| If you are not subscribed to RSS feeds
from the leaders in your industry then you
are NOT "in the loop". This tutorial is
designed to get you "in the loop" in your
industry.
It doesn't matter if you are a blogger,
an affiliate or the CEO of a fortune 500
company,
if you are not reading RSS headlines
then you are not on top of what is going on in your
industry. |
 |
If you are not familiar with RSS
feeds and you are not actively reading the headlines
then you are missing vital information that could
enhance your business right this second.
I am sure you have seen or heard of
the term RSS and that you have probably seen
reference to them on various websites and blogs.
I use iGoogle as my home page and
whenever I run across an industry related website or
blog then I promptly add their RSS feed to my
iGoogle home page.
Adding an RSS feed to my home page
will notify me each time a leader in my industry
writes something new. If the headline catches my
eye, I will click the headline to read the full
story.
Once or twice a day I will comb the
RSS headlines to see if there are any new
developments in my industry. This is my daily
newspaper and I always begin my day by "reading the
paper".
Setting up iGoogle is very easy to
do here are the steps:
1. Go
to
http://www.google.com
2.
Click the iGoogle link:
3.
Click on the "Sign in" link:
4. If
you don't already have a Google account then go
ahead and sign up for one:
5. Once
you have an account go ahead and sign in to your
Google account and set up your home page. Just
follow Google's instructions.
Seek RSS feeds and add them to your
iGoogle home page.
While you are signed into your
Google account explore your industry and look for
blogs that are related to your industry. When you
arrive at the blog scan through it to determine if
the information is good.
If you like the information then
look for the RSS button or link. You can see the
SEO20/20 RSS feed button at the top of the right
hand menu. Simply click the RSS button or link and
then you will be prompted to add the feed to your
Google account.
Repeat this process by adding the
RSS feed of a bunch of industry related websites and
blogs.
Hint to Find Top Industry RSS
Feeds...
When you visit a blog look for a
section titled "blogroll". These are links to other
blogs that the blog owner finds interesting enough
to put in their blogroll. This is a quick and easy
way to find many industry related blogs that are of
interest to you (and of interest to industry
leaders) and the success of your business no matter
what it is.
Why use Google?
Because you are able to piggy back
on their servers and have all of your RSS
information stored on a remote host... Google.
Even if your computer fell into a
lake you can still access your RSS feeds through
another computer by simply signing in.
Google is useful for many things in
this same respect including storage of important
documents, passwords and email, just to name a few.
But that is the subject for another lesson.
I make it a habit to "web base" as
much of my business as possible. Then if my computer
crashes or falls into a lake, I won't skip a beat...
I can simply log in and work from any computer,
anywhere.
This is a small facet of what is
becoming known as
Web 3.0.
Conclusion...
Now that you have added a bunch of
top industry RSS feeds to your iGoogle home page you
can quickly scan the happenings in your industry and
take pause to read items that could impact or
enhance your business right now.
Always strive to stay up-to-date in
your industry. Not only will this keep you on the
cutting edge, you'll gain ideas to enhance the
profitability of your website on a constant basis.
Best of all, it's free...
- Charles Heflin
P.S. Google also has an RSS reader
that you can subscribe to and add all of your RSS
feeds to the reader. This is optional, I use iGoogle
as a matter of preference. You should choose based
on your preference.
P.P.S. Stay up-to-date with
SEO20/20, click the RSS button at the top of the
navigation menu.
