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Kill the newsletter: Convert newsletters into RSS feeds

kill-the-newsletter.com

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Re: Kill the newsletter: Convert newsletters into RSS feeds

#91

Post by flukus »

olivierlacan wrote: post #54

While going back to RSS sounds like the virtuous move, the reason I believe most people are going back to newsletters is that email is an inbox people have to check and the likelihood of them viewing and acting on content that is delivered to their email inbox vs their RSS reader inbox is much higher. With no data to back this up I'd wager conversion rates (read x and click to see y linked within x) are at least doub…

> I believe most people are going back to newsletters is that email is an inbox people have to check and the likelihood of them viewing and acting on content that is delivered to their email inbox vs their RSS reader inbox is much higher.

I don't see any of that anymore now that gmails filters into social and offer tabs. I don't even see the couple I want to see.

Re: Kill the newsletter: Convert newsletters into RSS feeds

#94

Post by leafac »

iagooar wrote: post #12

Kudos for making the source code available and allowing to self-host the service. If you are thinking about making some money with it, maybe one twist would be to be to offer a SaaS "proxy" between the newsletter and the subscriber, where subscribers enter their real email and search for newsletters they are interested in and convert them into a feed? Although TBH I'm not sure there is money in RSS readers...

Hi iagooar,

Author of Kill the Newsletter! here. Thank you for your idea, but my intent is not to make money with this. Let alone get a hold of users’ real email address :)

Re: Kill the newsletter: Convert newsletters into RSS feeds

#95

Post by leafac »

tedmiston wrote: post #30
iagooar wrote: post #12

Kudos for making the source code available and allowing to self-host the service. If you are thinking about making some money with it, maybe one twist would be to be to offer a SaaS "proxy" between the newsletter and the subscriber, where subscribers enter their real email and search for newsletters they are interested in and convert them into a feed? Although TBH I'm not sure there is money in RSS readers...

Also a few tweaks - make the UI easier to use on mobile - make feed title and feed URL fields appear together at the same time - send a test post to each newly created feed so I can confirm it's working That said, I'm not sure if OP is actually the author based on taking a glance at commit dates in the repo.

Hi tedmiston,

Author of Kill the Newsletter! here. First, thank you for your suggestions :)

> - make the UI easier to use on mobile

I don’t own a phone, can you please be more specific on the difficulties you had? I’d be happy to address them.

> - make feed title and feed URL fields appear together at the same time

To which screen are you referring?

> - send a test post to each newly created feed so I can confirm it's working

That’s a good idea. Of course, the sole fact that the feed exists with the title you gave is already confirmation that it’s working. Even if there are no entries. And, right after creating the feed on Kill the Newsletter! the user is probably going to use the email address the service gives to actually sign up to a newsletter. Upon doing that, the newsletter provider usually sends a subscription confirmation email that shows up as a feed entry. Still, I think one more confirmation wouldn’t hurt and I’ll add it.

> That said, I'm not sure if OP is actually the author based on taking a glance at commit dates in the repo.

You’re correct. I don’t even know ProfDreamer, but I’m glad he liked my work enough to post it. Otherwise I wouldn’t have received feedback such as yours :)

Re: Kill the newsletter: Convert newsletters into RSS feeds

#96

Post by leafac »

Semiapies wrote: post #70
thecabinet wrote: post #4

NewsBlur does something similar. Forward your newsletters and they appear as an RSS feed. Works with any kind of email...

Similarly, Feedbin gives you an email address you can aim a newsletter at and see as another feed. It's kinda genius.

Hi thecabinet, snksnk and Semiapies,

Author of Kill the Newsletter! here. Thank you for your comments! I didn’t know of NewsBlur and Feedbin and it’s nice to see that other tools take similar approaches to the use case. It validates that my solution was appropriate.

It’s unfortunate that NewsBlur and Feedbin bind the feature to their platform. But I guess it makes sense, Feedbin is even trying to make money. Anyway, whenever you need a free tool that doesn’t lock you in or ask for your personal information, I hope you consider Kill the Newsletter! an option :)

Re: Kill the newsletter: Convert newsletters into RSS feeds

#97

Post by leafac »

doozler wrote: post #3

This service looks really awesome! I think there may be a slight spelling mistake on the first line of the "Introduction" section. It say's "I love newsletters, but I have receiving e-mails", should that be " hate " ?

Hi doozler,

Author of Kill the Newsletter! here. Thank you for the kind words and for pointing out the mistake. I fixed it :)

Re: Kill the newsletter: Convert newsletters into RSS feeds

#98

Post by leafac »

bbcbasic wrote: post #93

Doubles up as a way to get an anonymous / throwaway email address. I just signed up a twitter account using it :-)

Hi bbcbasic,

Author of Kill the Newsletter! here. First, thank you for interest, I’m glad the tool was useful to you. While of course Kill the Newsletter! does work as a throwaway email address, I ask you to please not use it for that. I fear this might result in @kill-the-newsletter.com email addresses ending up in blacklists. Or that the service grows in a way that I couldn’t support with my $0 budget :) Finally, I can’t make strong guarantees of privacy and security for incoming emails. The security is through obscurity of the generated email address and corresponding feed URL, which is not a strong model. This is generally fine for newsletters—whose contents are public anyway—but not so much for signing up for a private Twitter account.

Also, there are other tools like https://www.mailinator.com/ designed specifically for this use case. You’re much better off with them!

And, when you want to convert that newsletter into an RSS feed, I hope you consider Kill the Newsletter! an option :)

Re: Kill the newsletter: Convert newsletters into RSS feeds

#99

Post by leafac »

zizee wrote: post #92

I run a curated newsletter builder platform^, that includes subscription/delivery component. After reading this, I'm going to survey my users (email publishers) to see if enabling RSS subscription is something they are interested in... ^ https://www.NewsMaker.io

Hi zizee,

Author of Kill the Newsletter! here. I’m glad to know that my project inspired your idea. Feel free to generate NewsMaker RSS feeds using Kill the Newsletter!, if you’d like :)

Re: Kill the newsletter: Convert newsletters into RSS feeds

#100

Post by leafac »

norswap wrote: post #79

Very useful! What worries me: when this eventually fails, I won't know it's not working anymore (partially the fault of my feedreader, but still).

Hi norswap,

Author of Kill the Newsletter! here. That is a valid concern, thanks for bringing it up. I worry about this myself, being the #1 user of the tool. Do you have any idea how to fix it, though? I thought of a dead man’s switch kind of thing, in which I would periodically add an “everything is still working” for low-volume feeds, but I didn’t do it because I would consider such entries spam. What do you think?

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