Posts Tagged ‘rss’
If you are like me, and you spend way too much time browsing theinternet searching for topics about blogs, technology, social media, search engine optimization, andonline marketing, then you will be just as excited as I was to discoverWikio – Blogs your way. Wikio is a comprehensive database of news,media, and blogs. Search by topic, comment on existing articles, orpublish your own.
Personally I think I’ve found the greatest thing since sliced bread.
What is it?
Wikio is a comprehensive database of news, media, and blogs. You can use Wikio to search for particular topics or specific blogs. You have the option of creating pages to follow the breaking news that is most interesting to you.
This week’s biggest news that is currently being followed is coverage on the BP Oil Spill. The information is always continuously updated and each release is ranked in the site. You can vote for an article or a group that you enjoyed to help its page ranking and visibility.
You also have the option of publishing an article right onto the site, or you can browse through the listings and comment on what interests you. If you truly enjoy what you’ve been reading, you can subscribe to the RSS feed. RSS is “Really Simple Syndication,” or a network of web feeds and summarized data all in one place.
Google Reader is the most common RSS program used. It is easy to navigate and customize.
How to Use Wikio
Type a keyword into the search box, you will be directed to all relevant articles that have that particular word tagged. Not only will you be directed to articles, but you will have access to videos and audio podcasts too.
Wikio Shopping filters different products, prices, press and user scores, reviews, photos, and videos to give you the most options.
Becoming a member of Wikio is free, you will regularly receive updates and news about your designated topics on your personal news page.
The Top 10 blogs for June of 2010 as ranked on Wikio:
- Politics – The Huffington Post
- Technology – TechCrunch
- Business – The Business Insider
- Film – Deadline | Hollywood
- Video Games – Kotaku
- Celebrity – Jezebel
- Sports – Deadspin
- Music – PopEater Music Blog
- Sciences – Watts Up With That?
- Law – SCOTUSblog
5 Best Business Blogs
Posted on: June 14, 2010
Using the Internet as a resource is mandatory in this day and age. Turning to blogs for relevant information is becoming more and more common place. If you would like to learn more about social media, online business, small business, entrepreneurship, or even blogging about your business, view the 5 best business blogs.
I personally researched and reviewed each of these blogs to determine if they had enough viable, credible, and useful information any business-person could implement in their daily lives.
Skim through them and see which one fits you the best, then subscribe to their RSS Feed to get a daily dose of useful information. Such is the beauty of blogs.
1. Small Business Trends
Small Business Trends is an award-winning online publication for small business owners, entrepreneurs and the people who interact with them. It offers a variety of websites and information feeds to help you stay informed about social media and the small business market. They consider themselves “small business success … delivered daily.” You can track, explore and learn from trends affecting small business
2. Church of the Customer
Co-Authored by Ben McConnell, authoer of “Citizen Marketers: When People are the Message,” the Church of the Customer Blog has more than 121,000 daily readers. It’s ranked as one of the most popular business blogs in the world. He advises a number of organizations on creating social media word of mouth and customer evangelism strategies.
3. Business Bloggers
http://www.allbusiness.com/2984958-1.html
A collection of various business blogs that pertain to specific subjects. These different blogs include subjects such as online business intelligence, small business, finance, sales, technology, and much more.
4. Duct Tape Marketing
http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/blog/
Chosen as Best Small Business Marketing Blog in 2004, 2005, and 2006, the Duct Tape Marketing blog is a comprehensive discussion of marketing tactics and strategies. It discusses social media, mobile marketing, and the revolutionary changes happening the marketing world today.
5. Small Business Brief
http://www.smallbusinessbrief.com/
Powered by WordPress, the Small Business Brief is an easy to read and comprehensive feed of small business news and facts. There are great tips and how-to’s throughout the blog, as well as links to other related articles.
How to Cure Blogger’s Block
Posted on: February 25, 2010
Blogger’s block is loosely defined as the aching, painful feeling a blogger gets when the typing hands go numb and the brain goes dead. It is similar to writer’s block but it can be much more painful. After blogging for a while, it becomes hard for you to find new things to write about. But you don’t need to go to a doctor – the cure for blogger’s block is on the list below:
1) Browse the web for inspiration. The internet is full of ideas. Take a look at other blogs and write about a new or controversial topic.
2) Take a break. It’s hard to write when you’re overworked. Sometimes it’s just as simple as taking a break and allowing your mind to wander. When you return, you might have an idea.
3) Go back to basics. Use pen and paper. From infancy, we’ve been taught to write using writing instruments. So let the keyboard go and try writing the old fashioned way.
