Everybody likes FeedBurner and their buttons make your site look prettier. But still, are those buttons with subscriber count good for you? Do they work in your favor? Yes and No!
Everybody trusts an established something! People flock where other people are. And the FeeBurner subscriber count widgets will help you if you have some subscribers. The more you have the better. People trust those already popular as they consider them validated by others and somehow discard any censorship when embracing them or their opinions.
If you have few readers nobody will check the age of your site or so on. They are reluctant to subscribe to the RSS feeds even if it's free and no strings attached. I've seen this in action and the lower your number is the lower it will go.
People don't want to think and analyze your site throughly. They rely on others' opinions as they are lazy. And the subscriber count is like a popularity contest and works on the same concept as the rich: The richer you are, the richer you'll get!
There are two ways. Do not show it at all! Just show the subscribe image and let them be. Or … Fake It! If big numbers are popular place a big number on it. Edit it in Photoshop (learn Photoshop) and change the number to something big. Don't over do it, 500-1000 is usually OK!
Keep the changed counter untill you achieve the desired subscriber count and then put the real one back on.
Some basic Photoshop knowhow is required. Set the color scheme in feedburner and take a screenshot of the real count. Paste it in Photoshop and Image > Crop the image right around the feedburner image. Find some pixel fonts and use them to write the new value to look like the old one. Voila … faker:) You can also create your own widget and, as long as it has high subscriber count, it will work.
Like my subscriber count?Yeah … RIGHT!
Actually, any image (animated gif is best) that states subscriber count visible and proeminently will do it!
This method will attract readers but will not keep them. It's you job to keep them with quality. This trick will give you a fighting chance to prove who you really are!
