CT Biz Blogs

Ok, so far I’ve talked about what RSS is, and how to find a way to read RSS feeds. Today is the part where you put it all together, and find RSS feeds that will help you:

• Keep up with blogs you should be reading
• Track marketing intel on competitors
• Get news on topics you care about

What a deal! With a little upfront work, you won’t have to go searching for what you need – it will come to you.

There’s a lot of info here, so I’m going to cut this into two. And, since I haven’t written bullet points #2 and 3 yet, that post will be available Monday.

Keep up with blogs

If you want to blog, you have to read other blogs. You need to do this for several reasons.

1. Stay current with other blogs which are about your industry or market.
2. Learn about blogging from blogs, such as this one, which address the subject.
3. Learn about business subjects you’re interested in, such as marketing, PR, accounting, and so on.

There are two main ways to find blogs: search, and other blogs.

Searching for blogs:

There are several good blog search engines out there.

The one I’m most familiar with is Technorati. I’ve listed others at the end of this section.

Technorati is one of the first blog search engines, and it’s a good way to find blogs, especially for those unfamiliar with the blogosphere.

You can search right from the front page. For example, here is what I found when I did a search on “connecticut small business blogging.” What a co-inky-dink!

Technorati also has a Top 100 blog section, and a blog finder. It’s well worth checking out.

And, by the way, Technorati’s help section has a good introduction to blogging and FAQs about blogging.

Other popular blog search engines include:

• Feedster
• Blogpulse
• Icerocket
• Google blogsearch

Finding blogs by using other blogs

Once you’ve found a blog or two, mine them for more information. Sometimes the blog you find isn’t quite what you’re looking for, or isn’t to your taste, but there’s usually links in the sidebar to other blogs. It’s called a “blogroll,” and it’s a goldmine of links. At CTBizBlogs, I have what I call “featured” links, in sections on the right. And I have a link to all the blogs I read in the “My bookmarks” section. That contains my Bloglines feedlist. Check it out!

(Blogging tangent ahead: There’s a difference of opinion in using something like Bloglines blogroll. That’s because, instead of linking directly to the blogs, they’re linked indirectly with javascript. So the URLs of the blogs I read aren’t on my blog, and aren’t helping those blogs with any extra linking. But since I have over 100 blogs in my list, that would be way too long for the sidebar. I’m planning on creating a page with those links listed. I want to help out, but not at the expense of a huge list in my sidebar. End of tangent.)

You can also find blogs when you read other blogs, because we’re always linking to each other. When you find a blogger you trust, take the time to check out the links he or she mentions in posts. I’ve added many a blog to my list following links from Successful Blog, Micropersuasion, and Problogger. Go look at their blogs now.

Let me end with a little example. A few days ago, someone asked me for a list of a few blogs about wine. All I did is go to Technorati, type in “wine” and I was inundated! Then I looked at a few, checked out the blogrolls, and had my list inside of 1/2 hour. You can do that too. (I found some interesting-sounding wines, too!)

That’s it for today’s installment. Your homework over the weekend is to a) find a feed reader, b)find some blogs to read, and c)start reading. I’ll expect a full report on my desk on Monday. And don’t hesitate to ask any questions.