Archive - RSS Feeds RSS Feed

A Single Feed Creates a Lifetime of Loyalty

By on May 23, 2006 in RSS Feeds with 3 Comments

Trackstart This is the story of two stars in two unrelated fields. The tie that binds them together is an RSS feed:

Frank & Amanda brought their three kids to shop for a new car. It will be Jessica’s first car.

Jessica is graduating from high school next year and is being recruited from universities nationwide. She is one of the state’s brightest track stars and science students. The family has their eye on Duke University.

Josh is also a star, like Jessica, staying well ahead of the competition.

Frank purchased a car from Josh last fall. During the sales process, Frank began telling Josh how proud he was of his family and Jessica’s name came up. Frank couldn’t help sharing his pride in her athletic prowess.

After the sale, Josh immediately did a news search on Jessica, including her last name and the word "track" and another with the name of Jessica’s high school. He subscribed to the search using RSS feeds. That’s almost the end of the story.

Each morning, Josh takes a quick glance at the headlines in his feed aggregator. One day,he noticed Jessica’s name come up several times. She had broken a 25-year old state record the day before. Newspapers from across several states carried reports, pictures and quotes.

Josh gathered the links found in his feeds, wrote a congratulatory note to Frank and sent the mail. Frank hadn’t seen all the news, just the local papers. He hadn’t spoken to Josh in months, but the impression was made.

Josh invested a few minutes in subscribing to a search. Months later, it paid big-time dividends. Now Frank buys all his personal cars from Josh – but so do most of Frank’s friends and colleagues. You see, Frank became a Josh evangelist because of Josh’s efforts.

Think Josh’s time was spent wisely? Think Frank will ever buy a car from anyone else? Think you should start reading feeds?

Getting Started Reading Feeds

By on May 22, 2006 in Blogging, Conversations, RSS Feeds with 3 Comments

After a workshop, I send a series of emails as follow-up. This is one I sent today:

In this example, I’ll be showing how to subscribe to a feed using either GreatNews or Bloglines. Both tools are free..

In most feed aggregators, news readers and browsers, there is a built-in auto-discovery process that will recognize if a page has a feed and give you the option to subscribe. Both GreatNews and Bloglines have this feature.

However, this can cause some confusion as many sites (especially blogs) will offer multiple choices. If you’re using auto-discovery process, pick one of the choices discovered. I read feeds. I don’t write feeds. If RSS 2.0 is available, I pick that. Why? Flip of a coin. Both work fine from my perspective as a reader. (A message to FeedBurner Users: Are Your FeedBurner Feeds Autodiscovered?)

If the auto-discovery process gives you a headache (it did me when I first started), here’s a three-step process I recommend:

  1. When you find a RSS/Feed/XML/Atom button (or link) on a site, copy shortcut (In WIN: right click>copy shortcut, or on a MAC: control-click>hold mouse button down>copy link)
  2. Paste the URL into your feed aggregator (whichever tool you use).
  3. Subscribe.

But so many icons and buttons…which one to choose? For now, any one of them (I will always prefer a feed published by FeedBurner or an icon like you see on this site). 

Many times, the Feed button is orange. Sometimes, it’s in the form of a link that says RSS or ATOM. Sometimes, it’s a blue button. Sorry.

Copy the shortcut using the three-step method above. And paste it into your feed aggregator.

For GreatNews, here’s an image of what that looks like (images for Bloglines follow):

Greatnewsadd

When the pop-up opens, paste the shortcut in:

Greatnewssub

Here’s the images for Bloglines:

Bloglinesadd

Then paste the shortcut into Bloglines:

Bloglinessub

By reading feeds and remembering to Search Once and Subscribe, you’ll end up knowing more in less time – and that translates into money (saved or earned). However, at first – just like anything else – there are some growing pains.

If you’re a feed-reading guru and can add to this, please chime in. If you’re a feed-reading rookie and have a question, comment below so we can learn and earn together.

Technorati Tags:
, , , , Blog Workshop

Can You Explain Exactly How a Microwave Works?

