A Blogs’ PR value, where knowledge is shared and where positive conversations can erupt, has been well documented. We write often on a Blogs’ value as a Search Engine Marketing tool, where cost- effective Search Engine visibility & discover-ability is attainable, but are you leveraging the direct marketing value of your Blog?

Each of these ‘value propositions’ require consistent on- topic content, but if you’re sharing good insight why wouldn’t you encourage clients & prospects to subscribe to it? In an age of readily available information, those who share knowledge- base will gain mind share. And who amongst them would not benefit from your accumulated & timely knowledge? In the best case scenario, which is at your disposal via RSS, you’ll distribute it to them direct!

[An incredible feature of all Blogs is RSS. The acronym RSS stands for ‘Really Simple Syndication’ and it means the content is prepared for movement around the web. RSS can serve you as a consumer of content and as a marketer! As a consumer of content, rather than having to visit all your favorites all the time in order to know ‘what’s new’, RSS makes it possible for ‘what’s new’ to visit you direct. Rather than email, which is often out of your control, you can easily customize & control the gather of information direct and to one convenient place. By setting up an RSS Feed or News Reader account, which are typically free web- based services, you’re ready to begin making direct connections. Look for the little orange icon or ‘Add to MyYahoo’, click and you should create a continuous feed subscription to your RSS Reader. As a marketer, RSS makes your content available direct to your existing & prospective clients. It’s a valuable feature because there is no better form of advertising than direct marketing communication. If they subscribe to your RSS feed, you know your content is reaching the most qualified individuals because they’re doing it voluntarily!]

Until recently, the web was mostly HTML Web sites. The primary means for distribution of content was a search engine or a directory, but now there are Blogs & RSS. As more and more people get involved [more content sources, blogs, news service feeds, etc., etc. formatted in RSS] it becomes ever- more important to do what it takes to gather & maintain exposure. You see, RSS has become an important distribution channel and the ability to maintain visibility will shift some from the big search engines [and from a need to search engine optimize content] to RSS feed directories, RSS search engines & Persistent Search Alert systems.

Not to worry folks, if you don’t believe your audience has adopted a ‘RSS Newsreader’ solution like MyYahoo, MyMSN, GoogleReader or Bloglines for direct feed(s) subscription it’s still important you get on board because adoption is occurring out there…. and right in front of you! What’s more, we can add a ‘RSS convert to email’ subscription box so that when you post to your blog your content can reach people based on their immediate choice Email or RSS… helping to kill all birds with one stone. Again, who amongst your clients & prospects wouldn’t benefit from your accumulated & timely knowledge… direct?

Folks, we can’t emphasize this enough: do what it takes to touch your clients & prospects often! Do it with your unique advertorial knowledge- base and [in the best case scenario], you’ll do it with voluntarily participation and you’ll do it direct!

Get in touch any time,

Chris

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.