From Chris @ Fashion IQ:
This is the first in a series about fashion blogging. There are a lot of specific articles out there about different facets of blogging, but I wanted to create a series tailored especially for the fashion blogger. So, here goes!
With the advent of news aggregation and RSS services pretty much anyone can be a media mogul. This post covers how to create an information portal for your specific niche. It requires a RSS feed reader and an hour or two of your time. I use Google Reader, as it works anywhere there’s an Internet connection and it’s free.
Google News:
You can subscribe in a feed reader to any alert on Google News. This will keep you up to date on most happenings in the daily print media.
How to do it:
- Go to Google News
- Put in your search term that you want to be updated on:’Suzy Menkes’ for
example. - Subscribe to the content using the RSS link.
This can be used to stay on top of virtually any topic. You can also select the source of information under “Advanced Search.” The International Herald Tribune is one of the better sources.
Google Blog Search:
You can also subscribe to searches in Google Blog Search. This can also be done in
Technorati, but Google has a couple of features that merit mentioning.
Site update check:
- You can see when Google Blog Search has updated your site by searching for “site:http://yoursitehere”
- This can subscribed to through the RSS button.
Site link check:
- Want to see in real time when bloggers have linked to your site, or when
spammers are stealing your content? Search for “link:http://yoursitehere” - This can be subscribed to through the RSS button and I find that it’s more
timely than in-blog reports or trackback monitoring.
Keyword Search:
- Same deal, be alerted on any new instance of a keyword set. This also can be done in Technorati.
Technorati:
I find Technorati pretty frustrating to use on a daily basis simply because the site can be excruciatingly slow. You can get around this by subscribing to search terms and tags.
Subscribe to A Search Term or Tag:
- Go to search.technorati.com
- Search for a term “Marc Jacobs” for example.
- You’ll see a list with a filter at the top. Generally I change the authority setting to “some authority” or’a little authority’ to filter out spammy stuff.
- When the page reloads, click on the ’subscribe’ button in the upper right
corner.
