Today’s world revolves around the internet. Not only does almost every person on the planet now have internet but many have smart phones so their email and social media accounts are at their fingertips on any given day. To me, the internet is so much more than communication. Its a place for education and inspiration and one of the best ways for me to find both is through blogs. If you can dream up a topic, you can find someone, somewhere who is blogging about it. Personally, I follow blogs that range from photography to knitting to design to local events to weather. But the best part about blogs? Being able to read them in one place and organized to boot! So, for those of you not already in the loop, the way you read “smarter not harder” is through an RSS reader.
Angie Warren of the blog The Creative Mama (which I highly recommend) posted an awesome, and thorough, article on RSS feeds. I’ll be sharing a bit of her insight on simplifying your blog reading but you can also read her full post here.
So, what is an RSS reader anyway?
Angie writes “RSS stands for really simple syndication and is often times called a “feed”. You the reader subscribes to a feed by entering the URL into your reader (see below to find out how to get a reader), or by simply clicking the site’s RSS icon.”
Why should I subscribe?
“1. It’s free! No cost to you at all.
2. Using an rss reader helps you to save time and energy. Simply put – it does all the hard work for you. Your reader keeps track of all of your favorite sites and blogs, and in turn feeds you what new content it finds in one easy location.
3. The goodies. Oftentimes a blogger will offer special incentives to subscribers only – such as freebies, secret codes, e-books, and much more.”
So how do you sign up?
First you”ll need to sign up for an RSS reader. I use Google reader, as does Angie, and the best part is that it’s also free! The other two Angie mentions that are popular are bloglines & newsgator.
Angie writes “(When using google reader) Be sure to know that signing up for a Google account (to use googlereader) does not mean you are signing up for another email. You may use any current email address. Of course if you already use gmail, it is all the simpler for you.
Be sure to add The Creative Mama to your reader” (and of course add Heather James Photography), ” then continue to add all of your favorite blogs! Before you know it you too will have a reader bursting at the seems with exciting content.”
The Creative Mama also links to a great video tutorial from Google at the bottom of their article on how to use their RSS reader. Be sure to check it out!
Hope to see you as a subscriber to our blog!
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