Cyber Space Play

Spam is considered any unsolicited and often un-wanted e-mail. The term seems to have originated from a Monty Python sketch set in a cafe that serves nothing but the canned, processed meat, called Spam.

In the skit there is a table of Vikings singing, spam, spam, spam, spam, lovely spam. While the skit does arouse laughter, the receiving of spam e-mail usually does not do the same for our demeanor.

It is the rare inbox which hasn’t been visited by some sort of un-wanted message containing anything from get-rich-quick schemes to Cyber-Porn.

Most email browsers or accounts allow a person to use blocking or filtering mechanisms which send junk mail directly to the trash bin.

Professional spammers use sophisticated software that actually spiders the Internet gleaning e-mail addresses from Web sites.

If you have ever filled out an online survey, your e-mail address has most likely ended up on a for sale list of targeted buyers.

While most spam and postal junk mail is annoying, it can have some benefits. Running an online business requires us at times to be effective ad writers. Immediately deleting all this junk mail means you are throwing way an opportunity to learn ad strategies.

Next time spam shows up, why not take a few minutes to read through these ads and see how they are written. See if the headline or body attracts your attention, or what is effective about the ad and what turns you off.

I actually love it when those card decks come in the postal mail. Flipping through the cards, I’ll put those that have attractive headlines in one pile, trash the ones that aren’t appealing, then go back later and really read the one’s in the first pile.

I’m always on the lookout for new ideas on what works in ad writing, new tactics ad writers employ, and seeing what is working and not working for them.

Successful online marketers are constantly studying not only their own ads, but what others are doing. So instead of getting upset the next time you receive your daily dose of spam, why not look at it as an opportunity to help you become a better marketer?

If you would like your name removed from many of the bulk mailing lists, this Web site will be a blessing. Simply give them your e-mail address and they will scan their bulk mailing lists and remove you. It is a unique concept they have. You can read more about what they do at their Web site.

http://removeyou.com

Microsoft Email Server - How to handle Spam

By: Jane Y. Whigmore

Increasing threat from spam mails raises the need to monitor and remove illegitimate messages, thus ensuring proper functioning of the MS Exchange system.

Unwanted mail has turned out to be one of the greatest threats for todays business world because they add trouble and cut down productivity. Companies receive thousands of deceptive, indecent and irking e-mails in bulk on a regular basis. Spam is a jargon used commonly to express discarded, undesirable and promotional e-mails or junk e-mails. It is not an acronym so it does not really denote something. Actually, a spam e-mail is usually a commercial mail sent to the recipients who did not request any kind of information from the company or the individual sending it.

Being bombarded with huge volum of unwanted e-mails with commercial content can cost businesses and individuals lots of resources and time while sorting and deleting unsolicited messages from the legitimate messages. This hinders an effective organisation and generates frustrated employees.

Getting rid of spam is a lengthy process, it hurts e-mail server performance and malevolent e-mails are a threat to network security In addition, businesses also face greater risk because spam e-mails can lead to harm to the systems that are difficult to repair, causing disorder, loss of work and money.

The only guard against the threat from spam is professional asistance ensuring complete security and protection. Thus, the server should be shielded to assure that all the passing information is filtered and fire-walled against spam. Normally a spam filter for an e-mail server is software that analyzes every incoming e-mail, detects spam based on standard configurations and removed the unwanted junk mails so they never end up in the users’ inbox And one of the widely used servers is that developed by Microsoft. Dubbed as Exchange Server, this Microsoft product makes e-mailing more speedy and resourceful.

Spam devices can be of great help to carry out filtering at an exchange server or malware e-mail blocking at exchange server. A server spam filter facilitates the users to automate the spam removal procedure at the server level - the receiving source before it reaches the network of personal computers. Automating is a suggested task as it saves the personal computer, and time of users in addition to the network from damage which can lead to work loss and downtime.

No anti-spam technology is perfect, periodically manual checking of all filtered messages by a network administrator is still needed to ensure that Exchange mail server is not blocking any legitimate e-mails.

