Tag Archives: Syndication and Feeds

RSS what?

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RSS Symbol

Ever see this symbol before?  This post is not about RSS (Real Simple Syndication) or how it works.  It’s about the the computer literate folks I encounter every day who are not utilizing the power of RSS feeds to simplify their lives.

Unless owners of sites block their feeds, any website with dynamic (frequently updated content) has a feed.   The feed updates and syndicates changes, i.e., new blog posts, updates, news articles, for anyone to grab.

So when I am discussing a particular blog or site with someone who just surfs to it occasionally, I always ask if they “subscribe”.  I am often met with a blank look when I tell them they can automatically receive updates  every time their favorite blogger posts, or their favorite news outlet adds a new story.  You can subscribe to the feeds for sites you enjoy through a piece of aggregation software like Google Reader, and like magic, receive all the latest updates for everything you like on the web.

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Getting the hottest news with RSS – Part 2

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In my prior post about RSS, we introduced the concept of RSS and RSS readers.  Hopefully, you have had a chance to look at the Google Reader, and perhaps you are starting to develop an interesting list of subscriptions.  In this post we will look at some business possibilities for your RSS subscriptions:

Personal knowledge

Want to sound like you know what you are talking about in a discussion of current events?  Want an edge in a debate about industry specific topics.  Want to share what the thought leaders are talking about or  be the person who always has the most interesting stories?  Have that knowledge served up to you 24/7 – just subscribe to the right stuff.

Here are a few examples:

Interesting and unusual  stories:  Try MentalFloss, The Smoking Gun, Neatorama, and LifeHacker.

Keep up with the thought leaders:  Brian Solis, Chris Brogan, and Seth Godin, just to name a few.

News (local to worldwide) :  From Fox to Al Jazeera, you can subscribe to any spin on the news that interests you.  Just Google what you are looking for

Profession Specific:  In my case, it’s Real Estate:  Check out some of the better and more famous real estate bloggers:  Jim Klinge, Missy Caulk,  and Tom Royce,  to learn about good real estate blogging.  Check  Agent Genius,  Agency Logic and Housing Wire for real estate news.   Search [your profession] +[ blogs]  (without brackets) to get started with a list for your industry.

Technology:  Tech Crunch and Mashable.

Get the picture?  There are millions of feeds out there.  Don’t just use my example list.  Always be on the lookout for good content.   One great source is the links posted by your Twitter and Facebook friends. Continue reading →

Getting the hottest news with RSS – Part 1

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So much information, so little time.  Newspapers, magazines, podcasts, blog posts, books, webinars – we are overwhelmed with information from a myriad of sources.  Most of us probably have our “towers of shame”, those stacks of must-read books beside the bed or our favorite chair.

How would you like to be served filtered business, local and news, blog posts, videos,  and other items of interest, directly to your computer in real time?  An extremely simple and efficient way to manage day to day information is through the use of an RSS reader and subscriptions to RSS feeds.  RSS is Real Simple Syndication.  Most dynamic web content, blog posts, news from online sources, is offered via RSS feeds, as indicated by the RSS symbol at the beginning of the paragraph or, or the symbol in conjunction with a Subscribe request near the top of many  page .  RSS and RSS feeds are a little hard to explain, so let’s get some help from Common Craft:

The use of  RSS feeds will allow you to peruse a vast amount of information, in a shorter time. Continue reading →

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