Why RSS May Be The Big New Way To Communicate Online by Andrea Lee

May 29, 2008

I’m excited this week to bring you a special content on the topic of RSS. When I received the following email from a Biz Whiz Member, I asked coach and web designer Andy Wibbels to answer a few questions and write out some ‘How-To’ steps. Our virtual conversation is below.

And here’s the question that started it all:

“Hey Andrea, I’m enjoying the lessons on how to maximize existing technology. But I’ve been hearing stuff about RSS lately, and totally can’t make sense of it. I get the feeling it’s a big deal and for once I’d like to be ahead of the game, instead of catching up (I finally have a blog.) Can you lay it all out? Who, what, where, when and HOW, please! Thanks.”

Andrea: Okay Andy, let’s start at the beginning. Thanks for helping out! What is RSS and why should we care?

Andy: Well, let me ask you this. Do you get tired of checking your top dozen favorite websites each day? Going into your bookmarks each time? Sifting through the mountains of discussion groups and newsletters? If you said yes, you need RSS in your life, because it automates your websurfing.

RSS Basics: What Is It?

Really Simple Syndication

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication.

RSS is really just a file format - much like a Microsoft Word document, an MP3 audio file or a JPEG graphic.

RSS files - usually called newsfeeds or RSS feeds - are simple files that contain the latest headlines or updates of a website.

When you have access to RSS newsfeeds, usually that means you can see:

A headline
An excerpt or the full article
A link to the article online
RSS feeds are usually available online, publicly and without password protection.

An example:

A BBC World News RSS feed might contain a headline about the latest update on the United Nations, an excerpt of the article and then a link so you can go read the full article on the BBC World News website.

How Do I Get Access to an RSS File? Use a News Reader.

RSS files are read by a type of software program called a News Reader (also called a news aggregator). The news reader periodically checks the newsfeeds of your favorite websites and grabs the latest headlines for you to read when you want.

News aggregators run in the background on your computer until they’re needed. It’s sort of like having your own personal assistant that works in the basement and surfs the web twenty-four hours a day - always checking your favorite websites and ready with the latest report whenever you want it.

Andrea: Okay. Would it be safe to say that RSS is a bit like putting a “TV Guide” or “Website Guide” on my computer? I can peek at my “Web Guide” whenever I want to, and see what’s new at a bunch of different websites. If something cool is there, I can click the link and read more. That way I don’t have to go surf the web and waste time.

Andy: Yeah, that’s not a bad analogy.

Andrea: So what do you see are the benefits of using RSS? Why should I bother?

Benefits of Using RSS

Andy: As you start using a news aggregator you’ll find there are two main benefits:

Reclaim Your Inbox

Using RSS helps you reclaim your email inbox for what it was originally meant for - person-to-person communications. As more newsletters and discussion groups go into RSS, you’ll find you spend less time sorting through all of the broadcast messages and being able to answer personal and business email faster and more effectively.

Less Time Surfing

RSS is a smarter alternative to visiting 30 websites each week to see if there’s anything new. The time spent sorting through your bookmarks or futzing with typing in URLs manually disappears. The information comes to you instead of you having to go out on the net each time.

Andrea: Sounds like some good reasons.. Alright, let’s move onto how to get RSS going.
How to Start - Get a News Reader and Some Newsfeeds To Put In It…

Andrea: Where do I get a news reader? And once I have one, where do I find all these news feeds, just anywhere?

Andy: There is a collection of news readers out there for just about any type of preference or operating system.

Windows

FeedDemon • I recommend FeedDemon. I’ve used about five different news readers over the last year-and-a-half and FeedDemon is unmatched for its elegance and speed. It costs $30 but you can try it out with free trial download.

Download and install FeedDemon.

Macintosh

NetNewsWire • This seems to be everbody’s favorite in the Mac world. Costs $40 but has a trial download so you can test it out. They also have a free version with less features called NetNewsWire Lite.

Download and install NetNewsWire.

Also available

For handhelds/PDAs and Linux - even iPods! (check Google)

Flash Demo Movie Available

For Windows users, I’ve put together a Flash Demo movie that takes you through installing and using FeedDemon.

Installing and Using FeedDemon. (3.9 MB Flash movie)

Okay, that’s cool for me as a user of RSS. I can see it as fun and useful. Now…how does this help me build my online business?

Create Your Own Newsfeed And Everyone Else Can Read YOU

Andy: Okay, yeah, enough is enough - you’re grabbing everybody else’s news and updates - it’s time to create your own RSS newsfeed. If you already have a weblog: check with your blog service and see if they offer RSS - most do.

Andrea: So what this means is that instead of being just another cool person online who keeps track of what’s new at your favorite websites - through your cool new newsreader - YOU can be someone who has a newsfeed instead, is that right?

