RSS feeds are a toll for delivering frequently updated content to readers, without them having to search for it. Use of an RSS feed offers great opportunities to publishers who are looking for alternative systems to generate readership and/or revenue from their content, whether that content is written, audio or video.
This graph shows how RSS can impact web traffic.

1. Create Content
For regular, frequent publishing you need to create an RSS feed. The RSS file is just a text file that links to your file and describes the content of the file. This file you create must be a plain text file, created in notepad or text editor. Formatting will break the RSS file.

A feed comprises a channel, which has a title, link, description, and (optional) language, followed by a series of items, each of which have a title, link, and description. RSS feeds are created in XML. Feeds can be created using tags that are enclosed in brackets <> very similar to HTML.

You can create RSS feeds without ANY programming or technical knowledge at all and convert any web page to RSS format with the tools below:

RSSPECT
FeedYes
Feed43
Feedfire
Feedity

I am currently trialling FeedForAll software (for the Mac, but they also have PC) which is incredibly straightforward. I read through how to make an RSS feed manually and believe that with development of software such as FeedforAll it is unnecessary for the vast majority to do so. Although here are some links if you want to have a read. I always think that it is useful to understand how things work if you are working with them. Even if due to great technology there is no need for you to put this understanding fully into practice. With FeedforAll, you can get an RSS creator that offers a variety of useful features such as support for optional tags and capabilities. Seems a much better result than some of the free services I tried.
Making an RSS Feed - SearchEnginewatch

Make RSS Feeds.com

Here is a great post on “how to make RSS your worker bee”, by Marshal Kirkpatrick of ReadWriteWeb. Article called, How to build an RSS and blog news site for your project

2. “Create an RSS Feed”
To enter your item into the RSS file, you’ll need three bits of information. The title and description should be written to describe the content and the link should reference the webpage that contains that actual content.
1) Title
2) Description
3) Link

You can use FeedForAll or any of the services I listed about to create this file.

3. Validate RSS
You can use RSS validation programs, such as Feed Validator mentioned below, but they require the file to be available at a URL.

* FEED Validator for RSS and Atom
* RSS Validator

3. “Upload file to server”
Next you need to add your text (and publish) or upload your MP3 file to your website, as the file must sit on a server.

4. “Provide RSS & subscription detail to users”
This involves adding option for subscription to a number of podcast directories for wider distribution and profile.

A tutorial
Tutorial URL: http://rssgov.com/rssworkshop.html

Have read quite a few really insightful pieces on this topic this week so thought I would share the links below.

• A case study chat with Playstation’s New Media Team at the New Comm Forum sharing 15 lessons learned on implementing a Blog here

• Social Media Group discussing Chris Anderson, Editor of Wired Magazine, on a rant against PR people sending him press releases:

“I’ve had it… Lazy flacks send press releases to the Editor in Chief of Wired because they can’t be bothered to find out who on my staff, if anyone, might actually be interested in what they’re pitching. So fair warning: I only want two kinds of email: those from people I know, and those from people who have taken the time to find out what I’m interested in and composed a note meant to appeal to that. Everything else gets banned on first abuse.”

He published email addresses of the latest offenders…

The article goes on to a solution, which is rather than pushing press releases to editors, let them pull content from you - enabled by offering Social Media releases. They are using RSS, so know when there are updates, and at this point pull content from you that they think will be of interest to readers. Full article here.

• Also came across this article on the PR Squared Blog, which asked, “Am I seriously suggesting that a PR person MUST become an active Twitter user if they want to have a meaningful career? “  They highlighted benefits Twitter delivers to professionals such as personal branding, knowledge and relationships. Read the full post here

• Brian Solis of Silicon Valley, a new Facebook friend of mine and an incredibly passionate and talented individual within the new media and PR.2.0 (that is the name of his blog at www.briansolis.com) sphere defined PR 2.0 as:

“The realization that the Web changed everything, inserting people equally into the process of traditional influence. Suddenly we were presented with the opportunity to not only reach our audiences through gatekeepers, but also use the online channels where they publish and share information to communicate directly and genuinely.”

In this post he reviews a new book he was asked to write the foreword for from Deirdre Breakenridge. The full foreword by Brian Solis and details of the book are here.

• A really good article at poynter.org from Amy Gahran (conversational media consultant and content strategist) on how journalists are responding to changes in the industry. There are some really insightful assumptions listed here, although I am sure they are not applicable as a general rule across all journalists, such as:

“The only journalism that counts is that done by mainstream news orgs, especially in print or broadcast form. Alternative, independent, online, collaborative, community, and other approaches to news are assumed to be inferior or even dangerous.”

“Real journalists only do journalism. They don’t dirty their hands or distract themselves with business and business models, learning new tools, building community, finding new approaches to defining and covering news, etc.”