The Federal Trade Commissions Consumer Protection Division now says that SPAM only accounts for 67% of the email you get instead of 70% to 80% and they are attempting to call this a victory? Although no one can confirm this as it is from a media source which accepted the Federal Trade Commission’s Public Relations “PR” piece, it seems that this is nothing to toot one’s horn over? The FTC says much of the reason for this is because SPAM filters in the private sector had gotten better? Yet I ask the question what does this have to do with the FTC’s work in the SPAM issue, as today we have to worry about IM.SantaGift.com; the famous Santa Virus Worm? Merry Christmas FTC, thanks for nothing.

The FTC citing a research data set from MXLogic said that SPAM was down over 9%; and again I say; “Well whoppie do? Yippie Skippy for the FTC hippie Team!” What a frigging joke? 9% is squat, you see since the FTC got onto the case they spent 6 months figuring out a definition for what SPAM was and it went up approximately 3000% judging from my email box. Is this our Federal Trade Commission at work? In their report to Congress I believe they not only misrepresented truth to further next year’s budget and make it look like they were doing something useful. I believe they should be disgorged from their ill-gotten gains of next year’s budget for deceiving the American People and the Consumer they claim they are protecting in the FTC’s consumer protection division, what a faade, a farce and complete hypocrisy? Give me a break! Think on that will you!

“Lance Winslow” - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/

You know it’s time to start worrying about holiday shopping when the trees and giant Santas come out in all of the stores. One store I shop at is already playing holiday music!

The stores are gearing up for the holiday shopping season already. And so are identity thieves. It’s the happiest time of the year for them, too.

The stores and malls are filled with rushed, often agitated, shoppers. The holiday crunch is distracting, and many shoppers forget to keep their personal information safe.

Identity theft is the gift that gives all year long. And chances are that you’ll never know you are a victim until you are turned over to a collection agency or turned down for credit. By that time, a criminal could purchase a car, a boat and a lot of bling-bling in your name.

One of the easiest ways to detect fraudulent usage of your identity is by checking your credit report. You are allowed one free report each year from each of the three major credit reporting agencies: Equifax, Experian and Trans Union. That’s three reports a year. I stagger mine so that I watch my credit year round. I look at one in January, one in April and one in August.

If you suspect that your identity has been stolen, you should immediately put a 90-day fraud alert on your credit file. All you have to do is call one of the three agencies. The credit agency will then contact the other two agencies for you. They are required to do so by law.

The law also requires creditors to accept the fraud alert and take reasonable steps to verify your identity before opening a new account in your name.

If the problem isn’t cleared up within 90 days, you can request an extended fraud alert that last up to seven years. To do this, you must provide proof that you have been a victim of credit fraud, for example, a police report. You can then remove the fraud alert at any time.

Lenders must notify you if they are reporting unpaid bills or negative information about you to a credit bureau.

You can help protect yourself from holiday identity theft by taking some defensive actions.

Remember, you will likely be in a crowd, often shoulder-to-shoulder with someone. This is an ideal setup for a pickpocket. Take only the credit or debit cards that you need for your shopping trip. You should probably keep them in the front pocket of your pants or the interior pocket of a jacket. If you carry a wallet, make sure that you do not have any personal information or your Social Security card in the wallet.

Pay close attention to your mail. If you don’t receive your monthly credit card statement, it isn’t a gift from Santa. Identity thieves love to raid mailboxes for your personal information. They can even change the address on your billing so that you won’t catch on so fast.

If you shop online, check the sites’ security policies before you click buy. All reputable sites make their policies easily available.

Some credit card companies are starting to employ added protection for your online shopping. You can download a randomly selected “disposable” number good for one purchase. You don’t have to use your real credit card number. Check to see if your credit card company offers this feature.

Be alert. Make sure that you don’t leave a store without your credit card receipt. Don’t forget to stop your mail if going on vacation. Take precautions that will make this a bright season for you and your family.

