Update: Much has changed since this post was written. RSS is still a viable technology but the choice of readers is more limited. Microsoft Outlook and Feedly are some possibilities as of 2018.
Original post: If you’ve been following this blog for a while, you know that from time to time I extol the virtues of Really Simple Syndication (RSS). Examples are here, here, here, and here.
I thought I’d pass along one of my RSS tricks around persistent RSS searches. First, if you’re not already using RSS, the latest versions of the web browsers all support it natively. Also, web-based readers like Google Reader and Bloglines are easy to use. Client-based ones you install on your PC include Outlook 2007 email, and applications like we recommended a while back with our RSS Starter Kit.
Personally, I use Outlook 2007 for my most frequently read feeds, and Google Reader and Bloglines for the occasional reading when I have some time.
My trick is doing searches on “Jim Cahill” emerson with Google’s blog search (or Google News or Technorati) and it helps show if anything has been written about me (good, bad, or indifferent.) I include the company name because there are a few other prominent Jim Cahill’s out there that I must compete with for search engine visibility supremacy.
These searches are good one-time things, but what if I always want to know? What if I want my RSS Reader to let me know if somebody has written something new? That’s where persistent RSS search come in.
In the Google example, there is a left side area where I can subscribe to this search (or any other ones of interest) and add these to my RSS reader. The Google searches also allow emails for those of us who feel they are not already getting enough email (not too likely!)
I pass this along this because last Friday my persistent RSS searches dutifully informed me that Forrester Research senior analyst, Peter Kim wrote a blog post entitled, Introducing: Top Marketer Blogs (alpha). Lo and behold, our Emerson Process Experts blog was on the list. My first reaction was, “cool!” Then I thought how Forrester researches the broad space of technology well beyond our world of process automation so my new reaction was, “way cool!” A week later, I’m still sticking to that reaction.
So there you have it, start your day with that check of your persistent RSS searches and you could be pleasantly surprised.
Update: In the comments, Pete had a great suggestion for you fellow bloggers. Use a search of your blogs URL with Technorati’s “blog reactions“, For this blog,the persistent RSS feed for this reaction is: feeds.technorati.com/search/www.emersonautomationexperts.com.
