It is no surprise to readers of this blog that I love all things Google, so I really enjoyed reading about Google’s Doodle 4 Google competition on Lifestudent’s A Marathon Leap today. Take a few minutes to look at the creative entries, and be sure to read each artist’s brief written response to Google’s prompt, “What if…”, before voting.
Today is RSS Awareness Day, and as a daily user of RSS feeds, I’ve got, né, want, to do my part! I love the convenience of RSS, and that convenience is behind every reason I love RSS feeds.
Not a single day passes that I don’t come across an article that reminds me of someone. Some web pages provide an “Email this!” link, but then I have to go look up my friend’s email address. Google Reader, since it is linked to my Gmail account, auto-populates my friend’s email address after I have typed a few letters of their name, just like Gmail does.
Plus, I can send the article to as many people as I want (some sites only allow you to send the article to one person!) and include a note.
You can use a social bookmarking site, like del.icio.us or Diigo to compile all your favorite web sites, but those sites only link to your faves. Using Google Reader’s “Share” button, I create a web page, on the fly, that contains all my favorite sites. Here’s my Shared Items page.
Okay, okay, you got me. You do have to lift a finger, but just barely. Lift it enough to click that little orange RSS Feed button, the set it back down on your mouse to click. That’s it; you have subscribed to your favorite web page, be it the New York Times Health feed, the Astronomy Picture of the Day feed (one of my personal favorites), or one of your friend’s/family member’s blog.
The word of the day is “convenience.” If you find yourself wasting time browsing the internet without purpose; if you find yourself missing out on news, world or familial; or if you just want an easier way to share cool websites with your friends and family, an RSS reader is what you’re looking for. Try it for one month.
(This post wasn’t intended to explain how RSS works, but if you are curious, Common Craft’s video “RSS in Plain English” explains RSS in, well, ya know, easy-to-understand terms.)
On Monday, I told you about Twitter, how I use it for advertising this blog and interacting with Facebook. Today, Charity forwarded me a CNN story about James Karl Buck, an American journalism student who sent a one-word tweet—”Arrested”—when he was arrested while covering a protest in his adopted home, Egypt. That tweet alerted his friends to his fate and set in motion his release, thus proving that Twitter has some serious uses, other than telling the world what you’re doing, marketing your blog, and updating your Facebook status.
Let me share a little email I got from Sarah:
Hey, how would you feel about doing a guest post about Twitter? I’m thinking about jumping on board…convince me!
And here was my response:
Sure!
Actually, my true response what much more detailed, as I was unsure of whether I should write the post. By the end of my email, though, I had convinced myself (and hopefully Sarah!) that I was ready to write it, but that it would not be much like any other other posts I’ve read about Twitter.
So, without further ado, you can read my first guest post on Sarah’s blog, A Fool of Myself.
Also relevant…
Follow me on Twitter
Follow Sarah on Twitter
Okay, I’m with you… I can’t wait until May 1 either! Not only because it is a school holiday in Germany (WAHOO!), but also because it’s the first every RSS Day!
Here’s a preview of some of my favorite reasons for clicking on those little orange buttons so often.
And, if you haven’t watched this video one of the other thousand times I’ve mentioned it, you should check out Common Craft’s “RSS in Plain English.” It does what all of Common Craft’s videos does: Explain a really cool web technology in clear, simple terms, and highlights why you should give it a try. Hey, it ain’t called “Really Simple Syndication” for nuthin!
Today’s post is the last in Sarah’s series on pimping out your blog with Feedburner. And today, we learn about two options that you may or may not need for your feeds, but nevertheless are useful to know about: Networkizing and Monetizing.
In order to start or include your blog in a feed network, you use My Network. If you’d like to include Feedburner Ad Network or Google AdSense ads to your feed or site, you use the Monetize tab.
Sarah invites your questions, so if there’s anything you’re unclear about, just leave a comment, as you’ll see I have a couple times, or email her (she gives her email address at the end of the post.
Another great post from Sarah! Thanks!
Previous Posts
Blogger’s Guide to Feedburner, Part I: Getting Started
Blogger’s Guide to Feedburner, Part II: Troubleshootizing & Analyzing
Blogger’s Guide to Feedburner, Part III: Optimize
Blogger’s Guide to Feedburner, Part IV: Publicize
This has been my favorite post of the series so far. It was in the Publicize tab that I discovered how to set up email subscriptions, which is a great service for blog readers who are unfamiliar with or confused about RSS feeds.The Publicize tab also lets you create a Headline Animator, and you can see one I’ve made on my MySpace page (it’s on the right, under “Deutsche Linden’s Blurbs”).
I also love the Chicklet Chooser, partially because of the name. Plus, the orange RSS chicklets, along with the various feed reader logo chicklets, are widely recognizable on the Internet, so it makes sense to use one on your feed.
So don’t waste any more time reading this summary. Go check out the real thing!
Previous Posts
Blogger’s Guide to Feedburner, Part I: Getting Started
Blogger’s Guide to Feedburner, Part II: Troubleshootizing & Analyzing
Blogger’s Guide to Feedburner, Part III: Optimize
Blogger’s Guide to Feedburner, Part V: Networkize & Monetize
Today’s post from Sarah is a gem. She walks us through all of the ways to tweak your blog. I have to be honest, I learned a few things about Feedburner and the options it offers because Sarah details every service offered on the Optimize tab.
Another great post, so don’t miss it!
Previous Posts
Blogger’s Guide to Feedburner, Part I: Getting Started
Blogger’s Guide to Feedburner, Part II: Troubleshootizing & Analyzing
Today’s post in Sarah’s Blogger’s Guide to Feedburner series helps new Feedburner users to ensure that their feed has been burned correctly, a very important step in the process. She also introduces us to the basic analytics offered by Feedburner, such as feed stats, the feed readers your readers are using, and live feed hits, while still maintaining (as do I) that Google Analytics is much better for site stats.
Sarah even throws in a little bonus: instructions for adding automatic posting of your blog on Facebook via Feedburner. Without manually copying and pasting your blog into a Facebook note, you can follow her easy instructions for setting up automatic posting on Facebook. Sweet huh? So what are you still doing here? Go check it out!
Previous Posts
Blogger’s Guide to Feedburner, Part I: Getting Started
Blogger’s Guide to Feedburner, Part III: Optimize
Blogger’s Guide to Feedburner, Part IV: Publicize
Blogger’s Guide to Feedburner, Part V: Networkize & Monetize
If you followed my How-To Google Analytics series of posts from a couple weeks ago, I have another treat in store for you. My dear friend, Sarah Awesome, whose blog I link to all the time, will be writing a series of five posts about Feedburner, another great (and free!) service that, as she puts it, is “a sort of Pimp My Ride for RSS Feeds.” The first post helps you “setupize” and “familiarize” yourself with Feedburner, so read it right now!
Because this is a series that I myself am very interested in, I will be linking to Sarah’s posts every day as she posts them, so stay tuned here for daily updates, or subscribe to Sarah’s blog, A Fool of Myself (or via email), to get these and all the rest of Sarah’s great posts delivered right to your own feed reader or inbox.
P.S. Yes, we had a great time in England, and yes, I will be uploading pictures tonight, along with a blog about our trip!
Related Posts
Blogger’s Guide to Feedburner, Part II: Troubleshootizing & Analyzing
Blogger’s Guide to Feedburner, Part III: Optimize
Blogger’s Guide to Feedburner, Part IV: Publicize
Blogger’s Guide to Feedburner, Part V: Networkize & Monetize
