\/h3>\n
1) Login to your Mailchimp account<\/h4>\n
![\"Click](\"https:\/\/www.theedublogger.com\/files\/2019\/10\/Campaign.png\")
2) From here click “Create Campaign”<\/h4>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.theedublogger.com\/files\/2019\/10\/Create-Campaign.png\")
<\/p>\n3) You’ll be presented with a range of campaign options<\/h4>\n
![\"click](\"https:\/\/www.theedublogger.com\/files\/2019\/10\/Rss-click-on-email.png\")
<\/p>\n4) Click on “Automated”<\/h4>\n
![\"Click](\"https:\/\/www.theedublogger.com\/files\/2019\/10\/Rss-click-on-automated.png\")
<\/p>\n5) Select “Share blog updates”<\/h4>\n
![\"click](\"https:\/\/www.theedublogger.com\/files\/2019\/10\/Rss-click-on-share-blog-updates.png\")
<\/p>\n6) Enter a campaign name and select your audience<\/h4>\n
![\"Enter](\"https:\/\/www.theedublogger.com\/files\/2019\/10\/Rss-share-blog-updates.png\")
<\/p>\nPart Three: Choose Your Feed And Timing<\/h3>\n
1) Type in your feed:<\/h4>\n
\n
2) Select your email frequency and times<\/h4>\n
\n
3) Choose whether you want images to be resized<\/h4>\n
![\"Choose](\"https:\/\/www.theedublogger.com\/files\/2019\/10\/RSS-feed-and-send-timing-2.png\")
<\/p>\nPart Four: Finish Setting Up And Designing Your Email<\/h3>\n
![\"Click](\"https:\/\/www.theedublogger.com\/files\/2019\/10\/Menu-bar-set-up-RSS-campaign.png\")
<\/p>\n1) Select your audience that you’d like the emails to be sent to<\/h4>\n
![\"Select](\"https:\/\/www.theedublogger.com\/files\/2019\/10\/Select-your-audience.png\")
<\/p>\n2) Fill out your campaign information<\/h4>\n
\n
![\"Setup](\"https:\/\/www.theedublogger.com\/files\/2019\/10\/RSS-campaign-info.png\")
<\/p>\n3) Select your template<\/h4>\n
![\"Choose](\"https:\/\/www.theedublogger.com\/files\/2019\/10\/RSS-choose-template.png\")
<\/p>\n4) Design Your Email<\/h4>\n
a) Add an image to the top of the email<\/h5>\n
![\"Add](\"https:\/\/www.theedublogger.com\/files\/2019\/10\/Add-your-logo-RSS-campaign.gif\"){kind=logo}
<\/p>\nb) Edit the text<\/h5>\n
c) Drag in the RSS blocks<\/h5>\n
![\"RSS](\"https:\/\/www.theedublogger.com\/files\/2019\/10\/RSS-items-content-block.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"RSS](\"https:\/\/www.theedublogger.com\/files\/2019\/10\/RSS-items-content-block-drag-into-place.png\")
<\/p>\n\n
![\"Use](\"https:\/\/www.theedublogger.com\/files\/2019\/10\/RSS-full-post-or-excerpt.png\")
<\/p>\nd) Test your email<\/h5>\n
![\"Preview](\"https:\/\/www.theedublogger.com\/files\/2019\/10\/enter-preview-mode-or-send-test-RSS.png\")
<\/p>\n5) Confirm and send<\/h4>\n
![\"Check](\"https:\/\/www.theedublogger.com\/files\/2019\/10\/Start-RSS.png\")
<\/p>\nConclusion<\/h2>\n
Related Reading<\/h2>\n
![\"Learn](\"https:\/\/www.theedublogger.com\/files\/2019\/10\/Share-Your-Blog-Posts-With-Automated-Mailchimp-Emails-RSS-PINTEREST.png\")
<\/a><\/div>\n![\"Learn](\"https:\/\/www.theedublogger.com\/files\/2019\/10\/Share-Your-Blog-Posts-With-Automated-Mailchimp-Emails-RSS-PINTEREST-2.png\")
<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"