Is RSS Here To Stay Or Gone Tomorrow?

RSS is hot. We have seen it everywhere, from John-Doe blogsites to major news websites. If you haven't heard of RSS before, that's okay, because I hadn't either until a couple of months ago!

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication, or whatever you want it to stand for. I have seen it also stand for RDF Site Summary, but it really doesn't matter. What's important is what it does.

Here's how RSS works:

Every site that has constantly changing content has one big problem: How do you notify your visitors when you've posted new content without them having to scour your entire site every 30 mins? You could send them an email, but that has several drawbacks.

First, you might not get your messages through the spam filters. Filters are snatching more and more messages, and just to keep up anymore you have to run all your content through rating systems just to find the likelyhood of it getting blocked. What a pain in the neck!

Second, people are so hesitant to give out their closely guarded email address. I know I guard my email address with my life. How can your visitors trust you if they just clicked to your site? You could be an underground spam operation for all they care.

This is where RSS is awesome!

Instead of sending an email, you can have your website generate what's called an RSS Feed. An RSS Feed is nothing more than a webpage with a bunch of summaries of the new content on it.

Next time you see that little orange icon with XML or RSS, click on it and you'll see what I mean. The summaries are formatted in such a way that an RSS Reader can sort them out and display them neatly.

There are tons of free RSS Readers now, so if you don't have one, do a simple Google search for RSS Reader and you should have no trouble finding one.

All the visitor has to do is copy the little orange RSS icon link and paste it into their RSS Reader program. The RSS program will periodically download the RSS webpage and will display the new headlines much like your email program will display your subject lines.

If you like one of the headlines, you can click on it and it will display a short description and a link to the entire article. If you want to read more, click the link and it will display the actual full article on the website.

Here's why this is killer:

You can now be notified of the new content or headlines posted to all your favorite websites without having to do very much work! Imagine putting twenty RSS Feeds into your reader and having it download all the content in a matter of seconds instead of having to surf to each site individually!

If you ask me, RSS is here to stay. All the major sites support it like CNN, ESPN, Yahoo and Google, so that surely is a good sign! So go on and fire up Google and get yourself an RSS Reader. You will be glad you did...I sure was!

Now you can deliver your autoresponder sequence through a personalized RSS feed and email! Author and Programmer Kent Thompson makes this way too easy with his new software. Check it out now at http://feedmagic.com/fm/?&req=k&tc=4df1c3

Innovative Business Use of RSS as a Technology

RSS, or Really Simple Syndication, is a new way to broadcast corporate news and structured information. RSS offers a quick, easy corporate communication channel.

The RSS contents are published as a feed and the feed's content keep customers, partners and journalists abreast of corporate news and information.

The RSS feeds are read using a tool referred to as a news aggregator, or an RSS reader. The aggregator periodically checks to see if the RSS feed has been updated. As the feed is updated, new information will automatically appear in the RSS reader.

While RSS was at one point only considered to be a means to deliver news headlines, RSS has quickly become a powerful medium to disseminate all kinds of information.

As traditional marketers are attempting to rein in content delivery, measuring e-mail open rates, click-throughs and conversions, Internet users are fighting to gain control over the content they receive.

Savvy marketers and business owners are using RSS as a way to improve corporate communication and increase their external exposure and brand appeal.

What is the enclosure tag? RSS 2.0 is quickly becoming the definitive RSS standard, all because of its support for the enclosure tag. The enclosure tag is an optional field in the RSS 2.0 specification that allows the feed publisher to include a link to a file.

The file can be just about anything. Businesses have seized the opportunity, including tutorials, streaming audio lectures, PDF proposals, Power Point�„� presentations, podcasts of sales meetings, and advertising portfolios among other traditional uses for RSS.

Many businesses have yet to realize the potential hidden in the enclosure field. The implications and power of how RSS can be used is really awe-inspiring. Consider the following business uses for RSS:

1. PDF Documents - Consider broadcasting meeting agenda notes or documentation as a PDF included with a feed, allowing interested individuals to access information without having to deal with cumbersome e-mail attachments.

2. PPT Presentations - Presentations can easily be distributed in a feed enclosure. The added benefit is that presenters using Power Point�„� will not have to lug their notebook to a meeting to present - they can manage the presentation from an iPod or similar handheld that reads RSS feeds.

3. Video - Video or streaming video are both possible via the enclosure field. Have lectures or even political debates come to life with the added video component.

4. Audio - Audio content does not mean that feeds are limited to your favorite songs. Podcasting is the coined term for audio content contained in a feed and can include language instruction, talk shows or editorials.

5. Images - Imagine realtors using the enclosure field to display photos of homes to interested buyers. Now they can carry a light-weight catalog with them to show potential buyers at a moment's notice.

6. Downloads - Consider an information technology department in a large corporation conducting proprietary software updates, including executables or zip files in the enclosure field which allow users to update the software at a convenient time.

Feedreaders are playing catch- up RSS news aggregators were initially designed to receive text-based content. As users find outside-the-box uses for RSS, developers of RSS readers are struggling to release new versions that support the enclosures businesses are eager to use.

FeedDemon, a popular RSS reader, has recently added support for every type of enclosure in their latest release. They have created a safe list that can be customized to include specific types of file types like PDFs. This will automate downloads of files that are deemed "safe". This was clearly designed with security in mind, to prevent automatic downloading of executables.

Businesses are revolutionizing RSS as a communication medium. While some traditional businesses are struggling to include monthly newsletter summaries in an RSS feed and reap the benefits of RSS, other innovative businesses are adopting incredibly creative uses for both internal and external corporate communications.

About the Author:

Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll software for creating, editing, publishing RSS feeds and podcasts. In addition Sharon manages marketing for NotePage a wireless text messaging software company

Steps to Creating and Promoting RSS Feeds

RSS, or Really Simple Syndication as it is commonly known, is a technology that gives webmasters the ability to easily distribute and publish syndicated content on the Internet.

It seems like all Internet businesses now have RSS feeds available; at least your competitors do. You have finally made the decision that you have to have one. Where do you start?

Steps to Creating an RSS feed

1.) Build a Feed

There are a number of desktop and web applications available that make feed creation easy. I would encourage anyone creating a feed to use one. Though not overly complicated, hand-coding an RSS feed can become a bit confusing and time-consuming.

Most desktop software applications for building a feed include a wizard and contact-sensitive help, simplifying the process of creating a feed. Following a few simple steps in a wizard generally will produce an RSS feed in just a few minutes.

Publishers control what information is syndicated in the RSS feed, so ultimately it is the publisher's decision as to whether to include teaser copy or full articles. Consider what you are trying to accomplish and who your target audience is when building the feed.

Software to Build a Feed

Tutorial for Creating Feed by Hand using XML

2.) Transfer the Feed Onto Your Server

Once you have constructed an RSS feed you will need to transfer the feed to your server. This can be done using a standard FTP client (if it is not built into the feed creation software). The feed is usually placed in the domain's root directory like this: http://www.mydomain.com/nameoffeed.xml , but as long as you know where it is it doesn't really matter.

