"tips" implies secret value in an intimate conversation, and "tools" speaks to the adult/entrepreneur/artist in my reader. (Because I have a 'personality' they're 'buying,' I can get away with the intro to the confirmation email for "tips+tools" including a line about "If you thought you were getting "tits+rules" I'm happy to say you may need glasses but don't need to click this link...") I also figured at some point that adding a link to a "What's RSS?" page on my site would probably help. Last time I checked we were hovering around 3000 subscribers have languished at 2000 for most of last year till the change. (Although there seems to be a glitch with Feedburner stats today) I fail to see what kind of deep, dark conspiracy Willy is likely to be pulling with these numbers. I'm not picking a stock here -- the trend is what matters, and I buy Willy's assertion that the trend is significant. This is well established for things like the wording used on buttons, so it makes perfect sense for the subscribe label. I am going to try this as well. Tiny effort that costs me nothing, potential for very nice results, what's not to like? Thanks for the warm welcome! This was a fun post to write, and I'm glad that I'm able to share my observations with everyone. @ John Hoff -- Your premise is good, but my data doesn't back it up. In fact, my RSS subscriptions jumped by over 500%.