If you’re wondering how to get started with RSS marketing, here’s a basic 7-step plan that should provide some needed guidance. Use these steps as your personal RSS marketing checklist to get your started and help you see whether you’re on the right track.

1. Start Using RSS as an End-User

The first step to getting started with RSS marketing/publishing is getting your own RSS aggregator, subscribing to other RSS feeds and just seeing and understanding how it all works.

There’s a variety of RSS aggregators to choose from. The most popular and recommended are:

• Bloglines (web-based aggregator)
• NetNewsWire (Mac)
• Firefox (browser with integrated RSS features)
• NewsGator (web-based aggregator and Microsoft Outlook integrated aggregator)
• FeedDemon (desktop aggregator)
• Pluck (IE integrated RSS aggregator)
• SharpReader (desktop aggregator)
• YouSubscribe (Outlook integrated aggregator)

2. Plan Your RSS Feeds

Planning your RSS feeds might be the most important thing you do about RSS. You most certainly need an RSS feed for your e-zine, your news section, your articles etc.

But how you will package these, what others you might want to offer and other important issues, are much more complex than we can cover in this space. A precise overview of all of the opportunities is available in the “Unleash the Marketing and Publishing Power of RSS” e-book.

You might also want to do follow-up (autoresponder) RSS feeds, feeds for your affiliates, feeds for your employees or business partners, feeds for the media, and so on.

3. Create a List of RSS Marketing/Publishing Requirements

Then create a list of requirements for the RSS marketing/publishing solution you will be getting to publish your feeds. The list should answer the basic questions, such as:

a) Do you want to integrate RSS publishing with your existing content management system?

b) What RSS metrics you’ll want to watch? For example, are you satisfied with just a rough idea of how many people are reading your RSS feed, or are you interested in more precise subscriber counts, clicks and even individual content item popularity?

c) Do you need feed personalization, such as personalizing your RSS content with the receipient’s name and other details?

d) Do you want to provide your subscribers with the ability to precisely select the content they want to receive in your RSS feed (customization), such as by content topic, keywords, authors and so on?

e) Do you want the RSS feeds to be hosted on your own server?

f) Do you need the ability to target promotional messages or other content to your individual RSS feed subscribers, for example based on their previous clicks and reading habits, or even their subscription data?

g) What’s your budget?

h) Etc.

More information on all the different possibilities provided by RSS is available in the free Business Case for RSS report.

4. Choose an RSS Publishing Tool and Create Your First Feed

After you’ve prepared a list of requirements you can start searching for the appropriate RSS marekting and publishing tool. These come in a few general categories …

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