3.) Display the Feed on Your Website Using a Graphic of Some Sort

In order to signal to website visitors that an RSS feed containing content related to the website is available, include a colorful graphic on the website.

It has become a standard that nearly all websites that have RSS feeds available use colorful graphics such as flags as indicators that RSS feeds are available for specific content. The flags were initially bright orange rectangles but as the popularity has grown, webmasters have bent the rules a bit.

NotePage has made a free online RSS graphic tool available that allows users to quickly customize buttons by selecting the text on the button and the color scheme of the button. Once the color and text is entered, a custom graphic is instantly created. Webmasters can easily match the style of the RSS button to a website's theme.

Graphics experience is not required. Simply select alternative colors and insert text to personalize RSS feed graphics.

The RSS graphics tool can be used by clicking the following URL http://www.feedforall.com/public/rss-graphic-tool.htm
or choose ready made graphics fom:
http://www.rss-specifications.com/rss-graphics.htm .

4.) Include Information in the HTML of the Web Page So RSS Readers Auto-Detect Your Feed

After publishing an RSS feed it is important to let visitors know that the feed exists. Aggregators will automatically detect RSS on a website if you add a small bit of code in the header field of an HTML page.

[link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="RSS" href="http://www.yourdomain.com/rss.xml"]

Be sure to replace http://www.yourdomain.com/rss.xml with the URL to the RSS feed and replace the brackets with "<" less than and ">" greater than symbols.

5.) Display the Feed's Content on a Website

Contents contained in an RSS feed can be added to a website, providing site visitors an alternative method for viewing the content. The information will also help increase search engine interest. Displaying the feed as HTML can be accomplished. Providing fresh content on a regular basis will encourage site visitors return.

Tutorial for Displaying Feeds -
http://www.small-business-software.net/display-rss.htm

6.) Submit the Feed to RSS Directories and Search Engines

As a rapidly increasing number of content sources, new and old, migrate or add RSS as a key distribution channel, and as more people utilize RSS newsreaders and aggregators to keep themselves informed, the ability to maintain high exposure and visibility is gradually shifted from complete attention to major search engines and content optimization techniques to an increasing awareness of RSS feed directories and search tools.

In order to increase exposure of an RSS feed it should be submitted to RSS search engines and directories. This can be done manually. Just as you would submit the URL of a website or web page to a search engine you will need to submit the link of the actual feed located on your website to the RSS directories. There is a large list of RSS directories at
http://www.rss-specifications.com/rss-submission.htm

If you prefer to automate the submission process try RSS Submit at: http://www.dummysoftware.com/rsssubmit.html . An evaluation version is available.

About the Author:

Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll software for creating, editing, publishing RSS feeds and podcasts. In addition Sharon manages marketing for NotePage a wireless text messaging software company

10 Reasons to Put RSS on Your Site

RSS and Blogs are the topic of the moment. Seems like everyone is talking about it. Granted, there is too much hype about RSS and Blogs.

But where there's hype - there's interest!

And with good reason - RSS is posed to be the break out technology of 2005. Those who don't take full advantage of it will be left behind.

If you need convincing - here are 10 reasons why you should put RSS on your site:

1. It's easy and fast! Not to mention Free! You can use a free service like eBlogger and publish your Blog and RSS feed within minutes. You can even place or publish your Blog/RSS Feed on your own web site without knowing 'html' or 'xml'! It's all done for you.

Repeat - it's simple to use and very convenient. Publishing your blog is only a few clicks away. (If you need help - just use the link at the end of this article.)

2. Syndicate Your Content. RSS stands for 'really simple syndication' and it's just another way of passing along your information. With the popularity of 'MyYahoo' and the 'Firefox' browser (which has a RSS feed reader built in) increasing - syndicating your content has gotten even simplier.

The next version of Windows is reportly shechuled to have a RSS feature. If this happens - RSS will explode.

3. Get Your Content Indexed. Using blogs to publish your content is a neat way of side stepping the regular indexing procedure. It gets your content indexed very quickly in most of the search engines.

Search Engines are constantly on the lookout for 'fresh content' - these 'link rich' blogs are a good source of this content. Because blogs are on specific topics - they have a concentrated source of good quality informational material to serve out!

4. Instant Contact. Blogs give you instant contact with your readers or viewers. We live in an 'instant' society - we want everything five seconds ago. Blogs provide this instant gradicfaication. Readers or viewers using MyYahoo have an instant link to your information or postings.

RSS Feed will instantly spreed your information to all interested parties - bringing in targeted traffic.

5. Building Your List. People who pick up your RSS feed or add you to their MyYahoo site - become your subscribers. You are really building your contact list. Have a popular blog or RSS Feed and you can build a large targeted contact list very quickly.

Might not replace your old opt-in email list - but it can be a luricative addition to it! Take advantage of all those targeted contacts.

6. Link Building. Blogs are link heavens! Build your links thru blogs. All these links will boose your link popularity and increase your search engine rankings.

Plus, by giving viewers/readers a way of adding your RSS Feed creates targeted links to your site. This reason alone is why your site should have RSS!

7. Viewer/Subscriber Feedback. Instant feedback from your subscribers or viewers is easy with blogs. Creating trust and credibility is so much easier when there is constant/immediate communication between the two parties.

8. Keyword Content Building. Blogs are especially good for building 'keyword targeted content' for your site. All these links will boose your keyword rankings in the search engines. Google places a high value on 'anchor text' and blogs are a good place to put all those links.

You can also start different blogs targeted at specific related keywords covering the major topic of your site. Again, search engines love related keyword linking. Boose your site's rankings by using blogs.

9. Monetize Your Content. Blogs are an excellent way of monetizing your content. Blog sites like Eblogger (owned by Google) even incourages you to use the 'adsense code' in your blogs. If you have a popular blog - this may bring in extra income.

Plus, publishing your ezine or newsletter in a blog can bring in revenue for months if not years to come. All those affiliate links and product promotions get indexed by the search engines and become accessible to a wider adatence, ie. market.

10. Because Everyone Else is Doing It! Might sound a bit 'Jonesish' but you do have to keep up with what other web sites are doing. To remain competitive - you must put RSS on your site.

Sites without the 'AddtoMyYahoo' link or the 'xml' button will be the exception rather than the rule in just a few years - if not months. It's simply another way of getting your information 'out there'. It's an opportunity and advantage that you cannot afford to miss.

Proceed without RSS at your own risk!

Titus Hoskins

To add RSS to your Site within minutes - download this simple RSS Report and Guide. Copyright © 2005 Titus Hoskins of bizwaremagic.com. This article may be freely distributed if this resource box stays attached. Visit http://www.bizwaremagic.com for more simple solutions to your online marketing tasks.

Recommendation: Express RSS helps you add RSS feeds to your site in just a minute.

Marketers on RSS: The Best Of

Copyright 2005 Rok Hrastnik

What do savvy marketers have to say about RSS? What are their top tips?

