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In August 2007 I knew very little about blogging or about the resources that were available over the internet to grow and build an online business. I was confused, as I didn’t know where to start or where to begin looking for information online that could point me in the right direction. All I really knew about the internet was how to look up web pages, search for key terms, and view my email. I had absolutely no idea the impact of the discoveries I was about to make.

 

Hello, and may I introduce you to the Feed Reader!

It was about this time that I came across a number of interesting “make money online” blogs. They provided me with a few tips, tricks and suggestions of where I could begin my online journey. This was great information that I started to jot down within Microsoft Notepad - which at the time I used with great purpose to capture and organize my thoughts and information. The problem for me was that visiting these blogs on a daily basis to see if they posted a new article was a tedious task and very wasteful on my time. I thought that there must be a better method. I noticed each of them had a small RSS icon within their blog (similar to the blue icon you see on this blog). I wasn’t really sure what this was, and when I eventually clicked on it, it provided me with a list of feed readers that I could subscribe to. “This was interesting” I thought to myself. What I learned was that a feed reader is much like a personal email address for mass content and information that allows you to subscribe to blogs and other websites. This means that whenever a blog or website that you have subscribed to is updated with new information, you automatically receive the content or article within your feed reader. This is very convenient as it saves you ample time from having to visit all these different websites and blogs individually on a daily basis.

 

Don’t know what to do? Google Reader will show you the way

Although, all of this was great, I still however didn’t know what type of feed reader to choose. There were two types of feed readers available - an online version (within your internet browser) and a desktop version you can install on your PC. I tried quite a number of feed readers over the course of a couple of weeks - both browser and desktop based versions - and I eventually decided to settle on Google Reader. I came to this decision by using the following criteria:

  • Google was a large a reputable company that would be around for years to come
  • I already had a Gmail account and it just made sense to use Google Reader as well
  • It was an online feed reader I could view in my internet browser - I therefore could access it from any computer around the world
  • I imagined that Google would keep on updating and improving the feed reader over time
  • It was one of the most popular and talked about feed readers out there
  • I would not be storing data on my personal computer or hard drive

It made sense to go with Google Reader as I found that it had many time saving features that allowed me to tag and categorize the articles I received within the feed reader. However, bear in mind that there are many feed readers out there and Google Reader may not be the best or most ideal option for you. Yet , no matter what feed reader you choose, I have to strongly suggest that you start using one ASAP for all your information collection and research. There is no doubt that this is by far one of the best time saving programs available online.  If you are not using a feed reader than you are simply sabotaging and delaying your own success. For a full list of available feed readers visit the News on Feeds site.

 

An Alien language that makes no sense at all?

Having settled on Google Reader, I began signing up to as many blogs and sites as a could that would inform and educate me about the resources available over the internet to grow an online business. I have to say, that at the beginning all of this information was rather overwhelming. I was surprised and somewhat shocked that there were all these different types of online services, programs and communities that I had never heard of before.  For the first couple of months it all seemed as though I had stepped into an alien world with green Martians trying to teach me about their way of life in this strange online galaxy. They were talking a different and very strange language using words like Twitter, Facebook, Bebo, Flickr, Jaiku, StumbleUpon, Digg, Sphinn, Feedburner, Meebo, Slideshare, Docstoc, Second Life and others. It was all just very confusing.

 

Your first step is to Blog! Excuse me, but what exactly is a Blog?

Throughout the course of this research I realized that starting a blog was probably the best way to dip my feet into the Martian waters without overwhelming the mind by my lack of understanding of this rich new online environment. The question was however; what type of online blogging tool should I use to start my new blog? I will answer that questions in my next post.

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