News that FeedBurner APIs are going away has some people running for solutions.

This post will glance at three things:

• Feedburner
• APIs
• An old garage door opener for a house you no longer live in

Feedburner is a tool that allows many, many sites, and blogs (including this one) to have their updates automatically syndicated and sent out so people who subscribe (free) via a news reader or email alert get notified – many times with the full post.  Hundreds of thousands (millions?) of people read updates from these “feeds” in various manners.

An API ( an acronym for Application Programming Interface) is …well, it’s a … an API is sorta like your garage door opener. Or perhaps the remote control to your TV.  If you were to lose your garage-door opener, it doesn’t mean you could never open your garage door again. Nor does it mean your garage door goes away. Just the add-on tool that helped you open your garage door.

Of course, if you don’t use your garage or have no need to use that big door – you probably wouldn’t miss the door opener. I know a few people who still have an opener to a house they don’t live in anymore. They still have the API, but not the program.

Feedburner APIs going away doesn’t mean that Feedburner is going away. The APIs that Feedburner used are mostly for metrics (now part of Google Analytics) or simple add-ons like the FeedFlare items. They’re getting rid of old garage door openers.

I am confident if Feedburner (a property of Google) is going away completely, Google would let us all know. There are some major sites, and a mass multitude of sites, using Feedburner.

That Google hasn’t said anything gives me confidence Feedburner will remain. Its name may change (Google RSS? Google Feeds?).

That Google hasn’t said anything at all (neither confirming or denying) leads me to cautious research for an alternative.

Among the voices of the blogosphere I trust who have made a move away from FeedBurner, I’m inclined to follow bits of their advice:

• For Jim Connolly, Things Just Got Better! with the way he is now syndicating his wonderful work.
• For Neville Hobson, he’s prepared for a possible Feedburner passing with a move to FeedBlitz.
• For You – FeedBlitz has a free and comprehensive guide on how to migrate your feeds from FeedBurner. It’s worth a read.

As for me? I might park my car outside for a bit longer and see what happens – though I have read the FeedBlitz guide mentioned above and am at the ready to move things. I’m cautiously optimistic we’re simply losing a garage door opener (that we no longer use) – not the whole garage.

Now where did I put that remote control?

Feedburner Issues – Let’s Not Panic is a post from: ConverStations

While I’ve offered the ‘how and why I tweet’  in-depth elsewhere, here’s a thin slice:

• Support & Service: The resources help the clients/customers/partners  I serve professionally
• Social Proof: I’m able to spread some genius of the colleagues, creators, and other curators
• Self Serving: I like to research, share (and be a resource)

Here’s my workflow heading into and around Twitter (times estimate depending on the rest of the day).

4:30am – A quick nod of thanks for previous ReTweets or other mentions. I group these together for two reasons: a cleaner stream and I can send thanks to everyone in usually a couple of these notes. While I’d love to thank everyone individually – neither time nor my reasons for tweeting lend to that practice for me. Time elapsed: 2-5 minutes

5:30am – Start scheduling tweets from various resources (my private Twitter lists, RSS feed, Alltop, email, Topsy searches). I use Buffer, Timely, and HootSuite depending on when I want the tweet to publish. If I can schedule 8-15 tweets at this sitting I’m happy. More on how I use these tools in an upcoming post. Time elapsed: 15-20 minutes

Mid-morning – Check feeds and my private Twitter list of “Aces” and schedule a few more tweets. The “Aces” are my favorites including those folks who often RT me. Because of my “be the resource” mantra – I don’t share just to share – but to be a resource to one of my customer segments: clients and colleagues. Time elapsed: 10 minutes

Mid-afternoon – Check feeds and my private Twitter list of “Business Resources” and schedule a few more tweets. Since by this time of day a lot has been published, this takes a bit longer (or I split it and continue later that night). I also check to see who has mentioned me so I can respond. Time elapsed: 20 minutes

Good night – Really, this is time for “chit-chat” stuff – and I’m sad to say I don’t do this enough, but alas – time. I check on newsy items (another private Twitter list) and star some RSS items for tomorrow’s sharing. Time elapsed: 10 minutes

So as you can see, it adds up to just over an hour or so. Small, bite-sized tastes of Twitter.