The full article on Poynter is available here

Carnegie Mellon University holds a lecture series where lecturers address the students as if it was their last lecture they would be delivering. One lecturer, Randy Pausch, did not have to imagine this scenario as he had been diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer. Randy gave a lecture called “Really achieving your childhood dreams.” Millions of people have watched this lecture online, where he tells the audience how he has lived his childhood dreams and, what he thinks of as more important, enabling the dreams of others.

The strength of character, powerful attitude and sparkle in the eye of Randy will bring you a smile and a tear to your eye simultaneously. Since delivering this lecture Randy’s book “The Last Lecture” was released and is a bestseller, currently impossible to get a copy of.

Of these gifts given to the world by Pausch, Wired Magazine said, “No matter how long Pausch’s attitude and treatment keeps the cancer at bay, the gift he has given his kids and the world through these works and the dreams and projects they inspire will long out last the lifetime of any man (and probably his article on virtual reality in The World Book Encyclopedia too).”

You can watch the full last lecture from Randy Pausch Here

On a similar note, I heard a radio show last week where they were calling to listeners to write a letter to your 16 year old self. The letters I heard that were written by the show hosts were moving about what advice you would give yourself, learnings, what does matter and what doesn’t. What Randy’s lecture makes you think about is the right now. I know this is quite existential for a Saturday afternoon, but quite frankly you never really know what is around the corner.

Perhaps with the right now world view it would be useful to write a letter to your 85 year old self and in that letter lay out a roadmap of exactly how you can and will achieve your childhood dreams and how you are going to make sure that enabling the dreams of others is a key part of achieving yours.

Or perhaps skip the letter but keep these learnings and values at the forefront of your mind and get out enjoy, experience and enable. I found this lecture, his exuberant attitude and to see the importance and value someone with a very short time to live places on relationships with family and friends very inspiring. We can all live like this, some of us are just lucky enough to have a bit more time to practice this approach to the world and the people within ours.

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New research out from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Centre shows that caffeine does not in face perk us up per se, but prevents us from drifting down and losing focus. After 2-3 hours in a work day the brain releases a neurotransmitter called “adenosine” which causes drowsiness and promotes sleep. An espresso timed when this drowsiness starts to come on stops the adenosine being released.

I guess the majority of us are not too desperate to know exactly what neurotransmitter is responsible but more what is the best way to stay on the ball. The interesting thing I found as a person that is hugely coffee dependant is that the best way to ward off this onset of drowsiness and lost focus is to go slow and steady with the caffeine sipped throughout the day. My approach to date has been the triple shot shock method which I thought just had to be the most effective. In the morning of course as to make sure that at a time when sleep actually is an acceptable activity I am not there as an Owl staring at the roof..
“The bottom line: Experts say there’s no harm is using moderate amounts of caffeine to smooth the bumps in life day to day. But if you use caffeine to muffle a constant howl from an exhausted brain, think about cutting back. It might be time to reevaluate.”

Read the full Psychology Today article Here

On Sat, Apr 12, 2008 at 8:05 AM, Ali Spagnola wrote:
hi lucy!
i finished your painting! i know i said i had a long list of requests
but…..i moved you to the front because you told me about that broken
link on my website! i hope you dont mind hahaha! i appreciate you
pointing that out. sooo, you can see your painting here:

www.alispagnola.com/Free/lucy.jpg

what do you think? if you like it, i’ll mail it to you right away!

talk to you soon,
ali

See Ali’s site here at www.alispagnola.com - such creative brilliance, i love it.

Does this resonate with anyone else? I have just have a relatively technology free and very rejuvenating weekend. Maybe thats why it struck a chord.

“Now these empty moments are increasingly being saturated with productivity, communication and the digital distractions presented by an ever-expanding array of slick mobile devices.” Read My Ipod ate my Brain Here

Why should you look at using both traditional and social media releases?

Traditional media releases were formulated to make it easy for the traditional press e.g. the what/how/why, offer a quote for use in their newspaper at quick speed (without need for interview) about the development and a contact person for more information.

Social Media releases are formulated to make it easy for online journalists and bloggers. In many ways I think they have more depth that a traditional release. The links to related content provide depth, a whole new dimension and useful context for readers. Multimedia elements such as video brings the story to life with personality and a visual element that previously was not possible.

The main feature I love of SMR’s is that the facts are straight out there -down in bullet form.

This week the International Association of Business Communicators made a press release stating that they would be taking a leadership role in getting higher uptake and usage of the Social Media Release (by business communicators as part of comms strategy as opposed to just by the purely online community) The Social Media Release is being used now by corporations, wire services and some of the biggest names in the PR Industry. Read the full PR Squared commentary on this here

They also mention the impending release of a new Social Media Release (SMR) template (v2.0) which will be released shortly. He actually also says if you a true SMR geek you can email him for a copy - so I might just do that, although thats all about v1.5, not 2.0. For a refresher take a look at the current SMR template here.

Of course IABC did actually release a SM Release, along with a traditional release. See:
Social Media Release Here
Traditional Media Release Here