How to subscribe to "Making A Mark" - and get an email in your inbox

Would you like to get an email to your inbox every time a post is published on Making A Mark?

Earlier this year, I wrote about how the changes in the rules by Google regarding bulk emails sent by gmail were going to have a major impact on my blogging. I speculated at the time about giving up blogging altogether - as I originally built my audience entirely via the RSS feed.

See ALERT ALL SUBSCRIBERS: Blogging Service may be interrupted OR subscription mailing service changed

To cut a long story short since I only use gmail and have done for the last two decades, I wasn't about to give up on my very reliable, very efficient gmail service.

Instead:

• I gave up on Mailerlite which said I could no longer use a gmail address for my RSS Feed to Email sent to subscriber inboxes.
• I also continued to post regularly to my Making A Mark Facebook Page when a post was published - and all the conversations which used to take place in comments now take place there.
• ...and looked around for alternative arrangements - and was absolutely horrified at the prices being charged for people with as many subscribers as I have!

In the end I've settled on using Follow.it - which is not perfect. Mainly because it's got adverts which I dislike intensely but I have no choice about these for a free service. I may well upgrade - but this in part depends on how many subscribers I get. Believe me offering a subscription service does not come cheap for the more sophisticated versions!

However Follow.It works - and that's the main thing.

• I'm using it for my botanical art and artists website news blog - and have had no reports of any problems.
• it's been set up in the side column of this blog for a few days - and it seems as if people are starting to subscribing without any prompting and without any problems

So if you want to subscribe - or even resubscribe - to Making A Mark can I suggest you complete the form below (or the one in the side column to the right). 

What you have to do to subscribe follows....

Email Subscription Service SUSPENDED until further notice

The end of the subscription service?

This is a very sad day.

I'm afraid I'm having to suspend the email subscription service - where you get an email every time I publish a new blog post.

I've spent hours and hours on trying to find a way to address the issues thrown up by

• Google changing arrangements re sending large amounts emails from gmail addresses - and have not succeeded. 
• Mailerlite changing its systems in relation to this - and because they're updating their system

The main issue arises because Making A Mark is not on a domain name I own but rather remains on the blogspot.domain owned by Google

There again, I've got the exact same issues with my Botanical Art and Artists - which is on my own website

I started looking at other blogs using blogger who I know have or have had large numbers of susbribers - and discovered that they too have terminated their email subscriptions. So it looks as if we're all in the same boat

The conclusion I've come to is that:

• I will highlight latest blog posts on:
• Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/makingamark2/ - as I always do already
• Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/makingamark2/
• Twitter / X - https://twitter.com/makingamark2
• I will reintroduce the email subscription service when I can find a suitable solution. It may need to be a paid service - although I expect the payment would be minimal.

So this looks like it's the last blog post to be emailed out - possibly for some time - and maybe forever.

You can always contact me via https://linktr.ee/katherinetyrrell

ALERT ALL SUBSCRIBERS: Blogging Service may be interrupted OR subscription mailing service changed

This is by way of an alert to all those used to receiving my latest blog post via Mailerlite

I was supposed to have written a review of an exhibition by now - but having completed by tax return (have you remembered?), I'm currently tearing my hair out over another issue - and will soon be bald. 

Right now I'm thinking of giving up blogging!! It's all because of new rules which come in on 1st February for bulk emails being sent to gmail.

I'm caught in a really difficult situation with:

• Google and Yahoo have changed the rules on which emails it will accept for  newsletter emails (for good reasons - it's to reduce the spam on their platforms). This includes blogs if your RSS to email service provides scope for you to use a personalised email address - which mine does. 
• All "commercial emails" in future must come from an authenticated custom domain
• which is not helpful when you're trying to distribute an email to a subscriber base for a Google blogspot.domain using a gmail address
• I've always stuck with gmail as it's caused me very few problems.
• plus I'm not commercial - everything I write is for free consumption!!!
• PLUS The Mailerlite deadline for the movement to a new Mailerlite software base (i.e. everything needs to be complete by 31st January)
• plus it also requires compliance with the new Google rules - because the platform uses personalised email addresses
• Everything is compounded by having far too many subscribers (for the two sites this affects) to switch to alternative sites without it costing me an absolute arm and a leg - which given this blog generates no income is a problem!

At the moment, I'm becoming more and more despondent because:

• I apparently need a domain oriented email address to send a subscription email from Mailerlite 
• but I've always used gmail and blogger - so I neither own the domain I currently use for Making A Mark nor do I have a domain email for it.

I do however have a domain name related to Making A Mark - and am currently looking at options on Namecheap (my domain registrar)

Mailerlite is also saying 

Important: According to requirements from Google and Yahoo, the use of public domains (such as Gmail) as a sender address will no longer be permitted from February, 2024. Please switch to a custom domain.

