Now that you’ve decided that you want to begin blogging for all the RIGHT reasons, you need to think about how you’re going to be your mind so that you will be able to your blog. For the past 6 1/2 years I’ve used tool called Google Reader which Google and its infinite wisdom has decided to kill. That doesn’t stop me from continuing use it for the time being because I know I’ll be able to export my data and import it into the next RSS reader I choose to use. Much more important than tool are the thoughts that you use to guide what you put into the tool…
If my goal is to be recognized as a thought leader in my industry I need to think about questions that people in my industry are asking and think about positioning myself as a solution the answer. In order to do this effectively, at a basic level I simply need to ‘out-search’ and ‘out–aggregate’ the best thinking on my topic I can find. I can either share their thinking as is or use it to fuel a thoughtful blog post that will demonstrate my expertise in my field. Ultimately, I have the possibility of getting found in search if I do a good job of finding and sharing good information.
I use an RSS reader to track the sites, the searches in the sources that help me to continue to develop my expertise. In my vocabulary sites are just that; key websites that everyone in my industry rates. This methodology may sometimes render some useless information however if I’m using my RSS reader well it will make all that much difference as long as I don’t subscribe to too many sites. On the other end of the spectrum we have searches. Anything that I can search for in Google I can turn into Google alerts which I can then read in my feed reader. This is particularly useful because I can make my RSS reader deliver exactly what I want to find no matter what it is on a consistent basis. Sources are industry or thought leaders whose opinions I respect and whose words I don’t want to miss. I can use a tool like Topsy to ferret out industry leaders and track them in my feed reader.
Here are some of the thoughts and tools I use for harnessing information:
This is a dynamic list of my top tools for information management. Bookmark it and check back often, especially if you’re looking for a Google Reader replacement…
http://storify.com/livingbusiness/tools-for-information-management
Todd Lohenry 