By on May 19, 2006 in RSS Feeds with 3 Comments

If I ever get asked the question of how a Microwave Oven works, I could explain all the nuances of diode and capacitor arrangements, magnetron tubes and high-voltage transformers (if you’re interested, here’s that answer), or I could talk about how to put the bag of popcorn in, set the button for 2:00 minutes on High, pour your drink, take out the bag, enjoy the movie.

I think if someone asks me that question, they’re looking for the second answer.

When we get asked, "Exactly what is RSS and how does it work?" are people asking for this answer (What is RSS/XML?) or more than likely, this answer (What’s RSS?)

The second is from Seth Godin. Here’s an excerpt (emphasis mine):

"RSS is just a little peep, a signal, a ping that comes from a favorite blog or site, telling your computer that it has been updated. If you have an RSS reader (and they’re free and easy, and two of the easiest live on the web so you don’t even have to install anything), whenever a blog is updated, it shows up in your reader and you can catch up on the news. If there’s nothing new, it doesn’t show up and you don’t have to waste time surfing around."

I’d modify to "…whenever a blog, news page or search result is updated…"

What’s your RSA (Real Simple Answer) for RSS (Really Simple Syndication)?

Technorati Tags: , ,

GreatNews: Great Feed Aggregator?

By on May 16, 2006 in RSS Feeds with 3 Comments

Randy Morin posted results of a survey of his readers on which aggregator they used. Interesting results.

GreatNews landed an 86% vote as his audience’s favorite reader. Not surprising from my perspective. Though I’ve long pointed to SharpReader as a tool of choice, lately I’ve been supporting GreatNews for a few reasons:

  • Less problems with downloading.
  • The "Label This" feature
  • I love the Style Feature, allowing you to choose from several different reading styles. (I use the Newspaper View)
  • It’s FREE (I like free!)

Looking at the stats on FeedBurner, I see that 32% of my readers use Bloglines – not surprising, since much of my audience works in a cubicle nation, and are not in a position to download a stand-alone application. SharpReader has 19% of my readers, probably due to my influence. GreatNews has 5%.

I’d be interested to hear what Randy’s FeedBurner percentages, because while the survey shows a good example of what his most active readers use, the number of respondents is nowhere close to his 3800+ subscribers.

Suggestion for GreatNews…it would be super-good if I could get a "river of news" pop-up with a headlines as feeds are updating. FeedDemon only shows which feed is updating without a headline. This feature is one reason I use SharpReader most.

With a workshop coming up on Thursday focusing on using feeds, I’m still undecided on which aggregator to utilize and evangelize.

If you want to follow what’s going on in the world of feeds and RSS – you should subscribe to The RSS Blog (feed).

Technorati Tags: , SharpReader, FeedDemon, ,

Blogs are NOT Important…

By on May 15, 2006 in Blogging, Conversations, Marketing, RSS Feeds with 0 Comments

Blogwrkshp_4 As Jeremiah Owyang says, Blogs are NOT Important. But, the conversations taking place on blogs are very important to your business.

Conversations have two roles – Talking and Listening. Blogs have two roles – Author and Audience. Maybe you’re thinking about publishing a blog for your company. Maybe you’ve decided against it. Either way, if you want to stay ahead, you should at least be part of the audience.

If you’re like me, there isn’t enough time in the day to read all these blogs with the hope that I may find something important to my business. However, there are solutions. Most of them are free. If used right, they are time savers.

On Thursday, May 18th, you have the opportunity to find out how to use these tools to track blogs and social media for what’s being said about:

  • You
  • Your Company
  • Your Clients
  • Your Competition
  • Your Industry

Building Business Relationships Using Social Software is a three-hour workshop designed to equip you with a blog “hearing aid,” allowing you to build stronger relationships with your customers and colleagues.

There are three sessions to choose from: 9:00 AM, 1:00 PM, or 5:30 PM. The cost is only $25. There are discounts available if you bring clients or colleagues.

Don’t miss this workshop. As blogging continues to grow (it doubles every six months), a workshop like this will cost $100. In the interim, you may have missed some great opportunities to build strong business relationships.

Registration is just a few clicks away. Start Here and Now. Don’t W.A.I.T.

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Waffle
Around
Ignorning
Technology

Technorati Tags: , , , , Blog Workshop, GeekEvent,

Marketing Profs: From Teasing to Pleasing

By on May 13, 2006 in Blogging, RSS Feeds with 7 Comments

Marketing Profs Daily Fix has started offering a full feed. Sweet, now maybe I’ll read some of their posts and even comment now and again.

