You Can Subscribe to this Blog - Christine Kane

Big Thank You

First off, I started this blog a little over 12 weeks ago. It’s now getting about 600 visits a day. Most of that traffic is from word of mouth and email. So thanks to all of you who are sending posts to people and telling people to visit! It’s a good thing you do this because, as I mentioned earlier, I’m only slowly learning all of the crucial things one is supposed to do to build one’s blog traffic. Thank you!

My Readers

My friend Marty reads my blog everyday. If she is a sampling of my demographic, then most of my readers don’t even know how to work a cell phone. (Marty — and I am NOT exaggerating here — hangs up on me by accident in every phone conversation we have.) So, let’s assume you’re like Marty.

The Sidebar

Allow me to direct your attention to the sidebar over to the left of this text. It’s called a sidebar because it’s a bar. (Albeit vertical.) And it’s on the side. (In this bar, you will find no bottles of water for $4.50 like you find in the bars of some hotel rooms.)

The Symbols and Boxes (They’re called Icons)

At the top of the side bar is a little orange symbol that looks like the volume button on a cell phone. (Uh-oh! I’ve already lost Marty!) Next to it are the words “Christine Kane RSS Feed.” The boxes below it are also RSS Feeds for those of you who have a Google Homepage or a My Yahoo page.

What is RSS?

An RSS is a signal that will come from your favorite blog. It will tell your computer that your favorite blog has been updated. That’s all.

An RSS lets you to subscribe to a blog. This means that when you click on these icons, they will EASILY and SWIFTLY guide you to set your Google homepage up (or whatever you use) so you can see a list that shows if I’ve posted a new article whenever you open Google. You don’t have to waste a precious 10 seconds visiting this site to check whether or not there’s a new article. Imagine all the things you could be doing with that ten seconds instead.

But isn’t that the same as bookmarking a blog and putting it on the bookmarks bar???

Not really. With bookmarking, you’ll still have to think about the bookmark, (7 seconds) wonder if there’s a new blog, (3 seconds) click on it, (if you’re Marty, this could take anywhere up to 42 seconds) sift through to figure it out, (12 seconds) and before you know it, you’ve spent (little mumbling counting noises) SIXTY-FOUR seconds of your precious time. In Nashville, people are writing full hit songs in sixty-four seconds!

The Real Reason to get Fed

I could tell you it’s all about convenience and time and efficiency. But the real reason is this: It’s cooler. That’s all. And you can actually say to someone (and you will WANT to say this) that you’ve “got their feed.” Telling someone you’ve bookmarked a site is SO five minutes ago. Having a bookmark or having a feed is the difference between going to the Y with your old clunky portable CD player strapped to your ass as you hit the stairmaster, or having a zippy little iPod Nano strapped with Velcro above your bicep. It’s just cooler. Admit it. You enjoy that feeling a little bit. (Well, at least, the Nano woman next to me yesterday seemed to be enjoying how cool she looked.)

Very Easy Instructions

STEP ONE: So, if you DO have Google as your homepage, then you could just click on the box that says “Add to Google.” (Go Marty! You can do it!) If you have My Yahoo, click on that box. If you have another browser (or reader), click on the orange thing that looks like a volume signal.

STEP TWO: If you are scared to do this, just keep repeating these words to yourself: “Fear is the mind-killer! Fear is the mind-killer!”

STEP THREE: The next page will prompt you to “Add to Google Homepage.” Click on that. If you haven’t already customized your Google homepage, it will take you to a New and Improved customized view of your Google homepage. (With my blog list right there looking pretty.) There will be other options too. You can check or uncheck the various things it offers you.

You may have to click on some “Save Changes” link, depending on how you are set up.

When You’re Done

The tricky thing about this is to get this homepage to be the one that opens up when you’re opening your internet browser. I have Firefox, so I just dragged the title of the page onto the “HOME” icon up top of the Firefox page. And that worked.

Maybe, just maybe, one or two non-Martys will read this page and let me know how this works for Safari or Explorer or whatever other browsers are out there.

