Blogging 101
What Makes a Blog Better?
Simply put, blogs allow consumers of online information the ability to “pull” specific information from the Internet. Historically, consumers of Web information used a search engine to try to find Web sites that had the information they wanted. Once found, these consumers would “bookmark” relevant sites, then when or if they had time, the consumer would return to these sites to see if anything new had been posted. This method for gathering new information is very hit or miss and certainly not efficient use of time.
More customer conscious sites may offer their visitors a more proactive way of receiving new information by allowing site visitors to sign up for an eNewsletter or eAlert of some kind. These sites now “push” new information to interested consumers. In doing so, the consumer is made aware of new information from the publisher without having to remember or spend the time to check back at the publisher’s Web site. This is a huge improvement. The only challenge with this methodology is to make sure the publisher always sends the consumer extremely relevant, targeted information, so that the consumer is not bombarded with useless emails. If this information is not extremely relevant, too often the consumer will opt-out of all the information sent to them by the publisher.
Blogs are the next generation in this publisher / consumer relationship. They allow the consumer to “pull” the specific information they want from the publisher’s blog. They no longer need to provide the publisher with any information to consume the publisher’s content, thus allowing the consumer to stay anonymous and in complete control of the relationship. To do this the consumer uses an “aggregator”.
Aggregators (News Readers)
Aggregators or News Readers are a piece of software that is installed or used over the Internet to collect information published to blogs. An aggregator can be set to monitor and check the information being published to literally thousands of blogs at any given time. It can be set to filter this information to only collect the content that specifically meets the needs of the content consumer. As well, the aggregator can automatically organize the data, with content titles and brief summaries, into a predetermined file structure set up by the consumer.
The information published to blogs that is able to be collected by the aggregator is called an “RSS Feed”. A single blog may have one or many RSS Feeds available. Each feed should represent a specific topic or area of content to which someone using an aggregator may want to subscribe.
How Do I Begin Consuming Blog Information?
You will need to subscribe to or install an aggregator program which will display the blogs (RSS Feeds) to which you subscribe.
Most people already have access to an aggregator. This is true if you have any of the following:
Google homepage Account (http://www.google.com/ig)
Google Reader Account (www.google.com/reader)
My Yahoo Account (http://my.yahoo.com/)
My MSN (http://my.msn.com/)
If you do not have one of these accounts, do not worry; they are free, easy to sign up for and during your subscription to our blog, you can sign up for one of these accounts in about 5 minutes.
The next step is to subscribe to a feed. To do this, go to www.BusinessMarketingStrategyToday.com. In the left hand column, you will see a heading called “RSS Feeds”. If you are using Google, Yahoo or MSN, simply click the corresponding icon. If you do not currently have one of these accounts, go ahead and select the “Google” icon.
You will be taken to a page that asks if you would like to “Add to Google homepage”. Go ahead and click this button. The next page you will be brought to is your Google homepage. Here you will see a heading called “Business Marketing Strategy” and a post title of “Business Marketing Strategy Blog Begins!”
Congratulations!! You have just signed up to your first blog (RSS feed).
If you would like to make this subscription permanent and use Google as your aggregator, click the words, “Please sign in to save your page”. Go to “Create an account”, complete the sign up information and you are all set. From this point forward anytime you see a blog to which you want to subscribe, all you have to do click the Google sign up button and this will be added to your Google homepage for you. The next release of IE will have an aggregator built right in. As well, there are a number of free and commercial aggregators available for download. A selection of aggregators is listed below for most computer platforms. Many of the companies who charge for their software offer 30-day trials so you know you are getting a product you like.
SharpReader (Windows, .Net Framework required, Free)
FeedDemon 1.5 (Windows 98, 2000, ME, XP, $29.95)
FeedReader (Windows, Free)
NewsGator (Windows/Web) - Variable pricing from 0 to $61.95 a year)
Bloglines (Web-based, Free)
NetNewsWire (Mac, OS X) - Jaguar/Tiger- $24.95)
Radio UserLand 8.1 (Windows, Mac OS X, Mac OS) 7.5.5+, $39.95
Straw (Linux, GNOME, Free)
Signing up For Feeds When Not Using a My Account Service
BusinessMarketingStrategyToday.com currently offers one main RSS feed.
To receive an RSS feed using one of the other aggregators above, you have to sign up for an account or install their software on your computer. Next, click the RSS Feed icon below, or copy the URL below and paste that URL into your Aggregator.
 |
Business Marketing Strategy Today |
http://www.business-marketing-strategy-to day.com/index.php/feed/ |
Follow the instructions provided by the service and you will be signed up for our blog.
What Happens Next?
Once you have signed up for a blog, each time a new post is made to that blog, you will see that new headline posted in your aggregator. If the information looks interesting or useful, just click on the headline and/or post summary and you will be taken to the entire blog post. If you don’t want to read this, you don’t have to do anything. New posts will show up on a regular basis and you can pick and choose what you want to read. It is just that easy!
I Need More Help
If you would like additional help setting up an aggregator to read blogs, or would like to know more about where to find helpful blog information, please feel free to contact Webolutions at 303-300-2640. We will be happy to walk you through any of these steps.
What Are The Terms Of Use?
The BusinessMarketingStrategyToday.com feeds in the RSS format are provided free of charge for use by individuals for personal, non-commercial uses.
Attribution to BusinessMarketingStrategyToday.com must be provided in connection with your use of the feeds. If you provide this attribution in text, please use: “BusinessMarketingStrategyToday.com”.
By using the BusinessMarketingStrategyToday.com RSS feed, you agree to be bound by the BusinessMarketingStrategyToday.com Terms of Service. BusinessMarketingStrategyToday.com reserves the right to modify these Terms of Use and the Terms of Service referenced above from time to time and without notice.
BusinessMarketingStrategyToday.com reserves the right to cease offering these feeds at any time or require you to cease distributing these feeds at any time for any reason.