Martin Lukac, represents, #1 Loans USA (http://www.1LoansUSA.com), a finance web-company specializing in real estate/mortgage market. We specialize in daily mortgage news updates, rate predictions, mortgage rates and more: info@1LoansUSA.com

This is Part Seven, “The Basic Parts of The Item Element” a continuation from my articles on RSS

• Part One - RSS Mania Addiction - An Introduction to RSS and the Terminology
• Part Two - Outline of How to Create an RSS Feed
• Part Three - The Template File
• Part Four - The Basic Elements of the Channel Element
• Part Five - How The RSS Feed Works & Some Programming Constructs
• Part Six - RSS Channel Sub-Elements Specifically Image & How To Use It

Now we have covered the major points in the “Channel” element, we will now cover the Item element. Hang on to your seats, but you should breeze through this part fairly easily already. Remember our purpose is to create an RSS feed template that you can use, and what is known as a “well-formed XML document” which will pass validation with flying colors! (And make you into a techie as well!)

(For the techies among us I am not going into the “dc:” tags from RSS 1.0 For those who are interested they should take a look at W3C docs on RSS 2.0 and also view the RSS 2.0 specifications.)

First to get you familiar with the lingo we will use here, these are the possible inclusions in your “Item” tag. Some of them should be familiar. Pay Attention that the syntax is NOT the same for some specifically for enclosure & source.

1. <TITLE></TITLE>
2. <LINK></LINK>
3. <DESCRIPTION></DESCRIPTION>
4. <AUTHOR></AUTHOR>
5. <CATEGORY></CATEGORY>
6. <COMMENTS></COMMENTS>
7. <ENCLOSURE "INFORMATION OF ENCLOSURE GOES HERE" />
8. <GUID></GUID>
9. <PUBDATE></PUBDATE>
10. <source url="http://www.yaddayadda/yadda.rss">Babble</SOURCE>

Some of the above are simple, others can get complicated. So we will work on this step by step and in the end you will have an incredible RSS feed. Remember you do NOT need to place all of these in your feed. You can get away with the title, link & description (and you should put the pubdate in as well). HOWEVER, these are important commands and some like enclosure can open up worlds of possibilities for you.

So first the descriptions and explanations.

1. Our Title here is the title of this item within the Channel. Remember this is our “Chapter Heading”. Fairly easy. So here we would want to put, “Heaven Scent Perfume At 50% Discount.” So this is how our title will read:
   
   Voila!
2. Next comes our all important link. Where to find the data. So here Randy has a whole web page devoted to selling Heaven Scent perfume.
   <link>http://www.randypandy.com/perfumes/heavenscent.html</link> Voila! Again.
   But don’t get carried away yet!
3. Okay our description is cool. Hey all we want here is to define the perfume. Right? Well, lets do that for the time being.
   <description>Heaven Scent Perfume the Smell your lover will die for.<br /> Created especially by Skunk Perfumes it is their newest<br /> and best selling perfume on the market today.<br /> Purchase a beautifully shaped skunk bottle with this<br /> incredible perfume and get a whopping 50% off!<br /> And if you purchase over $100 we will throw in Free<br /> overnight delivery as well!</description>
   Now don’t get carried away just yet. Sure we have a description. But what if we want to get a picture in that description? What if we want the user to see in his aggregator not just words but an image as well? Well, that can be done too, BUT you will have to wait for my next installment!
4. Okay author is really simple stuff, except Randy Pandy’s wife, Sandy, is in a huff cause she is the one who has written all the publicity material. So here we will give her credit with her email as well.
   <author>sandy@randypandy.com (Sandy Pandy - The Queen of Scent)</author>
5. First & foremost the category term is not limited to one. You can place as many categories as your little heart desires. What is the category? Well here Randy wants to put, “Perfume” and Sandy wants to put “On-Line Shopping”, and Randy’s kids want to put “Skunk Perfume” cause they think it is cool. (You can even put a URL in there with an “href”) So our category may look like this:
   
   
   
   <category domain="http://www.perfumesoftheworld.com/greatsmells">Skunks</category>
   Don’t worry! For our final use we will just use one category.
   