They’ve got a great group of writers, but as I scan feeds, I often choose to pass on partial feeds – which is a shame, because I’m sure I’m passing up on some great stuff. I was actually thinking about unsubscribing to those not offering full feeds.

Recently, ProBlogger went to a full feed. I’d be interested to hear his thoughts on how that’s working.

A few blogs that I like to read (partially) are Jack of All Blogs, Community Guy, and Lorelle on WordPress. Most of the time, I read only what comes up in the feed. Both author and audience lose in this scenario.

If a full feed is offered, I believe it’s more likely that a reader will comment – which gets them to the site – which was the goal of the partial feed, right? Jack even has a "Add a Comment" on his FeedFlare, though I’m not in a position to comment on a 70-word tease.

Maybe your reason for a partial feed is avoiding plagiarism. If it’s going to happen, it’s going to happen regardless of partial or full feeds. Steve Rubel leads an active conversation on the subject.

If you’re offering a partial feed, please let us know the strategy. Maybe there are benefits to the reader I haven’t thought of yet.

Nevertheless, thank you MarketingProfs for offering a DailyFix instead of a DailyTease. One suggestion – since you’re using FeedBurner, take advantage of the FeedFlare, you can even create your own Flare Unit to point readers to your excellent seminars or premium content.

Now if we can just get the IABC Communication Commons to do the likewise.

Related Posts:
- Optimize Your Feed for Engaging Conversation
- Create Your Own FeedBurner FeedFlare
- Brand Your Feed

Technorati Tags: , , Full Feeds, Partial Feeds,

Listen to the Conversations

By on April 26, 2006 in Blogging, Marketing, RSS Feeds with 1 Comment

Jeremiah Owyang recently received an email from one Stephen England, who shared his reasons for not liking blogs. After making his five points in defense of his view, he closes with this line:

"Blogs may have their place – but they’ll never have any place in how I learn more about my business!"

Ignorance is bliss? I say not. Stephen needs to unplug his ears (eyes). He needs to Flip the Funnel and use it as a hearing aide. He may learn something.

"I like to listen. I have learned a great deal from listening carefully. Most people never listen." – Ernest Hemingway.

Mark True, a Brand Warrior with REL Productions, asks us How Do You Monitor Blogs? He hints at how clipping services are becoming obsolete and offers how he’s begun researching the blogosphere.

I recently gave a retail manager a crash course in how to use feeds/blog search to track items for his top clients. By doing this, his periodic contact with his customers is more of a value to them than a simple itch-cycle scratch.

Here’s what we covered (just the basics – a crash course):

  1. Set up a Technorati Watchlist to track blogversations about a company. Either the URL or the Company’s name can be plugged into the Watchlist.
  2. Use Google News to search on a person’s name, for instance: "Mike Sansone" Iowa.  Nothing comes up today, but you can still subscribe to the feed.
  3. Use Google Blog Search to search on a product, for instance: Keppra. If a pharm rep kept this search in his feed, he’d be all the wiser as to what the consumers are saying – and able to share that with the doctors.

Each of these tools allow you to subscribe to the feed.  In other words, Search Once and Subscribe.

There are other tools and techniques that can be utilized to benefit your business. That’s one reason the next Iowa Business Blog Workshop focuses on Building Business Relationships Using Social Software.

So what tools do you use to track blogs? Visit Mark True’s blog and let him know – or better yet, answer his question on your blog and point to his question (extend the conversation).

Related posts:
- Get in the Routine of Feed Reading
- Blogging Has Two Roles…
- Have Your Say – It’s Important to Somebody
- I Hear a Train a comin’

Tags: Watchlist

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Create Your Own FeedBurner FeedFlare

By on April 25, 2006 in Cool Tools, Marketing, RSS Feeds with 4 Comments

I’m going to lose my reputation as a non-code guy soon.

Creating a Personal FeedFlare is easy and can add value to your site and feeds. Why? Because as time goes on, more of your audience is going to read your content without visiting your site. But still, if you have a business blog, ideally you’ll get some business from your blog, right?

