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How to Read Blogs Using Free RSS Readers

In my quest for true mobility I*ve explored reading
blogs using numerous different RSS readers. That*s the
techie name for a blog reader.

If you prefer to watch my multimedia video tutorial on
how to set up and use a free blog reader, please go to:
http://www.megastep.com/videos/20050221/

Personally I use Bloglines to read all my blogs or
feeds as they are known. I like it because it*s free, I
can access it from any computer in the world... yes
even in Mongolia... it*s unbelievably easy to use, and
has a refreshingly clean interface.

I love minimalism and Bloglines appeals to me on that
front.

I*ve tested some paid RSS readers but unfortunately
they all suffer from the same problem... You need to
download them to your computer. Well not to put too
fine a point on it, my computer is already loaded up
with so many *must-have* tools that having to install
more just doesn*t do it for me, not when I*ve been
trying to de-clutter my old digital darling.

Plus in my quest for mobility and minimalism,
downloading anything these days makes me sigh. It seems
everyone wants you to download their toolbar or some
other piece of kit. You can just see the future can*t
you, your viewable web browser window being 1*x1* and
the rest all those toolbars. And each toolbar has a
pop-up blocker... I mean man, how many do you need!?

But I digress... OK RSS readers... below is a list of
the various ones available...

Bloglines - http://www.bloglines.com

A free, cool, simple, user friendly service that you
can access from any computer in the world. It also has
a notification tool you can download to your desktop.

The other useful feature is that Bloglines allows you
to set up your own blog. BL also has a great feature
called *Clippings*, which allows you to clip an article
while you*re reading your blogs and then retrieve it
later on. You can also dump your clippings into your
blog.

OK not to get too ravved up over *ole BL, there is a
downside as with anything that is web-based instead of
desktop-based, and that is... being web-based it does
have less features than say an RSS reader like Feed
Demon. But personally I can live with that, only time
will tell.

Feed Demon - http://www.feeddemon.com

I tried it, didn*t like it, and got swamped with all
the features that it had, see the feature list at
http://www.feeddemon.com/feeddemon/readme/readme15.asp.

Less is more in my opinion. But then if you*re a
serious geek, I suspect you won*t mind paying to get
your hands on FD, becase it will be right up your
street.

My Yahoo - http://my.yahoo.com

Back in 2004 Yahoo decided to integrate RSS into My
Yahoo, so if you have a free account with them, and
use it, this is a good option for reading your RSS
feeds.

Pluck - http://www.pluck.com

I*ve used Pluck for sometime now, they offer a
desk-top edition that only works with IE, and a
web-based version.

Although Pluck is also free and has some pretty neat
features I found that it took over my browser in a way
I didn*t like. Too invasive. That being said one of the
features that I find invaluable is the ability to set
up a *Perch*.

A perch is a customized search. For example I can enter
in a keyword phrase and select eBay, then whenever an
item appears that matches my eBay perch I get notified
in the same way I would if I was reading my RSS feeds.
Very nice, and worth it just for this feature alone. Do
the words *competitive intelligence* mean anything to
you?

The web-based version of Pluck is excellent. A good,
clean interface that rivals Bloglines for minimalism,
but unfortunately you can*t create perches.

Before I finish here*s a list of other RSS readers you
might want to take a look at:
http://blogspace.com/rss/readers

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Rob Taylor has been marketing online since 1996. He*s
sold anything from books, debit cards, security
products to art prints. Take advantage of his battle
tested marketing strategies that could quietly make you
five figure cash profits every single month. Subscribe
now to his free newsletter at http://www.megastep.com

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