6. Best way to explain comments is to understand that this is URL which points to a page which is actually comments about “Heaven Scent Perfume”. Randy & Sandy maintain a page for each item where clients can leave their remarks (this can also be a blog as well). So here we would put:
   <comments>http://www.randypandy.com/perfumes/comments/skunkyheavenscent.html</comments>
7. Enclosure is the MAGIC of RSS. Pure Magic. It is what allows you to Podcast and VideoCast and do all that incredible stuff with RSS. However, this will be discussed at length in a following article. What we want to know here is that in enclosure I can put an image, a video, a voice recording etc. So let us say I want to release “Summertime” by Janis Joplin (swooning here!) in my RSS. Here is where I would put the information on the file.
   <enclosure url="http://www.randypandy.com/mp3s/janis/summertime.mp3"<br /> length="5588242" type="audio/mpeg"/>
   The Url to the file. followed by the “weight” of the file (exactly how big it is) and this goes for jpg, mpg etc. and the type of file. (Again we will lay all this out in another article).
   So far so good? But Sandy (remember her?) she does not like Janis. And besides she feels that we should put the Heaven Scent Song inside the enclosure. So our enclosure will really look like this:
   <enclosure url="http://www.randypandy.com/mp3s/heavenscentcomm.mp3"<br /> length="4368242" type="audio/mpeg"/>
8. A GUID means “Globally Unique Identifier”. By giving your item a “barcode” you can allow the aggregator to determine if it has to be updated or not. You can tell it if the link is permanent or not called a “PermaLink” (which is familiar to Bloggers).
   <guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.randypandy.com/perfumes/heavenscent.html</guid>
9. Okay I expect you to know pubdate already!
   <pubDate>Sat, 10 Dec 2005 23:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
10. The source command requires a URL and is used to give credit to the source of the article. This is used mostly when publishing to a Blog from somewhere else so the URL of the source is saved. So when we publish to RandyPandy.com all this information on his perfume it would read:
    <source url="http://www.yaddayadda/hs.xml">Secret Source of Heaven Scent Publicity</source>

Now don’t go get confused. The only serious commands here are description and enclosure. And yes we will get a bit into “description” in our next article, and round out missing information on “enclosure” as well.

Okay lets see what are rss.xml file which will make our RSS feed looks like until now.
(Due to the demands of the editing software used some of the commands appear as if on two lines. This is fine. When you create your template in the end just remember that everything between the first < and the last > is one command!)

<CHANNEL>

<TITLE>Randy Pandy&#8217;s Perfumery</TITLE>

<DESCRIPTION>RSS Feed for The Great Perfume Products<br /> Sold At Randy&#8217;s Pandy&#8217;s Perfumery</DESCRIPTION>

<copyright>&#8220;Copyright 2006 Randy Pandy&#8217;s Perfumery - All Rights Reserved&#8221;</copyright>

<link>http://www.randypandy.com</link>

<language>en-us</language>

<managingEditor>randypandy@randypandy.com (Randy Pandy)</managingEditor>

<webMaster>webmaster@randypandy.com (Pandy Randy)</webMaster>

<pubdate>Mon, 5 Dec 2005 23:00:00 GMT</pubdate>

<lastBuildDate>Sun, 4 Dec 2005 23:00:00 GMT</lastBuildDate>

<IMAGE>

title>Randy Pandy&#8217;s Perfumery</TITLE>

<WIDTH>142</WIDTH><HEIGHT>99</HEIGHT>

<LINK>http://www.randpandy.com</LINK>

<URL>http://www.randpandy.com/images/randylogo.jpg</URL>

</IMAGE>

<Item>

<link>http://www.randypandy.com/perfumes/heavenscent.html</link>

<description>Heaven Scent Perfume the Smell your lover will die for.<br /> Created especially by Skunk Perfumes it is their newest<br /> and best selling perfume on the market today.<br /> Purchase a beautifully shaped skunk bottle with this<br /> incredible perfume and get a whopping 50% off!<br /> And if you purchase over $100 we will throw in Free<br /> overnight delivery as well!</description>

<author>sandy@randypandy.com (Sandy Pandy - The Queen of Scent)</author>

<comments>http://www.randypandy.com/comments/skunkheaven.html</comments>

<enclosure url="http://www.randypandy.com/mp3s/heavenscentcomm.mp3"<br /> length="4368242" type="audio/mpeg"/>

<guid isPermaLink="true"><br /> http://www.randypandy.com/perfumes/heavenscent.html</guid>

<pubDate>Sat, 10 Dec 2005 23:00:00 GMT</pubDate>

<source url="http://www.yaddayadda/hs.xml">Secret Source Publicity</source>

</Item>

</Channel>

There you have the basics of Channel.
Our next article will discuss the innards of “description” & “enclosure”.

