Blogs, RSS, and advertising
Om and I sat down on Saturday to talk about blogging and RSS technologies. We talked about the industry from the point of view of a beginner as well as aspiring professionals. Om asked most of this week's questions.
This week's podcast is 21 minutes in length and a 9.7 MB download.
Show notes
- Why are blog systems so complex? We mention server-installed software options Movable Type and WordPress, hosted services such as Blogger, TypePad, and WordPress.com, and desktop clients such as Sandvox.
- Om wants more integration of the people reading and commenting on his blog. Why don't we see more activity in this space? We talk about centralized comments available through TypeKey, hosted comments and TrackBacks on Haloscan, and reader-submitted story suggestions via del.icio.us.
- Why don't more people integrate bulletin board software instead of comments? I mention about bbPress and phpBB as two forum options.
- What are some of the newer blogging tools? What do they offer? ExpressionEngine and Ruby on Rails powered Typo are two systems worth a look for advanced users.
- What are some of the ideals of a conversation tracking system?
- Why can't I establish trust networks for reading and creating content on my blog? I mention new initiatives such as Six Apart's Project Comet and Yahoo! 360 that allow restricted reading and writing.
- How can blog authors get over their fears of CSS and have some nice templates? I mention Six Apart's StyleCatcher theme browser and the WordPress theme browser as two easy to use styling options.
- How can I monetize my RSS feed? I mention text ads, blog ads, and image ads placed within your item description. Feed management tools such as FeedBurner is one option for easily adding advertisements without touching template code. I mention ad-blocking CSS built-in to aggregators such as NewsFire and commonly available for news aggregators such as FeedDemon and NetNewsWire. Some sites such as Daring Fireball offer benefits for paying members such as full posts in feeds.
- How can you publish your own ads and promotions in your feed?
- Can I make my feed display look more like my web site? What styling options are available? Yes, you can style your feed for increased branding and consistency with your site design.
One correction: ExpressionEngine is powered by PHP, not Perl. It costs $150 for non-commercial use and $250 for commercial use.
I hope you enjoy the podcast and the extended show notes! Join us next week for timely news and analysis from the week's technology news.
Comments
Good podcast, except one thing. Suggesting inline CSS for RSS sounds like a very bad idea. RSS should not become a replacement for HTML pages. There are ways to brand RSS without styling it.
Posted by: Ian Forrester | December 1, 2005 3:33 AM
This is one of the most informative and enjoyable podcasts that I have listened to. You brought to the fore several issues that continue to plague bloggers and blog readers/commenter's with regard to improving the conversation and gave us some ideas about what is currently available and what may soon be available to help us make the blogosphere an even more valuable community.
I know that show notes take a substantial amount of effort on your part to produce and that effort often goes unacknowledged by listeners. I just want to openly thank you for the extended show notes with the links to the sites and products mentioned. They greatly enhance the value of an already valuable podcast.
I have subscribed to the podcast and look forward to future editions.
Thanks.
Posted by: Robert Banghart | December 4, 2005 7:31 AM