We set to find that out end of 2004 to collect the best possible insights on RSS marketing from top marketers and RSS developers and leaders, for Unleash the Marketing & Publishing Power of RSS.

Let's get started .

1. How can RSS be fully integrated in our marketing and communications mix Answered by Robin Good, MasterNewMedia.org

"From what I can see RSS is an effective marketing channel in that it allows easy and extended distribution of your core news and information channels to the widest possible audience with very low costs, maximum compatibility with a great number of media devices and with the added ability for the customer to take on this information and reuse it to hir (his + her) benefit.

That allows customers to further become marketers and promoters of your own products and services. If we openly allow the content of public RSS feeds to be freely subscribed, syndicated, re-aggregated and republished we will only find that new and greater value can be extracted every time someone goes about doing this.

So it is important not to keep RSS newsfeeds under locks.

RSS is one of the purest viral marketing channels. Its virality being spelled clearly in its acronym: Really Simple Syndication.

Yes, you need to make these three words make sense to you in order to leverage the maximum out of this content format.

Allow syndication. Don't limit it.

Let others take your RSS feed and do things with it. Encourage them to do so. Have them use it to republish your news (among others) on their home page. Help them achieve that. Write and explain with short stories or simple tutorials how easy it is to search, filter and aggregate content from different RSS feeds and to create dedicated niche newsfeeds on most any topic you can think of. Explain openly that if you do create such dedicated newschannels they can be as easily republished as news Web site, which can carry contextual ads (Google AdSense) from day one. Very sustainable if not altogether profitable.

Look for example at the work being done by Waypath with their Blender experiment and see other useful and complementary uses of RSS that can be economically profitable."

And another great tip from Robin: "Create as many RSS newsfeeds for your content as are the topic/themes that you cover. Do not pack all of your content under one generic RSS channel."

2. What's really going to drive readers/customers to adopt RSS? Buyers of what products and services are most likely to adopt RSS? Answered by Bill French, MyST Technology Partners

"I don't think anyone wants to adopt RSS; rather they want timely information in a controlled and organized way such that it helps them do their jobs better, or manage their personal information diet. This is precisely the reason we adopted (for the most part) SMTP - but none of us considered "adopting SMTP".

Email applications and the benefits of a store-and-forward architecture with reasonable assurance of delivery drove us into the realm of SMTP. And the driving force that seems to be causing early adopters to use RSS feeds has more to do with the volume of information and news that we find ourselves awash in each day.

There's no question; everyone will eventually adopt RSS (or similar formats) but we'll know that has happened when no one refers to it as RSS. ;-)"

3. How would you compare RSS and e-mail as content delivery tools? Answered by Tom Hespos, Underscore Marketing

"RSS is all about consumer control. How many times have you thought about subscribing to an e-mail newsletter but thought, "Nah, they'll probably sell my e-mail address to spammers" and didn't subscribe? With RSS, consumers can unsubscribe from feeds at any time, so the risk of getting unwanted content or spam is virtually nil.

I think consumers have been waiting for something like this for quite some time. The added control will make them more likely to want to aggregate content from publishers they read regularly. As a marketing guy, I think it's appropriate to mention that moving to RSS is not without its risks.

Content publishers know that it's somewhat cumbersome to unsubscribe from an e-mail newsletter, so they've taken certain chances with their e-mail newsletters that they won't be able to take with RSS - they carry standalone sponsor messages, load up their HTML newsletters with animated ads, maybe take a risk with some of the stories they write.

Since the "unsubscribe" button is right there for feed subscribers, publishers might not get a second chance if they screw up. With RSS, there's no broadcasting a "Please come back" message to people who unsubscribe. If you lose someone, you lose them until they decide to come back. So I'm sure publishers will need to handle RSS with kid gloves until they get a sense of what their subscribers will like and what will make them run for the door."

About the Author:

Learn how to take full marketing advantage of RSS and get all the expertise, knowledge and how-to information for implementing RSS in your marketing mix, from direct marketing, PR, e-commerce, internal communications and online publishing to SEO, traffic generation and customer relationship management. Including complete interviews with more than 40 RSS marketing experts. Click here now:

RSS: WHY Its Being Considered The Newest Player In The VIRAL Marketing Game

I have a quick question to ask you... "Are you sick and tired of hearing about RSS(Real Simple Syndication) and how it can take your online business to New levels with VERY little effort on your part?"

If you answered 'YES' to the question above then stop reading this article Right Now!

If you answered 'NO' then your going to love what I'm about to reveal to you about RSS and WHY its being consider the newest player in the VIRAL marketing game.

But before I do I think its important you understand the mechanics of each(RSS and VIRAL marketing) and what there role is so there's no confusion.

RSS by definition -- RSS stands for 'Real Simple syndication or Rich Site Summary' and is used to syndicate news or information and is usually associated with Blogs because blogs use an RSS feed to distribute their content.

Next...

VIRAL Marketing by definition -- is any form of advertising and/or marketing techniques that "spread" like a virus without you having to do anything.

Now that you have an idea what the two mean and the roles they each play it's now time to tie it all together.

I have another quick question...(As you can see I like to ask questions.) "What do all website owners and portal sites need on a 24/7 basis to keep their visitors/readers coming back day after day?

If you answered 'Content' then give yourself a pat on the back because your absolutely Right!

And what do RSS feeds contain that update on a 24/7 basis?

CONTENT! Whether its News related or Articles.

And where do website owners and portal webmasters go to find these much needed RSS feeds?

You guessed it... 'RSS Directories' where hopefully You submitted your RSS feed(s) to.

The great thing about 'RSS Directories' is they are all categorized making it easy for whomever is looking.

And if your RSS feed catches their eye, guess what? They'll add your feed to there website where You'll gain all that FREE exposure at their expense.

Now, just imagine if 100 or 1000 website owners picked up your RSS feed.

Your traffic to your website would start to Explode effortlessly without you lifting a finger.

And the cool thing is all you had to do was set it up once.

The more 'Quality' RSS feeds you have out there the more opportunities you have of getting picked up by webmasters.

Do you see Now how RSS is being considered VIRAL? And this all happens while your sleeping.

It gets better So hold on.

Do you publish your own Content/Articles?

If you do you are also in for a real treat because guess what other directories are starting to incorporate RSS into their directories?

That's right, 'Article Directories'.

By submitting your articles to the TOP 'Article Directories' the same effect will happen as I outlined with 'RSS Directories'.

Remember this, people come online primarily for Information that will help solve a particular problem they are dealing with.

Websites contain 'Information'.

Website owners need Fresh 'Information' on a 24/7 basis to feed their readers needs.

RSS feeds deliver content, whether its News related or Articles, on a 24/7 basis or whatever frequency the website owner chooses.

How can you take advantage of this Right Now if you haven't already?

Simply set up a Blog at Blogger.com - and start posting to it on a Daily basis with your Articles, Product Reviews or News related postings related to your target audience.

