6/24/2005 14:39

Q: Do any of the hosts offer automatic email to your client list when you update your blog?

A: I'll have to look into this with regard to e-mail notifications directly from the blog programs themselves... many provide RSS feeds to automatically send your latest blog to your subscribers. We're lucky here at Marqui, because our own tool allows automatic e-mail notifications to our subscribers, based on their preferences when they sign up with us. So using Marqui, we have the ability to notify people who've subscribed to our Newsroom to get automatic notifications when our blog is updated, because we post it to our newsroom automatically.

Q: How would you work with various technologies to create an integrated communication vehicle: webcasts / podcasts / blogs / RSS feeds?

A: We have been very lucky to work with various vendors like Corvent (for webcasts) and to have our own tool that helps us manage our online communications more effectively. If you're interested in talking more specifically about managing integrated campaigns where technology is involved, let us know. We might be able to brainstorm with you.

Q: Please give an example of a RSS reader that integrates with Outlook.

A: I'm pretty biased toward the fine folks at You Software (having worked with several of them in a distant past life. Craig Barnes and Eric Hayes have always developed elegant solutions that work the way you do. You can download their reader, You Subscribe, here.

Q: If time only permits posting on a weekly basis, is it not worth it?

A: As we noted, it's best to post 2-3 times / week, but if you want to ‘warm up' to blogging and start, go for it! We think you'll find it fun, and that you'll soon be blogging more than once a week. There's just so much to talk about!

Q: Please comment about how corporate bloggers deal with the lawyers (re Sarbanes-Oxley, financial information disclaimers) so they can still keep to the spirit of the blogosphere.

A: I think the best thing to do is have a clearly defined set of guidelines for what you can and cannot say, and have it agreed upon by all parties involved. And (as my good friend Lisa says) when in doubt, don't.

Q: DOOC'ED ???

A: Being fired for posting something on a blog or the web – thanks for asking – the blogosphere has a bit of slang all its own...

Q. Is blogging a global thing or more US-based?

A: It's a truly global phenomenon. That's the beauty of the internet, isn't it? In fact, here's a blog called Global Voices Online that exists to bring people together globally through blogs. The idea for the project grew out of an international bloggers' meeting held at Harvard in December 2004.

You'll find very interesting conversations there about things like the Microsoft flap with Chinese bloggers about acquiescing to the government's demands to censor blogs (they can't use words like ‘freedom' or ‘democracy' and must register to become bloggers) – including workarounds!

Q: Isn't there automated "spam-comment-remover" software you can install on your blog admin?

A: If there isn't already, there likely will be. I am able to prevent additional comments from certain IP addresses that generate spam comments (sorry for the technical talk) using Movable Type, but I still think its important to look at all comments to see whether or not the questionable ones might be real.

Q. What is irrelevant comment or something like a poem that someone wrote, that has nothing to do with the post?

A. If it isn't offensive or obvious spam, I wouldn't delete it.

Q. What's the key difference between newsgroups and blogs other than ownership?

A. You've hit on one key difference – ownership. But I guess the other would be that newsgroups (click here to go to Learn the Net for more information on newsgroups) were originally set up for people to ask- and answer- questions.

A blog is more journalistic in style – people commenting on their lives, their industries, their interests. And if others want to comment on their musings, so be it.

Q. Is there any way to know how many people have subscribed to your blogs RSS feed?

A. Feedburner (www.feedburner.com) has a new API (application programmer's interface) that allows people to ‘read' how many people have subscribed to an RSS feed. As RSS becomes more standard, you can bet there will be many new tools to use to analyze the frequency and reach of feeds.

Posted by at June 24, 2005 2:39 PM

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Christ email - www.safemeds.com

That's not a big deal if you are providing your subscriber with an e-mail facility.

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