Thanks to Seth Mazow and Marshall Kirkpatrick, I was recently compelled to create a new FeedFlare for the Interplast feed. Notice that at the bottom of each post in Interplast’s feed, there is a link to "Make a Donation to Interplast."

I’m now implementing this for several clients (where appropriate).

Here’s a sampling of the code.  You can change the Title, Description, Text and Link to whatever you desire.

<FeedFlareUnit>
        <Catalog>
                <Title>You Can Name This Anything</Title>
                <Description>You Can Name This Anything</Description>
        </Catalog>
        <FeedFlare>
                <Text>This Will Appear at the Bottom of Feed so Keep it Short</Text>
                <Link href="http://www.letsbuildablog.com" />
        </FeedFlare>
</FeedFlareUnit>

  1. Save and publish your XML to a web page. Most blogware allows you to uplaod files. In Typepad, go to Control Panel>Files.  Remember what you call the file, save it in the root directory. You will not be able to see the file after uploading it, but it’s there. (Though this site is ConverStations.com, any files I upload to the root are at mikesansone.typepad.com – this is important to remember)
  2. Sign in to FeedBurner.
  3. Navigate to Optimize>FeedFlare and place the URL of the XML file in the box next to Add New Flare.
  4. Save at the bottom of the FeedBurner page.

That’s it. One thing to keep in mind – Don’t Over Do It.  Pick just one item to hang your hat on and point to that.

If you’re a speaker, point to the web page that offers your speaking service. An author can point to where to buy the book. If you’re an artist, point to your portfolio or shopping cart.

As another example, can be found at OwnYourBrand. Mike Wagner is a national (soon to be international?) speaker. Now, his audience can navigate to his "Book Mike to Speak" right from the feed.  Take a look at his feed page.

If you need a hand at getting this done, let me know. Or come to the next workshop. The FeedFlare link is below:-)

Technorati Tags: , FeedFlare, , Interplast,

What’s with the Link Love?

By on April 18, 2006 in Blogging, RSS Feeds, Whistle Stops with 5 Comments

Working with a new blogger today, we were discussing item #4 in the Blog Posting Mantra: "At Least One Link Out" and why I have so many links in my posts. Here’s my reply:

  • Introduce your audience to new insights. The opinions of others make me a better on many levels: business, enthusiasm, giving, creative thinking, writing, time management, strategy…and I think those opinions add value to readers of this blog.
  • Introduce your site to other bloggers. If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you blog, do you not check your referral stats? I’ve met several great people online either because I linked to them, or they linked to me. I don’t expect anything back (but please-keep up the great work).
  • Re-introduce the habit of reading feeds. Two posts I often send in emails as a P.S. are Get in the Routine of Feed Reading and Search Once and Subscribe. For new business blogs, many of your customers may not yet be in this habit. That’s why I always include a link to feeds on the Whistle Stops. David Lorenzo shares a great practice posting this every once in awhile on how to subscribe to his feed.
  • Lastly, search engines favor pages that share relevant links. For some, this may be the most important reason. For this site, it’s secondary – but I won’t discount it as unimportant.

Two words: Find-ability and Link-ability.
Two questions: Is your site Find-able? Is your writing Link-able?

That’s why I share lots of links. What are your thoughts when linking? Do you favor more or less? Do you have a different perspective as writer and reader?

Technorati Tags: Blog Strategy, ,

OPML, Gada.Be & a Cup of Pirillo

By on April 15, 2006 in RSS Feeds with 0 Comments

On my “to-do” list this weekend is to set-up several search terms for a colleague so he can have a “river of news” delivered to his feed aggregator.
 
I’ve introduced him to the powers (and weaknesses) of Gada.be. I’m still trying to wrap my head around OPML and how best to filter some of the results of a Gada.be search. If only Chris Pirillo were in town….
 
Wait a minute!  Pirillo is in town!  If all goes well this morning with his dad (geting released from the hospital), Chris will be sitting alone at Being There in Altoona around 2pm today.
 
I hope I haven’t jinxed his showing up – and if so, I’ll be there. So show up for some coffee, some conversation, and a cup o’ Pirillo (or Sansone).
 
Technorati Tags : , Gada.be, OPML
 
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