The blogs’ abilities to reach and immediately react to an expanding mass of audience have made businesses and marketers use these as a strategic marketing tool. Additionally blogs are very efficient, cheap to use and can quickly distribute information.

However, before you decide to jump on blogging bandwagon, take time to find out what are your objectives for creating your own blog. Is it a personal, organizational or business blog? This will help you decide on what your blog will contain, where you’d place it and what publishing tools you’ll be using.

d] Message personalization

If you generate your RSS feeds for each individual user, you can also personalize these feeds. Basic personalization includes elements such as reader's first name, while more advanced personalization might include personalized content and product recommendations and so on.

e] Data capture

E-mail marketers have already become experts at using opt-in forms to get as much information from prospect as possible; prospect's name, his interests, current products he is using, his current position in purchase cycle and so on. RSS can be used in same way, giving your visitors access to RSS feed only after they've filled in a simple or complex opt-in form. This can work with e-zine subscriptions, as well as forms you require your visitors to fill in to either register on your website or download your free report or whitepaper.

Good news for direct marketers is that these capabilities are already available in many RSS publishing/marketing solutions, available at very acceptable prices, accessible even to smallest companies.