Then go submit your Blogs RSS feed to all the top 'RSS Directories'.

Here's a link to a list of Top RSS Directories that you can submit your feed(s) to.

Go to: http://www.masternewmedia.org/rss/top55/

Once you've done that you'll want to Ping your Blog to get the Search Engines to come visit and start indexing your Blogs pages.

You can do this by using this Free service called Ping-O-Matic.

Go to: http://pingomatic.com/

Well there you have it in a nutshell.

I hope you see the true Power of RSS and more importantly... "WHY Its Being Considered The Newest Player In The VIRAL Marketing Game".

The only thing left for you to do is... Take Action!

Looking for an Step-By-Step road map for generating HUGE amounts of targeted Traffic using RSS Feeds? Go search Cory Threlfall's #1 Rated CBmall that carries over 10,000 of the Internets BEST 'Information Products' available Online. Go to ==> http://www.corys-cbmall.com Or... you can... Subscribe to CBnews ==> http://cbnews.corys-cbmall.com

The Full Circle of RSS Marketing Power

Copyright 2005 Rok Hrastnik

RSS is a many-in-one marketing & publishing tool, although unfortunatelly most marketers still fail to understand this powerful concept.

While RSS does provide a number of benefits when used for each individual marketing function, best results are achieved when it is fully integrated in your internet marketing strategy. In more simpler terms --- when you use it to power most of your marketing online.

The key point is that RSS makes various marketing functions work together, in order to generate the best possible end result.

It's now the time to tie it all together and see the whole picture .

1] RSS as a content delivery channel for communicating with subscribers, customers, prospects and partners gets your content delivered and provides you with multiple new content delivery & business development opportunities. Yes, RSS gets your content to your subscribers without fail, enabling you to communicate with them and sell to them.

2] RSS as a promotional/visibility tool increases your traffic by improving your search engine rankings, generating traffic from new RSS specific sites and getting your content published on other sites. Each of these activities brings new visitors to your site, which are now ready to be converted in to new subscribers with which you can communicate (via RSS and/or e-mail) on the long-term. In addition, the improved visibility enforces your brand and generates more credibility for your company.

3] Content delivery to end-users and content syndication together form the basis of RSS conversations, which further spread your reach throughout the internet and serve as a strong PR platform.

4] Once you have access to more prospective subscribers, to which you want to deliver content via RSS, you can provide them with your own branded RSS aggregator to make the switch to RSS easier for them, as well as to establish a constant connection with them, enforce your brand and develop brand experience. Your branded aggregator also serves as a sales platform for your own products and an advertising platform to generate advertising income.

5] As a publisher, your goal is to better satisfy the needs of your visitors, establish yourself as a key content source in your industry and make your visitors come back more often. Providing access to additional information is one of the elements to make this possible. Use RSS to syndicate content from other websites and, as an upgrade to target their most focused content needs, create RSS radars for your key phrases.

6] RSS radars will in turn also generate additional visibility, especially through improved search engine rankings, and generate new subscribers for your RSS feeds.

7] All of the above will create advertising venue and create a new source of income.

8] In addition, using RSS advertising as an advertiser yourself you can increase the reach of all of the above activities.

The system comes full-circle, establishing RSS as the tool that powers an important share of all of your internet marketing and publishing activities.

About the Author:

Rok Hrastnik is the author of »Unleash the Marketing & Publishing Power of RSS«, acclaimed as the best and most comprehensive guide to RSS for marketers by leading RSS experts. The complete guide on RSS for marketers

Is RSS Technology the Future for Online Communications?

Currently there are 3 main types of broadcast Internet messaging systems that you can use to deliver newsletters, e-zines and other informational materials to your customers.

I'm not going to cover here internal or intranet messaging systems, the main focus of this article is on the virtual world outside your local/corporate network.

The main Internet Broadcasting Systems are:

- Email broadcasts that are sent through sender's ISP and received with the email client of your customer (such as Outlook, Outlook Express, Eudora, Web Mail systems, etc.)

- RSS Feeds delivered through web-based RSS Aggregators.

- Completely customizable and personalized multi-media messages that are sent through RSS Channels and received with branded RSS Readers (such as Private Mail Reader and Feed Demon).

E-mail communications used to be a very efficient way to deliver information to your prospects and customers. This was working well until we got spammers - thousands of unethical people trashing your inboxes with annoying junk offers without any permission on your part. Nobody really wanted these products, ISP customers were irritated with email-boxes full of irrelevant content, to say the least.

Big and small ISP companies (Internet Service Providers) responded by developing anti-spam filters and society at large was forced to work out a set of anti-spam laws regulating the use of e-mails.

So legitimate internet marketers had to accommodate themselves to these unpleasant changes by implementing various forms of opt-in verifications. In other words, now the customers have to confirm in some way that they give you permission to send them e-mails.

And you inevitably loose a percentage of your customers who for some reasons doesn't want to go through the opt-in process.

Unfortunately, this is only the tip of the iceberg. Anti-spam filters are now so tight, that they easily throw in the bulk folder even legitimate e-mails. How it could happen? Well, you may accidentally use some of the "bad words" - such as "free", "buy", "purchase", etc (there are hundreds of "spam words" and the list grows every day). You know very well what happen to the bulk folder emails - they are as good as trash. Chances that recipient will ever read bulk emails are slim to none.

You also loose some of your readers when you try to enhance their experience by sending emails in html format (which would allow you to add colors, and pictures to your email, use different fonts, etc).

You might want to go even further and insert audio or video streams into your emails to give your readers the opportunity to better comprehend the featured topic.

You might want to do other neat things....

Well, don't bother. Sorry to disappoint you, but your efforts will be in vain. Major ISPs consider html to be the format for commercial emails and as such it triggers spam filters almost automatically.

Some analytic companies estimate that you can easily fail to reach as much as 70% of your customers in the nearest future. According to Doubleclick, one of the e-mail delivery leaders, the average rate of opened e-mails in 4th Quarter of 2004 declined 11.4% from Q4 2003, and is now only 32.6%.

Very bright picture, isn't it?

Luckily, there is a solution, and it comes in a form of RSS technology (Really Simple Syndication).

To put it simply, RSS Feeds are the streams of information presented in xml format. This syndication allows webmasters to find the feeds of interest written by other authors and easily place them on their own web sites (with authors permission, of course). The Big Benefit is that this information is automatically updated every time when the particular RSS feed is updated.

In case of RSS aggregators, readers simply subscribe to the feeds and read them through web-based user interfaces (one of the popular RSS aggregators, for example, is My Yahoo - find the RSS Feeds of your choices, add them to your My Yahoo page - and you will receive the update on what is new on these feeds and will be able to read it in user-friendly format (you don't have to learn xml). Each time you go to MY Yahoo you will be informed which of these feeds were updated in the last 3 days.

And finally, there is a third option - RSS Readers. It gives readers the ability not to worry about the information of their choice being blocked by ISP anti-spam filters. They can simply download RSS Feed Reader and enjoy the benefits of private media-rich environment from your computer!