Do you have a plan, framework, or workflow for your Twitter?

Image source: Icon Archive

Key Activity: Twitter Workflow is a post from: ConverStations

While my plan was to do an elaborate post on why I follow them, I need the wall for a different grid of post-its (and the time to do that project). So, here’s a scaled back version of . . .

Folks I Follow (people I read daily and follow their words in multiple networks). I believe you’d find a lot of value by doing the same:

The Pro-Site

• TentBlogger | RSS | Twitter | Google+
• ProBlogger | RSS | Twitter | Google+
• CopyBlogger | RSS | Twitter | Google+
• ChrisBlogger (actually it’s Brogan) | RSS | Twitter | Google+

The Digi-Magazines (Google+ is only for individuals at this time)

• MediaTapper | RSS | Twitter
• Social Media Examiner | RSS | Twitter
• HubSpot | RSS | Twitter
• Content Marketing Institute | RSS | Twitter
• Marketing Profs Daily Fix | RSS | Twitter

The Marketeers

• Seth Godin | RSS | Twitter | Google+
• Jim Connolly | RSS | Twitter | Google+
• Drew McLellan | RSS | Twitter | Google+
• John Jantsch | RSS | Twitter | Google+
• Gavin Heaton | RSS | Twitter | Google+
• Mack Collier | RSS | Twitter | Google+

The Inspiration

• Michael Hyatt | RSS | Twitter | Google+
• Ron Edmondson | RSS | Twitter | Google+
• Kneale Mann | RSS | Twitter | Google+
• Scott Ginsberg | RSS | Twitter | Google+
• Angela T Sansone | RSS | Twitter | Google+

Others that happen to be Men

• Jeff Korhan | RSS | Twitter | Google+
• David Armano | RSS | Twitter | Google+
• Jeff Goins | RSS | Twitter | Google+
• Ben Stroup | RSS | Twitter | Google+
• Phil Gerbyshak |RSS | Twitter | Google +
• Steve Woodruff | RSS | Twitter | Google+
• Jason Falls | RSS | Twitter | Google+
• Joe Pulizzi | RSS | Twitter | Google+

Others that happen to be Women

• Tracy Sestili | RSS | Twitter | Google+
• Valeria Maltoni | RSS | Twitter | Google+
• Heidi Cohen | RSS | Twitter | Google+
• Brankica Underwood | RSS | Twitter | Google+
• CB Whittemore | RSS | Twitter | Google+
• Becky McCray | RSS | Twitter | Google+
• Ivana Taylor | RSS | Twitter | Google+
• Becky Robinson |RSS | Twitter| Google+
• Ali Goldfield | RSS | Twitter | Google+
• Dawn Mentzer | RSS |Twitter | Google+

There are many more (With close to 1,800 feed subscriptions, I don’t read them all. I Skim- Scan-Save), but here’s a start if you want to get real smart, real good, real fast.  Really.

For members of Dialing 8 Project, I’ll share the Circle, Twitter List, and an OPML (all the RSSs) sometime this weekend.

Big thanks to the above folks for doing what they do!

Image found at State of the Bit

Folks I Follow (and you should too) is a post from: ConverStations

November 2010

• Give Your Readers Gifts With Every Blog Post – Readers of our content are skimmers and scanners. Give them gifts within each post that allow them to slow down and take in your message.
• Search Once and Subscribe: Making Meaning of RSS -One of the benefits of RSS is that you can search and subscribe to the results.  Save time and gain more insight.
• Taste on a Toothpick – You don't have to write everything you know on a topic in one blog post – it would be hard to swallow that big of a bite at one sitting. Just give 'em a taste.
• First We Flock Around the Content, Then We Talk About the Content – Great content should ignite conversations – it's the way it's always been.
• On the Oregon Trail – A brief bit on my move from Iowa to Oregon.
• Craft Beer: More Than a Social Media Metaphor – Working closely in the Craft Beer industry, I'm learning that there is more than metaphors that make up both Craft Beer and Social Media

