Rss In A Nutshell What It Is And What It Does

Y ou’ve probably heard the        web. It’s often specified in   term “RSS feeds” before,        XML (extensible markup language),  but if you’re like most         which is simply the way the data   people, it doesn’t mean much to       inside a feed is structured. Says  you. However, if you sell online,     Molander, “Think of RSS as an      it’s high time you discover this      internet plumbing system and XML   powerful marketing tool        as a standard way to transmit and  and what it can do for your           receive data through those         E-Biz. According to Jeff Molander     pipes.”                            (href="http://www.ThoughtShapers.c     You may already be using RSS       om"                                   feeds and not even realize it. If  title="http://www.ThoughtShapers.     you get news updates through an    com" target="_blank">color="#001000"                       Google, or BlogLines, those        size="-2">http://www.ThoughtShape     updates are powered by RSS behind  rs.com), CEO of            the scenes. Like your plumbing     performance-marketing consulting      system, it’s in the background     practice, Molander and                doing its job — you aren’t         Associates, the potential of RSS      supposed to see it.                as a promotional vehicle                                          for online retailers is               A Multi-tasking Medium      tremendous.                           Currently, RSS feeds are mostly                                          used for syndicated data, like     Really Simple Syndication —        news or sports stats, made                                           available by publishers. But       That’s what the letters stand         e-marketers are starting to catch  for, but RSS is actually just a       on to the possibilities this    web feed format, or a means of     technology poses:              transporting data across the                                             • With RSS feeds, you can          There are a number of companies    alert your customers whenever         that can help you publish       you’re running a special or           feeds, and advertise    adding a new product to your          through those channels. Right      line-up. They can opt-in to       now, it’s possible to monitor how  receive updates and discussions       many people are signing up for     about the products, in real        feeds, but it’s hard to obtain     time, so they’re not relying      any relevant statistics about      on receiving numerous emails.         them.                                                                                                       • You can attach almost any        Here are some great             kind of information to an RSS         resources for educating        feed — podcasts, internet         yourself about, and utilizing,     radio transmissions, blogs, etc.      feeds:                             Some blogging services have made                                         it as effortless as clicking a        • button to generate a URL that         href="http://www.SyndicationGumpt  notifies users whenever you           ion.com"                           publish something new.                title="http://www.SyndicationGump                                        tion.com" target="_blank">• For your customers who prefer       color="#001000"                    to consume their news the             size="-2">http://www.SyndicationG  old-fashioned way, you can use     umption.com helps you   feed blitzes to turn your      assess and understand RSS          feeds into emails. They           audiences.                         receive the same instant                                                 information access; it’s just         • delivered in a different form.        href="http://www.TechCrunch.com"                                         title="http://www.TechCrunch.com"  Straight from the Source       target="_blank"> color="#001000"                       You can offer your customers RSS   size="-2">http://www.TechCrunch.c     feeds as an alternative to         om gives you the           traditional emails. Molander       latest news on who’s adopting RSS     explains, “It’s a deliverability   feeds and how they’re using them      issue. We’re in a time where       to innovate.                          distributing desired or valuable                                         information on the web is          • href="http://www.MarketingStudies     specifically for advertisers.”     .net"                                 Unlike emails, which are often     title="http://www.MarketingStudie     lost, or picked off by spam        s.net" target="_blank">color="#001000"                       directly to your users.     size="-2">http://www.MarketingStu     It’s 100% opt-in, so you know      dies.net provides          your users are not only            marketers with tips for               getting it, but that they   capitalizing on RSS, as well as       really want it as well.     the latest developments               Once they subscribe to your feed,  surrounding it.                       literally nothing stands in the                                          way of your delivering it to       Hitting the Mark — Every           them.                              Time                                                              About the Author: Product Sourcing Radio is Created and Hosted by Chris Malta and Rob Cowie of WorldwideBrands.com, Home of OneSource: The Internet's Largest Source of Genuine, Factory-Direct Wholesalers for online sellers. Click Here for FREE E-Biz & Product Sourcing info! Read more articles by: Matthew Hedges Article Source: www.iSnare.com