You don't have to go to any websites to get these data and you're not forced to receive this information, you decide where and when to receive it. (Whereas with e-mails you're facing the fact that anybody could send them to your mailing address).

There are a many good RSS readers out there. Some are free, other offer free trial. The most well-known is FeedDemon (has free trial), then goes SharpReader, NewsCrawler, Awasu, PMR etc.

Now it's your turn to explore the benefits of RSS technology. Use RSS messaging system of your choice and stay ahead of your competitors!

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Analyzing the New Yahoo! RSS Report for Marketers

Copyright 2005 Rok Hrastnik

We were waiting for something like this to happen for a long time. Yahoo!, one of the key providers of mass-market RSS aggregators, finally took a step forward and published their RSS whitepaper, covering their own findings with RSS, based on their usage data.

1. YAHOO!'S KEY FINDINGS

Let's first take a look at Yahoo! key findings and what they mean for marketers.

a] Awareness of RSS is quite low among Internet users. 12% of users are aware of RSS, and 4% have knowingly used RSS.

Although RSS awareness is increasing, only few internet users yet understand what RSS is and how to use it.

For marketers, this means that simply placing an RSS button on their site it not nearly enough, with the report finally demonstrating that marketers needs to use clear and persuasive copy to get their visitors interested in RSS, explain RSS to them and get them to subscribe to their feeds.

In addition it also shows that marketers need to make sure they are using "user-friendly" buttons to generate subscribers, such as "Add to MyYahoo!", which consumers do understand.

b] 27% of Internet users consume RSS syndicated content on personalized start pages (e.g., My Yahoo!, My MSN) without knowing that RSS is the enabling technology.

This finding only underlines the above suggestions.

Stop touting your RSS feeds only using an RSS button, but rather aim for a "subscribe feature" and then explain to the visitor how to use it.

Strong copy has never been so important.

c] 28% of Internet users are aware of podcasting, but only 2% currently subscribe to podcasts.

Goes to show that podcasting still has a long way to go and can right now function only as a supplement to your existing marketing activities.

It might also give an indication that audio is not the most appropriate format for much online content.

d] Even tech-savvy "Aware RSS Users" prefer to access RSS feeds via user-friendly, browser-based experiences (e.g., My Yahoo!, Firefox, My MSN).

e] My Yahoo! has the highest awareness and use of any RSS-enabled product.

Both of the findings above, although indicating that these are the results Yahoo! would want to publish, show that having browser-based RSS reader subscribe buttons is a must.

It also shows that the market is ready for the soon-coming IE and Outlook integrated RSS features, which should really boost RSS usage among consumers online.

Now, let's take a deeper look at the report ...

2. "UNAWARE RSS USERS" VS "AWARE RSS USERS"

The whitepaper makes a strong distinction between "Unaware RSS Users" and "Aware RSS Users", positioning the "Unaware" batch as the mainstream Internet population.

This makes it absolutely clear that B2C marketers, targeting consumers, should take special care to promote their feeds using "friendly" subscribe buttons.

On the other hand, if targeting a more tech-savvy audience, going the way of "RSS" and more complex RSS reading tools might be a better choice. This might also prove more effective for targeting executives and other corporate target audiences that might be using an enterprise-wide RSS solution, such as NewsGator.

3. CONSUMPTION LEVELS

The whitepaper says that on the average "Aware RSS Users" subscribe to 6.6 feeds.

The consequences of this are not as simple as they might seem. Even "RSS Aware" users do not subscribe to "just anything" and seems they only subscribe or keep being subscribed to the content of highest relevance to them.

The message for marketers is to become even more relevant and more focused on providing real value for their target audiences.

RSS does not mean that end-users will start consuming that much more online content, but simply that their primary consumption channel will change. It's up to you to make place for yourself in this consumption channel, but you can only do so if you become one of the key targeted content providers for your market and can deliver consistently high-quality content.

4. TYPES OF RSS CONTENT CONSUMED

Even in the world of RSS, mainstream media rules, with World news and National news both leading the pack at 52% and followed by Entertainment at 34% and Weather ad 31%.

If we take a look at what lies beneath this we can see that end-users still see RSS as a news consumption tool and a tool to receive time-sensitive updates, such as weather info.

The interesting part is that blogs achieve only 23% and although they are gaining quickly are still not part of the mainstream.

Whichever way you look at this, the real long tail is still far from fruition.

There are two are interesting categories listed in the report: investment/financial info/banking at 13% and Shopping/online commerce at 10%.

The popularity of these two shows that RSS in fact is appropriate for delivering business info and that RSS can be used for e-commerce. A strong case in point urging e-retailers to start providing RSS feeds.

5. WHY END-USERS USE RSS

"RSS Aware" end-users subscribe to feed because of "ease" or "convenience", followed by being able to choose what they read.

To marketers, these three should be the founding stones of how to get their visitors to adopt RSS.

6. THE FAMOUS ORANGE BUTTON

Marketers, pay attention to this.

Only 4% of total RSS end-users actually use the orange XML button, and only 38% of RSS aware users use it.

It seems the orange button isn't dead ... it was never alive.

Let's move on and replace it with something more user-friendly.

And BTW --- 22% of the people that clicked on the button don't even know what action they took after clicking the button and 26% left the site. Goes to show the RSS button is only losing us subscribers.

7. HOW USERS FIND THEIR FEEDS

50% use the defaults available in the RSS reader and only 13% use the search engines to find them.

Yes, it's crucial to be in the RSS feed search engines, but it would be even better if you could move your way to the default settings. And by all means, actively promote the feeds on your site as end-users, according to the report, actively tend to subscribe to the feeds on the sites they find interesting.

8. CONCLUSION

To conclude this, here's a direct quote from the report, saying exactly what I've been trying to get through for a couple of months:

"To position RSS among mainstream Internet users, it is essential to effectively communicate the benefits of RSS (ease, convenience, access to information of interest). Internet users do not understand how to use the XML button, how to actively seek out RSS feeds, or even what the term RSS means. Instead, they need a simple interface where they can choose the information and content that interests them. This is where personalized start pages and browser-based experiences can help move RSS into the mainstream."

About the Author:

Learn how to take full marketing advantage of RSS and get all the expertise, knowledge and how-to information for implementing RSS in your marketing mix, from direct marketing, PR, e-commerce, internal communications and online publishing to SEO, traffic generation and customer relationship management. Including complete interviews with more than 40 RSS marketing experts. Click here now

 

RSS Security

RSS Security

RSS is growing at a lightening speed. What was once only known as a "techie tool", RSS is becoming a tool that is continuously being used by the general population. Along with the good comes, the not so good. And while some have mentioned the emergence of RSS spam, where content publishers dynamically generate nonsensical feeds stuffed with keywords, the real concern relates to security. While an annoyance to the search engines, spam in RSS feeds pales in comparison to the possible security concerns that could be in RSS' future.