Previous Novembers

• Two Weeks of Trash Talking ('09) – First we rehearse, then we go under the spotlight.
• Social Media Success Plan for Beginners: 6 Hours a Week for 6 Weeks ('08) – A simple equation to build great habits and page depth.
• Target Audience or Key Relationships: Why It's Okay to Miss the Bullseye ('08) – Even if you don't get a bullseye on every attempt, you can still score as long as you keep tossing content.
• 4 Criteria for Choosing Technology for Your Classroom ('08) – A few things to make sure of before you start using that "next new thing" in your classroom.
• Your Blogging Territories ('07) – Who are you writing for and why?
• Quotes n Notes: Learn Something ('07) – Even a schmuck can teach you a few things
• Marketing Resources for Students ('07) – A few books and online resources for college grads and students
• Is Your Company Blog Simply Marketing Insurance? ('06) – Having car insurance doesn't make you a better driver…having a blog doesn't make you a better marketer.
• Company Blog: Tool or Employee? ('06) – While a blog is a tool, it might be better to view it as an employee.
• Information Overload or Poor Time Management ('06) – Don't go after everything – just the important stuff.  Signal vs Noise
• Web Site vs Blog Site ('06) – Easy pictorial comparison
• Horse and Buggy Web Development ('06) – Funny (and sad). This still happens too often.

Reflections and Reviews of Novembers Gone By is a post from: ConverStations

In these days of web browsing and internet reading, we should be aware we now live an an age of Skim, Scan, and Save. Whether we like or agree with the practice is moot. Readers of our content are skimmers and scanners.

By writing with gifts, we ensure they get the "take-away" or "money-quote" and help them slow down their reading. This also helps you as the writer, as your words are more likely to be read and shared.

These gifts are what I call eye-rests on the information highway. Much like a long drive on an interstate, these "eye rests" act as rest stops (or at least slow-downs) among the congestion of information.

So what are some of the eye rest gifts you can provide your readers?

• Shorter paragraphs
• Bold Phrases (not just a keyword, but a take-away phrase or money quote).
• Images that puncuate your post
• Contextual hyperlinks
• Bullet-pointed lists

You don't have to include all of these "gifts" in one post, but a few gifts now and again sure would be nice – especially in a long post.

As one of your readers, I'm hoping (begging?) for such gifts.

Photo on Flickr by paulpker121

Give Your Readers Gifts with Every Blog Post is a post from: ConverStations

The tool is Favstar.fm and it's a multi-purpose cool! You can find new Twitter connections, follow hot topics (by number of stars and shares), and you can search once and subscribe to the activity on your own tweets.

Below is a video tutorial on how to best use Favstar, and note that to subscribe to your activity, the "recent" tab on your favstar account has the RSS feed you seek (how do I subscribe to a search feed?).

Favstar.fm – Know When Your Tweets are Favorited & RT’d is a post from: ConverStations

By tapping into the power of RSS, we can gain more knowledge in less time. I like that, don't you?  More Knowledge. Less Time. A powerful combination to win the battle of Infosumption (Information Consumption).

The beauty of Search Once and Subscribe, is we don't need to know all the techy parts of RSS. Really, we're just making it mean a Relevant Signal Stream for our own needs.

By using the mantra, we can

• know who's talking about our business
• see what they are saying
• find out the buzz in a particular market or product
• stay on top of news on our clients and prospects
• research certain key phrases we're studying

Let's take a look at your own business for the example. There's a few searches to do, and then subscribe to the search feed (how do I do that?)

Your Business Name:
Simply type your business name (use quotes to get the exact name – and maybe your city outside of the quotes) into Google and search. Then to the left, you'll find a menu that includes "News" and "Blogs". Click on those and subscribe to the search string (if you're familiar with RSS, the RSS button is at the bottom of the page). Now, if and when someone writes about you, you'll know right away. You searched once – and subscribed.

Your Business Website:
I usually just do a "blog search" for specific links. To do this, I go to Google's Blog Seach (http://blogsearch.google.com). Type in the website address and search. You'll find that Google automatically puts 'link:' in front of the address. So if I was searching on www.ConverStations.com, the search would be link:www.converstations.com. Subscribe to the search and always be in the know when someone links to your site.

Your Website URLs Truncated:
You may have seen truncated URLs such as "bit.ly" or "tinyurl" used on Twitter. There's a great tool to search for times when someone truncates the web address from a page on your site. Backtweets is easy to use (I posted a mini-tutorial on using Backtweets earlier this year).

