Keeping it simple with RSS
RSS is a great tool for staying current on blogs, sites, articles and happenings in general. The problem is that there’s just too much good stuff out there - far more than we have time for. We tend to self-medicate to the point of detriment. By this I mean that it’s so easy to add new RSS feeds to your reader that we tend to overindulge to the point of overload. Use these tips to keep things simple:
1. Use a good RSS reader. I use Google Reader.
2. Rather than create a folder for each topic you’re interested in to organize your feeds, create just four folders:
DAILY - Feeds that you need to monitor every day as part of your daily routine
WEEKLY - Feeds that you need to monitor weekly or check on the weekend
MONTHLY - Feeds that you need to read when you have time end of month
SANDBOX - New feeds that you subscribe to but are unsure yet of their value or folder above
The first three folders are fairly self-explanatory. You arrive at the coffee shop for your morning dose of caffeine and simply click the DAILY folder and read. Simple. Elegant. On the weekend or on Friday, you click the WEEKLY folder and read.
SANDBOX is an interesting concept and one that you should find quite useful. If you haven’t figured it out by now, not everything on the web or in blogs is going to be interesting or relevant to you. Duh, right?
When you find new feeds, all new feeds go into the SANDBOX. Watch them for two weeks. If after two weeks the majority of posts are not relevant to what you’re doing or interested in, drop the feed. This strategy will help you keep your other folders fairly uncluttered.
The Sandbox idea is a particularly useful one as it not only gives you a trial period during which the feed must “prove itself” worth of your attention, but also a period of time in which you can gauge the flow/volume of the feed and ultimately determine whether it warrants daily, weekly or monthly reading.
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Adam Boettiger (adam AT adamboettiger DOT com)
Simply Digital,
Adam
About the Author
Adam Boettiger is a digital marketing expert with a passion for helping people connect, learn and excel in the digital space. For over 12 years he’s helped Fortune 500 companies, ad agencies, small businesses and startups reach customers online, grow their online presence and more. His consulting site is located at http://www.adamboettiger.com/ and he can be reached by email at adam AT adamboettiger DOT com.
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