Copyright © 2005 Ted W. Gross. All rights reserved. (You may publish this article in its entirety with the following author’s information with live links only.)

Ted W. Gross owns Virgin Earth http://www.virginisrael.com, a real estate brokerage firm in Jerusalem, Israel. Virgin Earth represents residential and commercial real estate all over Israel. Virgin Earth also maintains an RSS Feed on its current properties and also operates Virgin Earth - Israel Tourism & Information Portal on the same site. Ted Gross is also a published author and maintains a web site for his works. This can be found at: http://www.virginisrael.com/twg/iw.html. Virgin Earth Blog can be found at: http://virginearth.blogspot.com/

With all my bills who would possibly want my credit? Let them steal my identity and pay my bills! Unfortunately, that’s not the way it works. Many of us mistakenly believe that identity thieves hit only the wealthy. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The average person is often more vulnerable that those we consider wealthy?

When someone steals your identity, they probably won’t touch your existing accounts and they certainly aren’t going to use your address. That would alert you to the problem. Last year the Identity Theft Resource Center reported that 73 percent of identity thieves will open new lines of credit in your name with a new address. Sixty three percent will take out loans in your name. Thirty seven percent will have cell phones or phone service in your name. Fifteen percent will even lease a car or apartment in your name. And guess what? They aren’t going to pay the bills!

The Federal Trade Commission reported that in the last five years 27 million identities were stolen. That’s one in every 8 adults. That’s more than 1,100 thefts per hour, three times the number of household burglaries. It’s definitely the fastest growing crime in America.

How will you learn your identity has been stolen? Eighty- five percent learn the hard way. They apply for credit and it’s denied. The collection agency calls trying to collect on past due bills for things they didn’t buy. Only fifteen percent are lucky enough to have a business alert them through verifying an application or an address change.

How does your identity get stolen? The number one way is by stealing your purse or wallet. That gives them your name, birth date, and often your social security number. That’s all they need to establish credit in your name. Your mailbox is also a prime target. If you receive checks or pre-approved credit offers in the mail you are at risk. Some will steal directly from your mailbox. Others will send in a change of address form and let the Post Office bring it to them. Then there is the “dumpster diver” who goes through the trash at homes or businesses to find the needed information.

You can’t stop identity theft from happening. But you can reduce your risk! Remove unnecessary information from your purse or wallet. You need your social security card when you start a new job but you don’t need to carry it the rest of the time. Is your social security number on your driver’s license? Request a different number from the from the state motor vehicle department. Keep those credit card offers out of your mailbox. Have your name taken off the marketing list of the three major credit reporting bureaus (Equifax, Experian, and Trans Union). Drop your bills off at the post office instead of putting the flag up on your mailbox. Never give an unsolicited caller your social security number, credit card number, or other personal information over the phone. If someone calls representing your financial institution or a creditor get their name, location, telephone number, and the reason they are calling. Then call them back at the phone number printed on your billing statement, not the number they gave you.

Routinely check your credit report for accuracy or even better; subscribe to a monitoring service. It’s an easy and cost effective way to protect your family’s name and finances. A professional credit analysis yields valuable information. They’ll give you specific instructions to reduce your chances of becoming an identity theft victim. Daily monitoring gives you the earliest possible detection. Early detection keeps personal and business losses to a minimum. Businesses are hit hard by identity theft. Remember they pass those costs on to you, the consumer.

You don’t have to become an overnight identity theft expert. Letting a professional resolve the situation for you makes an otherwise costly, frustrating, and unpleasant experience easier to bear. You’ll have the peace of mind of knowing that someone is always there watching your back for you.