The thing is the Google requirements are complete gobblydygook (see below) - with no idiots guide

Requirements for all senders

Starting February 1, 2024, all senders who send email to Gmail accounts must meet the requirements in this section.

Important: If you send more than 5,000 messages per day to Gmail accounts, follow the Requirements for sending 5,000 or more messages per day.

• Set up SPF or DKIM email authentication for your domain.
• Ensure that sending domains or IPs have valid forward and reverse DNS records, also referred to as PTR records. Learn more
• Use a TLS connection for transmitting email. For steps to set up TLS in Google Workspace, visit Require a secure connection for email.
• Keep spam rates reported in Postmaster Tools below 0.10% and avoid ever reaching a spam rate of 0.30% or higher. Learn more about spam rates.
• Format messages according to the Internet Message Format standard (RFC 5322).
• Don’t impersonate Gmail From: headers. Gmail will begin using a DMARC quarantine enforcement policy, and impersonating Gmail From: headers might impact your email delivery.
• If you regularly forward email, including using mailing lists or inbound gateways, add ARC headers to outgoing email. ARC headers indicate the message was forwarded and identify you as the forwarder. Mailing list senders should also add a List-id: header, which specifies the mailing list, to outgoing messages.

So unless I get this sorted - this might be the last blog post sent vis an RSS to email subsciption.

I'll have to go back to firing up Twitter/X as well as Facebook to announce new blog posts!

I'm currently contemplating switching all existing subscribers to follow-it - because despite their awful advertising they do do a good job of getting emails out promptly. Plus they do NOT use personalised emails. 

Or maybe changing platforms completely and making it subscription based (i.e. I can pay for the subscription email service by you paying me to receive the emails!)

For example Substack offers:

• emails from (name)@substack.com
• paid subscriptions for some content

That's the last resort.

Right now it's just very, very depressing.

READ THIS: If you get emails from Making A Mark

I've finally committed to a new email subscription service for Making A Mark - and I've decided to go with Mailer Lite. 

What I'd like you to do now - if you are an existing subscriber (i.e. receiving an email everytime I publish a new blog post) - is ask you to PLEASE SUBSCRIBE AGAIN  

This is because my subscriber list dates back some 15 years and I think a number of subscribers are no longer "live" - literally and/or figuratively - and I'd like to get back to a clean subscriber list. 

BELOW is what the top of the new email will look like - when you SUBSCRIBE to the new Mailer Lite Subscription list.

It will come from the email I use for contact purposes - and the sender is 'Making A Mark Publications'.

What the top of the email will look like

THE SHORT VERSION

 

If viewing on a mobile/cell phone 

please click the CAPTION underneath the image and this will take you to a screen where you see a live version of this email subscription form and can complete it

I'd like to complete this form

 
PLEASE DO NOT FORGET TO CONFIRM YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS when you get the verification email - otherwise you won't get email updates.

 

If viewing on a desktop or tablet 

Please go to the side column and use the subscription form there.

Or, do as suggested above and click the caption which says  I'd like to complete this form and complete the form on a separate screen.

If you're still getting emails via Feedburner

I'd be surprised - because the email subscription list disappeared today - hence this post. 

However, all you need to do is unsubscribe from Feedburner AFTER you have subscribed via the new subscription form - and that way you won't get two emails about the same post.

THE LONG VERSION

Today has been devoted to yet another attempt to find a substitute service for the really easy to use and set up Feedburner.

I've come to the conclusion - after seeing awful adverts on Follow.It that Mailer Lite is a superior service which offers a much more business-like service. Plus it gets a lot of rave reviews from people who have been looking in the RSS feed to email conundrum post Feedburner.

Mailer Lite is actually quite sophisticated - with some very helpful videos

SO.......

You need to resubscribe to Making A Mark

I could import all my current subscribers - and I've got nearly 2,000 subscribers (via Feedburner) 

BUT I'M NOT GOING TO ADD THEM TO MAILER LITE subscriber database 

This is because:

• I suspect there are any number of reasons why some are not opening their emails (eg changed email address / died / no longer using the internet as much or just not opening their emails!)
• I get charged if I go over 1,000 subscribers! So an incentive to stay under....

I've also got to sort out other email subscriber services for other sites and I still am not entirely clear whether the charge is per campaign site or per the overall number of subscribers - so I may well end up paying out anyway. However, I'd like to avoid paying out unnecessarily.

Profuse apologies to all those who signed up to Follow.it - I'll be writing to you all personally! 

and finally......

Mailer Lite is very new to me and I'm not entirely sure I've got it right yet.

DO LET ME KNOW IF YOU HAVE ANY PROBLEMS!