Andy: Yep.

Andrea: And the thing that is most interesting to me as an online business owner is that my subscribers don’t have to give up their email addresses in order to stay in touch. I can still reach them even if my email doesn’t get through.

Andy: Yep. And of course, because this is a new technology, the first people to get newsfeeders in their niche stand to gain a lot of the audience that jumps on board. Like with TV, when it was first invented, people were starved for television programs to watch…there just weren’t that many at first.

What with CAN-Spam laws, there’s a definite surge of people searching for new ways to communicate on the internet, and RSS is it.

Here’s How to Do It the Easy Way

Use TypePad

Andy: I heartily recommend the TypePad blogging tool for all of your weblog and RSS needs. For $5 a month you can’t beat the elegance, simplicity and easy of use of TypePad’s services.

TypePad: http://typepad.com/

Another Option: FreeRoller.net

If you’re not sure about going primetime with RSS just yet you can experiment first with the FreeRoller.net blog and syndication tool. It’s free - but doesn’t have as many options as TypePad or another blog tool.

Create an Account

Go to http://freeroller.net/

Click on register as new user.

Complete and submit the registration form. A confirmation screen will appear with your weblogs URL and your RSS feed URL (you might want to print that puppy out!).

Go ahead and Login.

Create and Publish Your First Post

Write a quick test post with a title and some body text. Don’t worry about the text formatting buttons for now.

Post to Weblog. The page reloads, ready to write a new post. The one you just published will appear underneath it.

Click on Weblog at the very top of the screen and you’ll see the post you’ve made as it appears on the internet.
Test Your Newsfeed

Find the list of newsfeeds. It’s on the right - signified by the bright orange XML button. XML

Click on All. Your newsfeed will load in the browser.

Highlight the URL of the RSS newsfeed in the address bar.

Ctrl-C or Edit > Copy.

Go to FeedDemon, NetNewsWire Lite or your installed news aggregator.

Add your newsfeed’s URL.

Your aggregator will go out and grab the newsfeed and display it. Tah-dah!

Tweak Your Settings

Commenting

If you don’t want the hassle of a weblog and just want to use your newsfeed as another newsletter channel you may want to turn off commenting. Some publishers may find it is just one more thing to have to check.

And there you have it. You’re now the proud owner of your very own newsfeed, with all the benefits inherent in being an early adopter.

Thank you, Andy! Andy Wibbels, coach and web designer in Chicago, Illinois, has been our special guest contributor for this Internet Biz Whiz lesson.

If you’d like a personal hand with setting up your RSS, send an email to andy@coachamatic.com. He’s very good and is taking clients at the moment. Other projects include Andy’s Coachamatic.com and EasyBakeWeblogs.com, and a weekly tech tips newsletter, Coachtoids.

Final thoughts…

As you can see, RSS can get pretty technical. But for those Biz Whiz Members who are eager to push the leading edge, it can be worth it. If your revenue streams are in order and you have some capacity for working through some new technology, dive in.

And by way of recap, the best places to start using RSS are the parts of your websites that you update regularly. Things like newsletters, news announcements, blogs, course or class offerings.

Of course, no Biz Whiz Lesson would be complete without a caveat: the current disadvantages of RSS are that you cannot personalize your news feed, and you have no way of knowing how many people are subscribing. Those are limitations of the technology for the moment.

Oh, and yes, right now, RSS may seem a bit complicated to newbies and hasn’t yet become widely adopted. But as of March 2004, a few people including marketing giant Seth Godin are publicly making the big switch, so you might say we’re reaching a tipping point, just before RSS hits the mainstream:

“I’ve made the switch to RSS. Which means it’s going to be hard to get me to shut up for a while about it.” excerpted from http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2004/03/ive_made_the_sw.html“

“RSS is all about what’s changing NOW. Its almost like being on the end of a live Reuters’ feed, only for topics that I actually care about.” excerpted from http://www.fastchicken.co.nz/blog/PermaLink,guid,e3153e57-3899-4450-8ff5-519aa8f343ec.aspx

And that’s it for this time.

Questions? Email: andrea@internetbizwhiz.com.

My Best,

Andrea

Andrea Lee
andrea@internetbizwhiz.com

Technorati Tags: Andrea Lee, internet biz whiz, RSS, new way to communicate online, communicate online

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Comments

One Response to “Why RSS May Be The Big New Way To Communicate Online by Andrea Lee”

Kathy Drewien on May 29th, 2008 7:16 pm

Here is the best explanation of RSS I have ever seen. This links to a video from the Commoncraft shows. I link to the video from the subscription area of my blog in answer to “What is RSS?”

http://commoncraft.com/rss_plain_english

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