Security Implications Related to RSS

As RSS gains momentum security fears loom large. As publishers are quickly finding innovative uses for RSS feeds, hackers are taking notice. The power and extendibility of RSS in its simplest form is also its achilles heel. The expansion capabilities of the RSS specification, specifically the "enclosure" field which has launched the podcasting phenomenon, is where the vulnerabilities lie.

The enclosure field in itself is not the problem, in fact the majority of RSS feeds do not even use the enclosure tag. The enclosure tag is essentially used to link to file types, things like images, word documents, mp3 files, power point presentations, and executables and can be thought of in similar terms to email attachments.

The fact that RSS can be used to distribute these file types has opened a myriad of doors to users of the syndication standard, but also has created cause for concern. Most people do not feel that the risk is significant because people "choose" the content that they receive, and while it might make the distribution of malware, viruses and spy applications via RSS less prevalent, their is still the inherent risk of a infected file being distributed.

The problem is one of both technology and lack of education. The danger lies in the fact that many RSS readers, news aggregators, or pod-catchers automatically download the information contained in the enclosure field regardless of its file type or source.

Most RSS developers acknowledge the risks associated with the enclosure field, but few have had the forethought to include filtering, screening or authentication capabilities and many automatically download enclosures.

Nick Bradbury of Bradsoft/NewsGator seems to be proactive, designing FeedDemon with security in mind. FeedDemon uses an editable safelist of file types as well as allowing users to monitor what files are automatically downloaded. FeedDemon also contains hard-coded warnings related to specific file types.

Developers of ByteScout took a different approach to the handling of enclosure files, ByteScout does not automatically download anything without user intervention for each download.

Unfortunately, not all RSS readers, aggregators and podcatchers consider the possible security implications associated with RSS feeds and podcasts, some will automatically download enclosures without warning or any thoughts of security. Be sure to examine how your RSS reader handles files contained in the enclosure field of an RSS feed.

With the increased use of RSS and podcasting, the security risks increase with it. Their is cause for concern, however proactive users and conscientious developers can easily subvert the risk by taking precautions seriously. Computer viruses and malware are cause for legitimate concern, there is ample time and action that can avert potential problems.

Copyright 2005 Sharon Housley

About the Author:

Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll software for creating, editing, publishing RSS feeds and podcasts. In addition Sharon manages marketing for FeedForDev an RSS component for developers.

Microsoft and Google Show It's Time for RSS Marketing

Many internet marketers are still wondering whether to start marketing with RSS or not. It seems that not even all the case studies, hard metrics and benefits available can't convince them, or everyone would be jumping on the RSS wagon by now.

Just as an overview, here are some of the benefits marketers are missing out on by not marketing with RSS:

A] 100% delivery of their marketing, relationship building and educational messages to their subscribers, customers, prospects and partners. E-mail isn't getting delivered, but with RSS you will achieve 100% delivery.

B] Increased search engine rankings and quick content indexing, and increased traffic from other RSS-enabled online sources.

C] Getting your internet content published on other websites.

D] Generating new subscribers more easily and quickly.

E] And much much more .

Even if you don't believe that RSS is being used by enough people right now, that's still no excuse to not start using it as a vehicle to generate more traffic to your sites.

But, soon all of this will change, too.

As it was widely predicted, Microsoft is integrating RSS support in the next version of its Internet Explorer, and perhaps even more important, it's making it an integral part of its long-awaited Longhorn operating system.

What does this mean for marketers?

A] By being integrated in IE and other Microsoft software, RSS will achieve mass penetration. For marketers this means that RSS will finally become one of the standard tools of mass communication and content delivery. Furthermore, internet users will start to expect RSS from marketers, probably even more so than e-mail newsletters.

B] Marketers will no longer (eventually, of course, when most of the world starts using the latest software versions) need to explain how to get an RSS reader, but will be able to focus only on presenting their business and benefits to the end-user.

C] Broader RSS integration in Microsoft's tools will enable for additional RSS uses, far beyond basic content delivery in the form of stories, podcasts and products. Marketers and developers will be able to deploy rich interaction applications to make communication and business/personal interaction more fluent, easier and more effective. In essence, for many advanced marketers the capability of marketing with RSS will mean their either "in" or "out" of the game.

D] This is now official. Marketers need to start taking the lead and implementing RSS feeds accross all their communicational innitiatives, from PR to direct marketing and sales.

And to top all of this, Google just recently started serving Google AdSense ads in RSS feeds as well.

The deeper meaning behind this is four-fold:

A] The new "program" is the perfect opportunity for RSS publishers to monetize their RSS feeds. With inclussion in Google's standard "runnings" of AdSense ads, publishers can expect to monetize on RSS immediately.

B] This is yet another reason for publishers to start publishing their content via RSS, especially since it won't cost them anything or very little, but will provide them with an additional source of revenues. With the low-cost aspect of RSS, we can expect a flood of new publishers to set-up RSS feeds of their content to generate additional AdSense clicks.

C] With RSS ads included in feeds, more advertisers will become aware of RSS and its marketing potential.

D] Using RSS advertising publishers are now not only creating an additional revenues source, but are in fact making sure they don't lose ad revenue opportunities.

We used to refer to RSS as the future. Well, that future is now. If you're not ready to start marketing with RSS, time just might run you over. As well as your competitors.

Rok Hrastnik is the author of »Unleash the Marketing & Publishing Power of RSS«, acclaimed as the best and most comprehensive guide to RSS for marketers by leading RSS experts. The complete guide on RSS for marketers

RSS Works: Hard Metrics to Prove It

Marketers are constantly asking if RSS marketing works and if this can be proved.

It's time to take a look at some real-life RSS metrics from real-life marketers. These will show you what kind of results you can expect to see from RSS.

I first presented this data at the Syndicate Conference in New York City, the first conference entirely devoted to RSS.

To make a point, we'll take a look at RSS metrics from 4 different viewpoints, each demonstrating one facet of RSS marketing and a different way of capturing RSS metrics. This data combined will give you the answer of whether RSS marketing is for you, as an addition to e-mail marketing, or not.

1. CLICK-THROUGH RATES FROM RSS FEED TO SITE: THE RSS AGGREGATOR SIDE

RSS statistics should be most relevant when coming from actual RSS aggregators and their vendors, since these people can measure precisely how their users are actually using RSS.

Customer Reader, who just recently launched a desktop RSS aggregator, which marketers can brand for themselves and then distribute to their readers, supplied us with their latest data. This data is based on 3,500 users of their brandable RSS aggregator and on the last [two weeks ago] 48 hours of their reader usage.

The most interesting piece of data is the 23% average CTR (click-through rate) from feed to site within last 48 hours, which proves that RSS works in terms of getting readers from the outbout message to the site. RSS users are actually clicking on RSS content!

Now, what is the "feed-to-side" CTR? It simply means that 23% of the end-users that subscribe to various feeds, clicked at least once on one of the content items in the feeds they are subscribed to.

