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Innovative Business Use of RSS as a Technology

Copyright 2005 Sharon Housley

RSS, or Really Simple Syndication, is a new way to
broadcast corporate news and structured information. RSS
offers a quick, easy corporate communication channel. The
RSS contents are published as a feed and the feed's content
keep customers, partners and journalists abreast of
corporate news and information. The RSS feeds are read
using a tool referred to as a news aggregator, or an RSS
reader. The aggregator periodically checks to see if the
RSS feed has been updated. As the feed is updated, new
information will automatically appear in the RSS reader.

While RSS was at one point only considered to be a means to
deliver news headlines, RSS has quickly become a powerful
medium to disseminate all kinds of information. As
traditional marketers are attempting to rein in content
delivery, measuring e-mail open rates, click-throughs and
conversions, Internet users are fighting to gain control
over the content they receive. Savvy marketers and business
owners are using RSS as a way to improve corporate
communication and increase their external exposure and
brand appeal.

What is the enclosure tag?
RSS 2.0 is quickly becoming the definitive RSS standard,
all because of its support for the enclosure tag. The
enclosure tag is an optional field in the RSS 2.0
specification that allows the feed publisher to include a
link to a file. The file can be just about anything.
Businesses have seized the opportunity, including
tutorials, streaming audio lectures, PDF proposals, Power
PointT presentations, podcasts of sales meetings, and
advertising portfolios among other traditional uses for RSS.

Many businesses have yet to realize the potential hidden in
the enclosure field. The implications and power of how RSS
can be used is really awe-inspiring. Consider the following
business uses for RSS:

1. PDF Documents - Consider broadcasting meeting agenda
notes or documentation as a PDF included with a feed,
allowing interested individuals to access information
without having to deal with cumbersome e-mail attachments.

2. PPT Presentations - Presentations can easily be
distributed in a feed enclosure. The added benefit is that
presenters using Power PointT will not have to lug their
notebook to a meeting to present - they can manage the
presentation from an iPod or similar handheld that reads
RSS feeds.

3. Video - Video or streaming video are both possible via
the enclosure field. Have lectures or even political
debates come to life with the added video component.

4. Audio - Audio content does not mean that feeds are
limited to your favorite songs. Podcasting is the coined
term for audio content contained in a feed and can include
language instruction, talk shows or editorials.

5. Images - Imagine realtors using the enclosure field to
display photos of homes to interested buyers. Now they can
carry a light-weight catalog with them to show potential
buyers at a moment's notice.

6. Downloads - Consider an information technology
department in a large corporation conducting proprietary
software updates, including executables or zip files in the
enclosure field which allow users to update the software at
a convenient time.

Feedreaders are playing catch- up
RSS news aggregators were initially designed to receive
text-based content. As users find outside-the-box uses for
RSS, developers of RSS readers are struggling to release
new versions that support the enclosures businesses are
eager to use.

FeedDemon, a popular RSS reader, has recently added support
for every type of enclosure in their latest release. They
have created a safe list that can be customized to include
specific types of file types like PDFs. This will automate
downloads of files that are deemed "safe". This was clearly
designed with security in mind, to prevent automatic
downloading of executables.

Businesses are revolutionizing RSS as a communication
medium. While some traditional businesses are struggling to
include monthly newsletter summaries in an RSS feed and
reap the benefits of RSS, other innovative businesses are
adopting incredibly creative uses for both internal and
external corporate communications.

------------------------------
Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll
http://www.feedforall.com software for creating, editing,
publishing RSS feeds and podcasts. In addition Sharon
manages marketing for NotePage http://www.notepage.net a
wireless text messaging software company.

More articles by Sharon Housley - http://www.submityourarticle.com/articles/Sharon-Housley-146/

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