Keywords and Keyword Phrases: You can do most of these searches with keywords and phrases as well. Again, I'd begin with Google's Blogsearch and Backtweets. I'd also suggest you use personal pronouns (a few examples) within the search string.

More Knowledge + Less Time = Smart Infosumption

Search Once and Subscribe – Making Meaning of RSS is a post from: ConverStations

I often ask how many folks measure the numbers of their RSS feed. I (way) too often get blank stares in return. C’mon. Really?

Just like the folks at the Storefronts as Conversation Stations the other day, we start by talking about the importance of keeping score.

It’s not an ego thing.  You keep score all day, every day on something: Page Views, Bank Balance, Golf score, followers.  Keeping score is a measurement of where you are in comparison to where you want to be…so it’s okay to keep score.

We’re not talking just number of subscribers (though that’s part of it), but also views, clicks, reach, what type of feed aggregator your readers use most.

I use FeedBurner – and so should you.  It’s free. It’s Google. And the analytics are great (and you can synch it up to your Google Analytics).

Aside from tracking number of subscribers, I am especially interested in the “Item Use” that feed burner tracks.  Let’s take a look at a couple of things:

This shows that on this day (9/13), the RSS items I’ve published (people reading my content from their aggregator) received 1,483 views and 912 clickthroughs. Not where I want to be, but improving.

So, I can take the 1,483 and add that to the 561 page views on the site (as reported by Google for that day) and that’s over 2,000 views of pieces of content I’ve published for the day. Nothing to boast about, but I can track improvement (and decline) by these measurements.

And here’s the best part:  I can measure on an item-by-item basis.  I can see what’s working and what’s not. Here’s one case:

Whistle Stops are a bit I publish each Sunday. I point to great work I’ve seen elsewhere and some of my own stuff that I wrote the week just past.  I don’t have to imagine or wonder if my readership gets value – I just look at the “item use” in my feed stats:

I’d say someone is gaining value from Whistle Stops. Therefore I keep going with it.

A new “series” I’ve started is the Strong-End Summit, a handful of videos in a theme to motivate or educate folks. I publish these on Friday afternoon so people can stay “working,” but in a way to end their week strong.

Again, wondering if it’s worth my time and their eyeballs, I let the numbers tell me if I should continue with the series..

In the last month of Strong-End Summits (1 each week, 4 posts for the month): 1,046 views; 1,440 clicks. Again, the folks that subscribe to this feed are clicking through on the items they get – so they’re getting some value out of it.

There’s a lot we can discuss on RSS feeds (and we will), but for the purpose of this post I want to encourage (implore?) you to start tracking your RSS feed numbers — and FeedBurner is the tool I always recommend (strongly).

How do you measure your feeds?  Or how can we dive deeper into feed analytics?  Questions?

Why You Should be Keeping Score of Your RSS Feed Metrics & Use FeedBurner is a post from: ConverStations

Here's a screen shot from this morning:

So, in a 30-day period I "read" 18,402 items. Wow! But since I know my "Skim, Scan, and Save (then Share)" habits – I know this is a misnumber:-). I skip over at least 400 of those 613 items.

I like the average of 5.7 per day sharing (either on Google Reader or via email).  If it climbs or gets concentrated in one area, I'll wonder if I'm creating too much noise.

The "starred" items has me concerned (an average of 30+ per day get saved in my Google Reader starred items). I need to improve my filtering.

When I add the 188 items clicked, that brings my activity level on RSS feed items up to 42 per day (and that doesn't include the scanning past those other items.

Time to prune the RSS bush.

The great thing about Trends is it also shows you specifically which of your subscriptions you read most, which ones you star most, and the number of items each site publishes a day (Mashable averages 19.5 — but it's all so good)

Maybe it's time to really skeleton my RSS feeds and rely more on my Twitter + Yahoo pipes. I'll let ya know how this goes…

and please, let me know how you scale back on your infosumption to make it digestable.

Time to Filter and Prune my RSS is a post from: ConverStations

Photo on Flickr by choffee

Slide: Information Has Moved is a post from: ConverStations