2. CLICK-THROUGH RATES FROM CONTENT ITEM TO SITE: THE RSS SOLUTION VENDOR SIDE

Considering the different RSS metrics systems and the fact that no marketing tool whatsoever can be measured 100% precisely from the outside tracking service side, seeing stats from RSS solutions vendors is important as well.

On this end, some basic stats were supplied from SimpleFeed, the providers of one of the more advanced RSS marketing solutions.

The stats are based on an app. 10,000 end-user sample, 30 day average and 4 months of data.

They are seeing a 6.8% average CTR from content item [individual content item in an RSS feed] to site and a 150% [1.5 clicks] average CTR from feed to site within 30 days.

3. SUBSCRIPTIONS AND CLICK-THROUGH RATES: THE MARKETER/PUBLISHER SIDE

And finally, let's take a look at the stats from the publisher/marketer point of view.

Lockergnome.com is one of the most popular tech sites on the internet.

Although they are serving a more tech savvy audience, Lockergnome is an excellent example of the results you can ultimately hope to achieve using RSS.

First of all, they are seeing a ration of 5:1 in favor of the number of RSS subscribers against e-mail subscribers, and even more interesting, a 500% better clickthrough ratio with RSS than with e-mail.

4. SEARCH ENGINE VISIBILITY

The BTI Group is a smaller VoIP provider and, through their high ranking blogsite, the proof that RSS works for search engine positioning.

Here are just some of their achievements, as a result of their RSS marketing activities .

a] 120 page-one search results on important industry search terms
#1 Voip vs traditional phone system
#1 VoIP solution provider
#2 VoIP small business
#2 VoIP architecture
#5 VoIP phone equipment
#6 VoIP benefits
#7 VoIP Small Business costs

b] A 75% increase in traffic to the corporate website

c] BTI's link popularity jumped from 164 in June 2003 to 1312 in December 2004 to 1405 in February 2005

OVERVIEW

These metrics clearly show that RSS works for marketers and publishers.

This data alone, also considering that RSS clearly gets 100% of your content delivered and actually provides you with an abundance of new marketing opportunities, such as podcasting, should be enough to make you do something about RSS now.

About the Author:

Rok Hrastnik is the author of »Unleash the Marketing & Publishing Power of RSS«, acclaimed as the best and most comprehensive guide to RSS for marketers by leading RSS experts. The complete guide on RSS for marketers

 

RSS, And The 10 MOST Powerful Reasons WHY You Should Be Using It

By Cory Threlfall (c) 2005 The IWE, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

RSS (Real Simple Syndication or Rich Site Summary) is widely becoming a VERY powerful marketing tool on the NET and for Internet marketers around the world, the question is...

... "Are you using RSS to syndicate your content?"

When I first stumbled across RSS syndication while surfing the net, it peeked my curiosity to the point where I couldn't help myself, but, to look into this new form of site promotion further.

What I found out about this new technology will absolutely change the way you keep in touch with your subscribers and/or readers, in many ways, for years to come.

Just to keep up with the times I recently built a webpage for my website specifically to promote my RSS feed in order to take on new subscribers, and... most important of all, to put this new technology to the test.

Here's what my webpage looks like if you decide to build your own dedicated webpage for your RSS feed. I highly recommend you do, but, that's just me.

If you do decide to build one, make sure you give your subscribers and/or readers options.

http://www.internetwondersezine.com/rss_feed.html

Now, for those of you who aren't quite up to speed on what RSS is, here's a quick definition for you:

RSS is an acronym for "Really Simple Syndication" or "Rich Site Summary", and the XML extension is the format used for distributing your news headlines via the Web, which is known as Syndication.

Syndication is where the TRUE power of RSS is unleashed, getting your message across the web in an Instant to your subscribers and/or readers.

That's the basics of RSS (Real Simple Syndication).

Now, for the rest of this article I want to focus on the "10 MOST Powerful Reasons WHY You Should Be Using It".

So, with that said, let's go to reason #1.

Reason #1. RSS Streamlines communication.

RSS streamlines communication between the publishers and readers making it easier for the subscriber to receive your content.

Reason #2. Readers can Opt-In to feeds.

RSS gives the subscriber the ability to Opt-In to the feeds they are interested in and the ability to Opt-Out, if they wish, through their RSS reader just like an auto-responder.

Reason #3. You don't have to maintain an RSS feed.

This is a great time saver for the busy marketer because RSS is a great communication supplement that doesn't burden the publisher with having to maintain a "List" or having to follow strict privacy rules.

Reason #4. You have the ability to Syndicate your content.

This is where the TRUE power of RSS comes into play because RSS gives you the ability to Syndicate your content to your subscribers and website owners in an INSTANT giving your content the exposure it deserves.

Reason #5. Broadcasts your Sales and Specials.

RSS gives you the ability to broadcast your Sales message and Specials to a wider audience in less time it would take to set-up an email broadcast.

Reason #6. No filters to worry about.

This is the next best feature to RSS feeds because you don't have to worry about your message being passed through some email filter.

By using RSS, your message gets delivered to 100% of your subscribers.

This is a very powerful feature.

Reason #7. No more "Spam" complaints.

This is yet another great benefit to RSS because you don't have to worry about "Spam" complaints or "Privacy Policies" - again because they have to add your feed to their reader, not the other way around with email.

Reason #8. You get INSTANT credibility.

By publishing your own RSS feed, you're establishing yourself as an expert in the eyes of your readers and as someone who knows his/her industry which will build "Trust".

Reason #9. Multiple ways to read your feed.

RSS is very versatile because it allows you to view the feed in many different media platforms.

Some examples are, Browser Based readers, Software Based readers, and the ability to view feeds on different operating systems like windows and mac.

Reason #10. Free and Easy site promotion.

I like to save the best for last because RSS is a great way to get free traffic to your website without the need of spending money on advertising.

This benefit alone will save you hundreds, if not thousands, in yearly expenses to advertise your online business.

Well... are those enough reasons for you to get started with RSS?

I certainly hope so because they sure get me excited everytime I read through them.

Just imagine for a minute your same message you worked so hard on that you were going to send via email getting to 100% of your subscribers INSTANTLY -- On-Demand -- via your own RSS feed without ever having to worry about email filters.

Your response rates would Double, if not, Triple, meaning MORE $$Profits$$ in your pocket with less work.

Internet technology at its Best.

As I mentioned early in my article, the best way to take advantage of RSS... Starting TODAY! ... is to set-up your own dedicated RSS webpage on your website.

If you don't have time to set-up your own webpage I recommend you set-up an account with Blogger.com -- http://www.blogger.com -- and then head over to FeedBurner.com -- http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/home -- and set-up an account there.

FeedBurner.com will auto-generate you a RSS subscription page with whatever RSS feed URL you choose.

Well... there you have it, "RSS... And The 10 MOST Powerful Reasons WHY You Should Be Using It" and more.

In conclusion, publishers using RSS as a communication vehicle for there business are able to create keyword-rich, themed content, establishing Trust, Credibility, and ongoing communication with current and prospective subscribers and/or customers.