This really isn’t hard to do.

In fact, I’ll bet it was harder to WRITE this than it will be to DO it.

And once you get my feed, you will be so excited, you’ll want to go around and get other people’s feeds too! And it will be exciting. I promise.

Let me know how it goes!!!!

17 COMMENTS ADD A COMMENT
  • Melon

    Sadly, clicking on the orange icon does not yield a choice to subscribe to the RSS in Safari. It does offer the option to create a bookmark. Google is my homepage so I hope you will have a chance to offer something more accessible for Mac users like myself. Thank you. I will visit your site often — it is a joy.

  • Todd Schafer

    I guess I dont even know how to get my Google Home page. When I click on that orangie thingie, I just get your recent articles.

  • christine

    Brenda, I THINK it should be easy if you click on the organge icon thingee in the top of the sidebar. It will guide you at that point. But yes, by all means, go to your teenagers. Thanks for stopping by…

  • Brenda

    I am a walking ID 10 T error. (spoken: ID ten T; written: ID10T)

    I cant’ figure out how to do this, so I’m just going to have to resort to the old school way of bookmarking your site. I would love to add a link to your site on my web log, but I don’t know how to do that either.

    I should probably ask my teenagers, huh?

  • christine

    Hey Tammy. I’ll introduce you to Marty! Thanks for stopping by. It’s always good to meet non-techie types such as myself!

  • Tammy

    Goodness I just found your blog but I’m in your demographic ~ even a cordless phone messes me up! Great tech writing 😉
    Tammy

  • Susanne

    Well. I have a three year old son. Same difference.

  • christine

    hey, there’s some great ones out there.

    (the gift of having a dog is that they don’t let you spend too much time in front of the computer. mine makes me take her on walks when i get too wrapped up in any screen…)

  • Susanne

    Good for you, I spent entirely too much time on the web reading blogs.

  • christine

    Hey Susanne! Clearly, you know much more than I do about subscribing and RSS. I do have feedburner. (that’s what prompted this blog!) 57 feeds? I only have about five!

  • Susanne

    Aren’t RSS feed cool! I have to keep a little folder in my toolbar for the blogs that hve no feeds so I don’t forget to check them.

    What you really have to mention is a service like bloglines (or maxbe feedburner. Go to http://www.bloglines.com, open an account, get a little “sub with bloglines icon” and click on it when you read a blog you like. Magic!

    You know, those seconds count, when you’re trying to follow 57 feeds…

  • christine

    Kelsey, Yes, those Walkmans were so much fun, especially when they ran low on batteries! I don’t think anyone would think you were THAT un-cool. Thanks for getting my feed!

    Nel, it’s easy. You’ll get it! And you don’t even have to know how it all connects. You go girl!

  • Nel

    Thanks Christine.

    I didn’t know this choice even exsisted. Now that I know, I want it, and I just can’t figure it out. A lot like a life journey. Setting intent is a lot easier than this.

    I work well with cell phones, Nanos and highly technical scientific equipment…but in the world of computers, there are many places I go, but I have no idea how it all connects. Not sure I want to know. But I affirm today that I am going to get this direct feed of your blog!!

    I’m asking my friend Ruth (June retreater) to help me…she’s one of the most spontaneous, energetic computer gurus I know. It will happen.

  • Kelsey

    Ooh, and “I got your feed” so maybe that makes up for the no-iPod loss of cool points!

  • Kelsey

    Um, so if I were to go to the gym I would have to take my walkman with a CASSETTE player, since I have no portable CD or iPod. iPods are too expensive for stay at home moms who now spend and arm and a leg for text books! So what would that make me? They would probably send me to work out in the basement, or the alley.

    I also check your blog daily, but I do know how to use a cell phone, so maybe that doesn’t count. . .

  • christine

    Yes! And I’m so very good at it! I think Steve Jobs has already called my record label office to ask if I’d be willing to leave my career and write for him!

  • David (meer kitty2)

    Oh baby! – I love it when you talk technical to me !!