Steve Mueller has over 25 years of human resource experience. He has worked in various fields of human resources; as a Trainer for Cooper Industries, Compensation and Management Development Manager for Zenith Electronics, Plant Personnel Manager for a motor manufacturing company and Benefits Manager for a multi-location distribution company. Steve holds a bachelors of science degree in education from Pittsburg State University. He has taught numerous adult education classes and seminars in the community. Steve has received community service awards for his participation in elementary school child safety programs.

www.solutionsplan.com

What is the top advice savvy marketers can give you on RSS? We continue with “the best of” on RSS marketing from US marketing leaders.

1. WHY SHOULD MARKETERS AND PUBLISHERS START CONSIDERING USING RSS ANYWAY? Answered by Bill Flitter, Pheedo

I’ll give you 7 reasons:

1. Sender ID 2. CAN SPAM ACT 3. Blacklists 4. Known Sender 5. Email Filters 6. Bonded Sender Program 7. Cost of Sending Email

These seven items are a result of SPAM. The items represent an effort being put forth to stop SPAM but it is still a huge problem. I do believe RSS will be around no matter if SPAM was eradicated. RSS has some distinct advantages over email marketing, which include:

1. 100% opt-in - no worries of legal threats by consumers.

2. One-click unsubscribe - RSS raises the bar. Marketers will need to think about what their sending before they hit the enter button. I think this is a good thing. There is no free ride with RSS. Consumers are demanding control (do-not-call list, CAN SPAM Act, Privacy Bills etc.) and RSS delivers that control.

3. 100% deliver rate - If I publish a feed or advertise in a feed, it reaches the intended recipient. This is minus any technological hiccups. Point being I don’t have to worry about SPAM filters, Blacklists, Sender ID, etc. My biggest worry now is whether or not I am publishing relevant content when my customers want it.

2. WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE ARE THE BEST WAYS COMPANIES CAN USE RSS TODAY? Answered by Bill Flitter, Pheedo

1. External Communication: Create an RSS feed on your site. If you publish a newsletter already, creating a feed from that information is easy. It takes little effort. I strongly encourage this practice if you are in the tech sector.

2. Internal Communication: Using RSS (with a blog) to collaborate on a project within the enterprise is more efficient then email. The blog archives the project while RSS keeps everyone informed.

3. Advertising: If the problem of SPAM doesn’t get solved soon, marketers will turn to RSS as a means to reach new customers. RSS has two distinct absolutes over email - one-click unsubscribe and 100% opt-in. Email cannot emphatically say that. RSS puts the control in the hands of the publisher and consumer. It will become a more effective marketing channel because the market will demand that publishers be more conscience of the amount and relevance of the ads in feeds. Consumers will act as the filter. If the noise-to-value ration is out of whack, the consumer will simply vote with their mice.

3. HOW CAN RSS BE USED BY MARKETERS PROVIDING AFFILIATE PROGRAMS? Answered by Shawn Collins, Shawn Collins Consulting

My vision for the usefulness of RSS is to be a one-way form of communication - sharing updates, news, and tools with affiliates in an uncensored environment, since email has become too difficult with all of the Spam and other assorted hassles.

4. ONE OF THE QUESTIONS WE SHOULD START ASKING OURSELVES IS HOW TO FULLY INTEGRATE RSS IN TO OUR MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONAL MIX. HOW DO YOU SEE RSS IN RELATION TO OTHER COMMUNICATIONAL TOOLS AND APPROACHES? Answered by Jim Gray, Quikonnex

You’ve hit the nail on the head with this question. It is ALL about integrating new technologies into the marketing mix.

RSS/Blogs/Email/Instant Messaging are all just tools to those businesses can use to communicate with their customer base. People on the Internet jump on new technologies abandoning older system … this is wrong.

If you’ve noticed, you may have recently receive postcards and information packages from some well know online marketers such as Armand Morin and Corey Rudl. They look at traditional ’snail mail’ as a part of their marketing mix. RSS should be viewed the same.