Want to find out more about BLOGS and RSS? SEARCH CBmall==> http://www.internetwondersezine.com/cbmallsearch.htm -- Or if you want to get MORE 'Insider' marketing Secrets, subscribe to Cory Threlfall's ezine called... The Internet Wonders eZine -- http://www.internetwondersezine.com or you can visit his BLOG at -- http://theiwe.blogspot.com

Will RSS Replace Email?

RSS is a big buzz word right now, and this question has been popping up all over the place.

Will RSS ever replace email?

In short, the answer is no.

RSS will never totally replace email because they each do totally different things.

RSS was designed for a totally different purpose than email, and technologically speaking, it would be impossible for RSS to do everything email can.

Consider this analogy: RSS and Email are like TV and telephone.

If you want to reach a broad audience of spectators, you use the TV or RSS. Consumers like TV because they hold the remote and can change the channel at will. They have total control. Likewise they can an RSS feed at any time if they so choose, and instantly the source of information is totally gone, never to return against the person's will.

Email is like the telephone: You can email or call anyone based on their phone number or email address, and they can call you or email you back. Consumers like email and the telephone because of the two-way communication. But with the two-way communication comes the possiblity of having annoying telemarketers and spammers along with it. And boy do they come!

One is not better than the other because they both serve two totally different purposes.

In my opinion, RSS is better for reaching a large list of subscribers because it is 100% spam proof and puts the control into the hands of the consumer.

Why fight the spam filters when you can avoid them altogether?

Internet marketers that think they are "more in control" by using email instead of RSS are somewhat disillusioned. Consumers can unsubscribe to your email list any time they want to. If they try to unsubscribe from your list but can't, then you are spamming them.

If you truly offer valuable content, consumers will look forward to getting your messages whether they come by email or RSS.

Considering the fact that a good number of emails are getting blocked by spam filters, you have a better chance of reaching more of your subscribers via RSS.

With that said, email will always be necessary on an individual basis so you can have two-way communication.

RSS was never made for that, and will never fill that role. But RSS can reach a large group of spectators with a 100% delivery guarantee. And that is something email just can't match!

Now you can bypass the spam filters altogether by delivering your newsletter via personalized RSS feed! Kent Thompson's new software makes it too easy. Check it out! http://feedmagic.com/fm/?will-rss-replace-email

5 New Internet Marketing Opportunities Through RSS

When it comes to new internet marketing opportunities for your business, RSS just might be the answer you were looking for. Here are just some of the new opportunities it can provide you with .

1. PODCASTING AND VIDEOCASTING

Podcasting (delivering internet audio content) and Videocasting (delivering internet video content) allow you to communicate via rich media messages, not only making your content more attractive and powerful, but also enabling a more personal »conversation« with your audiences.

Up until know, the internet was predominantly a textual channel. Adding audio and video to the mix, delivering both via RSS, goes beyond the basic capabilities provided by »traditional« internet content delivery channels.

Rich media personalizes the internet experience and gives your company a distinguishable face, while at the same time providing you with a media platform to convey your message so that it is easier to understand, see and feel.

Think about ...

--> Delivering press releases in audio or video

--> Sending your customers a personal video message from the CEO

--> Doing audio interviews to expand your reach and provide more content to your visitors

--> Delivering video demonstrations of your products

--> Using video and audio to demonstrate how your customers and readers can easily resolve various issues that you are helping them with

--> Delivering important messages to your readers, customers and business partners via a more personal audio experience, instead of using impersonal e-mail communications

--> And so on ...

In addition, Podcasting and Videocasting form the basis of new business models, giving you the opportunity to expand your product base to include these formats with higher perceived value.

Customer education & support are improved as well, since you can now demonstrate key product usage points via online video &#61664; providing customer support content in a format, which can easily demonstrate everything you need to convey to your customers.

2. HIGH FREQUENCY CONTENT UPDATES

High frequency content updates, even on a daily or hourly basis, are now finally possible with RSS. No more need to hold on your important messages, news and other content for a week or even a month to include it in your e-zine --- with RSS you can update your content as often as you want/need, and your subscribers won't mind.

3. APPCASTING

Appcasting goes one step further, giving you the ability to deliver critical software updates and patches to your existing clients, without them having to visit your web site every week to see if the much needed update is already available or not.

4. PRODUCT NEWS, RELEASES AND UPDATES

Product news, releases and updates are now finally possible in an easy-to-consume way. Using RSS, you can provide your customers or prospects with simple tools to create their own »product feeds«, through which they'll be immediately notified when new products that precisely match their interests are available.

As soon as your product portfolio changes, so does the content in the RSS feeds that your customers are subscribed to.

Just think of the following possibilities ...

--> The search tool is one of the most often used in larger web stores, giving your visitors an easy way to find the products they are interested. But the same search results can be delivered via RSS as well. Imagine your customer doing a search for one of your product categories, and then also receiving a link to the RSS feed for those very same search results, to find out immediately when a new product matching his terms is released or available for order.

--> This works for complex searches as well. If your customers are in the habit of searching for specific product categories, but only in a specific price range, you can deliver those very same results to them via RSS, but with a small twist &#61664; as soon as a new product matching their terms, including the desired price, is launched, they are notified about it via RSS instantly. No need to visit your site again to do the time-consuming search; the release comes directly to them.

--> Of course, the same approach that many are already using for e-mail alerts can be used for RSS. Give your visitors a simple form using which they enter their criteria, and then give them access to an RSS feed bringing them product updates based exactly on their criteria. Why not just use e-mail? Because no one really wants more e-mail messages in their inboxes and no one wants to give away their personal information, while RSS is anonymous, doesn't require an e-mail address and is read when the customer decides he has the time.

5. PERSONALIZED CONTENT SERVICES

Personalized/customized database listings are quite similar to product updates, but relate to any kind of complex information you provide to your visitors, such as .

--> Job listings

--> Dating

--> Real estate

--> Etc.

Using RSS, your visitors can decide exactly what kind of »content« (in this case, an individual content item could be a new job listing) they are looking for and then have that content delivered directly to them, via their own personalized RSS feed.

And yet, all of these are just some examples of what you can do with RSS. The possibilities for new content delivery & business development models are quite endless.

For example, some companies are already giving their visitors the opportunity to track their FedEx, UPS and other packages via RSS feeds. Yet others are creating new services that allow you to receive critical information from an RSS feed to your mobile phone via SMS (such as getting an SMS notifying you that a new job matching your criteria is available).

Yet again other sites enable you to keep track of when you need to return your library material, and even when your holds are ready and when they are about to expire, all this using RSS.

All of these are new business opportunities made possible with RSS, and each of them in a way improves lives of end-users, without placing a larger burden (more e-mail messages) on them.

About the Author:

Rok Hrastnik is the author of »Unleash the Marketing & Publishing Power of RSS«, acclaimed as the best and most comprehensive guide to RSS for marketers by leading RSS experts. The complete guide on RSS for marketers