4) Explore new subjects. All too often, writer’s block is caused by the inability to find a new topic within a narrow subject. If you’ve exhausted everything, branch out into a related subject.
5) Lower your expectations. If you are planning on writing a masterpiece, such as something that is sure to hit the first page of Digg, you might have some difficulty. Instead, just focus on writing a simple, well-written post.
6) Change of venue. Sometimes a change of locale will help. If you’re writing from home, move from the office to the living room, or to the balcony or porch.
7) Look at other writing sources. You read a lot of content every day in emails, instant messages, and more. Use those for inspiration.
8) Do some research. There is bound to be some topic that’s been nagging at you. Take some time and research the new topic, then write a summary.
9) Ask your readers for some ideas. If you have a devoted following, let them give you some new material. They will know what they want to read.
10) Participate in guest blogging. Let a fellow blogger submit an article for your blog. In turn, you can submit one for theirs. Writing for a new blog gives you new subject matter and it helps you increase your exposure.
11) Write in a journal. The best thing about journals is that you can write anything in them. Writing without rules or restrictions is sure to cure any block.
12) Find an interesting statistic. Statistics are great ways to start an article, especially if they’re shocking or controversial.
13) Take the day off. Accept defeat, go home and come back tomorrow.
14) Talk about the top news of the day. Regardless of your industry, there is always breaking news. A brief summary of what’s new is always great material for an article.
15) Comment on other blogs. Not only will it give you inspiration, but it will also give you a bit more exposure.
16) Last but not least, write a blog about blogger’s block.
The ancient Chinese wise man, Sun Tzu, once said: “If you are ignorant of both your enemy and yourself, then you are a fool and certain to be defeated in every battle.” SunTzu was talking about the military battlefield and not the business battlefield. But if Sun Tzu was a businessman today, he would be thrilled with all the information he could find out about his enemies on the internet.
Business owners have traditionally turned to their marketing department for information on competitors. Now they are better off turning to their webmaster. In fact, one of the first things your webmaster should be asking you is who your top three competitors are.
This kind of information comes at a price. Run a Google search on “competitive intelligence” and over 11,000 results show up. There are literally thousands of consultants who will help you identify and gather information on the competition but it will cost you dearly. Save your money. Here are 7 ways you can be your own online intelligence gatherer and it won’t cost anything but time. Because as another ancient wise man once said: “A fool and his money are soon parted.”
Check Back Links
A recent survey by the Pew Research found that only 50 percent of internet users actually use a search engine everyday. So what is driving traffic to a website? The answer – back links. In other words, other sites that link to your competition. Find out the back links from your competitor’s site and get linked from these sites as well. You will increase your traffic dramatically.
Look at Keywords
Take a look at the competition’s keywords. This is easy information to get from sites like Key Word Density. Another way is to look at the code of their websites. This isn’t difficult. Go to the site and click on “View” at the top of the browser, then click “Source” or “Page Source.” A page of HTML code will open and the keywords will be revealed in the code near the top of the page.
Monitor Traffic
Just as you are monitoring unique visitors, length of stay, most viewed pages, and where visitors are coming from on your website, follow these same rules on your competitor’s site. You can find this information by going to Quantcast or Alexa.
Google Alerts
Google alerts allows users to set up alerts with keywords and phrases that trigger an email notification every time that word or phrase shows up on a site, blog or press release. For example, if you interested in a competitor, set up a Google alert on that company and their top executives and you will be notified every time they are mentioned online.
Monitor Twitter
It is time to get acquainted or re-acquainted with Twitter for your corporate spying. This is the place where industry buzz starts. It is where you hear the first low rumble of something that is about to happen. But you can’t just watch, you have to participate. Try to update your Tweets on a daily basis. If you are too busy to do this, use TweetLater, one of the best apps out there for accomplishing this.
Monitor Movement
You can learn a lot about a company just by reading their “About Us” page and monitoring their job listings. If your competitor is an auto parts company and they just hired a new CEO with a background in marketing, that may be a clue about how they plan to increase sales. If a company has several listings for jobs in another state, chances are it is expanding or relocating there. If the online bios of the top executives are vague, you can research them on professional networking sites like Linkedin or Plaxo.
RSS Feeds
If all this sounds like too many channels of information to monitor on a regular basis, RSS feeds are a good solution. Many experts are fans of feeds for intelligence gathering. You can keep up with industries, customers, and competitors by feeding things like Google Alerts, Twitter, and all of your other RSS feeds into one feed. MySyndicaat has very effective tools for doing this.
Vesta Digital Blog 