Right now, blogs and RSS feeds are hot with the search engines, so a website owner should have one… period. However, to use it exclusively would be a mistake. The perfect mix is to use an RSS feed for the one to many communications and to use email for one on one customer correspondence.

Copyright 2005 Rok Hrastnik

Learn how to take full marketing advantage of RSS and get all the expertise, knowledge and how-to information for implementing RSS in your marketing mix, from direct marketing, PR, e-commerce, internal communications and online publishing to SEO, traffic generation and customer relationship management. Including complete interviews with more than 40 RSS marketing experts. Click here now: http://rss.marketingstudies.net/book/

RSS is short for Really Simple Syndication. It is part of the XML family that is used for syndicating information. Put simply RSS allows one web site to share information with another web site.

As a web site publisher, RSS offers a way for them to publish their information on many web sites, which in turns increases their reach on the Internet and the amount of traffic they receive to their web site. They also receive more one way links back to their web site. These benefits result in an increase in their search engine ranking.

As a web site owner, RSS allows them to receive up to date links to information on a regular basis that runs on auto pilot. When the publishing site is updated, their web site is also updated.

The result of this is that their web site is updated more regularly which also increases their search engine ranking.

The other benefit the web site owner receives from using RSS is that their information remains “fresh” which encourages their visitors to return on a regular basis.

However, the web site owner does not receive the complete articles, instead, they receive a feed that contains a title, a brief description and a link to the article that resides on the publishers web site.

The main disadvantage to the web site owner is that they trade off traffic for content, as their visitors need to visit the publishers web site to read the complete article.

But, this is a minor disadvantage considering all the benefits that RSS offers the web site owner.

The web site owner will need to install some software in order for them to receive RSS Feeds.

This software ranges from commercial packages the web site owner can purchase all the way down to freeware. Before purchasing any software you should research the different software packages that are available to ensure you get the software that is most suited to your requirements.

Fortunately, setting up an RSS feed is relatively straightforward and should only take a couple of hours at the most, and, once RSS is set up their is very little maintenance (if any) required.

If you are a web site owner, you should consider the power of RSS and what it can offer you and your web site.

I am primarily a web-based travel agent, making my living from selling travel arrangements from leads generated from my specialist travel websites. Over a period of time I have built many websites and when creating the last few sites I have added an RSS news feed to generate up-to-date news about that particular travel niche.

In doing so I have added another valuable resource for my potential clients and site visitors but at the same time I have added a source of continually changing content that helps my sites with regard to their search engine optimisation.

However, initially I found the great mass of articles, ebooks and software really confusing. All I wanted to know was how to be able to set up an RSS feed and then add it to my site.

After many, many hours of researching RSS feeds and buying quite a few, reasonably expensive RSS feed creation programs, I finally came across this solution, which for me, is easy to use, straightforward to set up and, more importantly, is free.

To set up, say, a “Cruise News” feed, I would find a suitable feed from sources such as www.icerocket.com, www.2rss.com or visit Yahoo’s news feeds at http://news.yahoo.com/rss.

For example, to create a feed in Yahoo I would enter my subject in the “search” box, which would result in a new page of news, relevant to cruises and cruising. I would then click on the orange RSS feed icon that will be shown on the page and the copy the resulting feed URL, (e.g., http://news.search.yahoo.com/news/rss?p=cruise&ei=UTF-8) that would appear in the IE address bar.

Next I would visit “FeedJ2s”, at http://jade.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/feed/index.php?s=build and enter that Cruise News feed URL. Then, by pressing the “Generate Feed” button I would be able to generate the relevant “Cruise News” RSS code that I could then enter in the relevant place on my new website.

Now I am not suggesting that this is the best way you could create a useable RSS feed for your website. There are plenty of other ways and other programs out there and you can visit my dedicated website (http://www.rss-feeds-4u.com) which will tell you all about RSS feeds and products.

However, if you don’t want to spend a lot of time or any money on setting up RSS feeds for your website, this must be the easiest way by far.

Sig: Colin Maddocks is a web-based travel agent and marketer who operates several successful websites including http://www.rss-feeds-4u.com You are free to use and distribute this article with the proviso that you add the above author details and web address.