However, this new channel, RSS, is quite different. Here you have an exact view of what you subscribe to. You see exactly which content publishers are on your list and you can remove any of them immediately, without even a second thought. It's quick, easy and comfortable.

Compare this with relative difficulty of unsubscribing from e-mail lists, and even with e-mail mindset where you just don't care to be bothered anymore with unsubscribing, since you don't have a view of what you subscribe to anyway.

This new channel takes democracy right out of content delivery for publishers and brings it back for end-users.

If RSS content publishers want to keep and grow their readership, they cannot afford to do things they could have easily been doing with e-mail.

Instantly, all content needs to be highly relevant. You can no longer afford to send out blatant advertising messages or too much content that is of little interest to your target audience. If you want to survive you need to tailor all of your content specifically to needs of your target audience.

RSS content delivery must in nature be more relevant than content delivered by e-mail.

RSS content publishers know this and most are providing exactly this, very relevant content, usually more relevant than what most e-mail publishers are doing, since they are taking in to consideration specific characteristics of channel.

And there are more publishers like this every day. And eventually, even those that use both e-mail and RSS to deliver content, change way they are delivering content using e-mail. Their entire content production becomes more relevant to user's needs.

It's quite easy to imagine larger-scale implications of this.

Since more and more publishers are starting to offer more relevant content, that also raises bar for other content publishers, even those not using RSS.

Our expectations are increasing every day. We are no longer content with mediocre content, we actually expect and even demand more relevancy.

And so circle is completed.

Early RSS publishers have started raising our expectations of what to expect from internet content and have thus affected our internet content consumption habits. Users, in affect, are starting to demand more, which in turn forces other publishers to comply with increased demands.

This process has just begun and still has a long way to go, but it has begun and will not stop.

Step Two - Ask Permission

Ask your prospects for permission to send questionnaire. This will give them opportunity to refuse if they don’t care to participate.

Step Three - Send Form

Email works best in these situations, so, if possible, send your questions via email. Your prospects will have time to think about answers and what information to provide.

If email is not possible, send form via postal mail. Be sure to include a postage-paid and addressed envelope.

One note: While follow-up is usually a good thing, in this case it’s not advisable. If prospect is too busy or simply changed his/her mind about responding, let it go.

Step Four - LEARN!

When you get your responses, review them carefully. Don’t make radical adjustments based on one or two pieces of feedback. Instead, wait until you’ve collected several forms then look for trends.

If you see that most prospects are making reference to same things, you’ll know it’s time to make some changes.

By asking a few simple questions, you can find out an enormous amount of information that can help to turn losing proposals into winning ones. Simply be professional. While no one will win every project they bid on, with some “inside information” direct from your prospects, you’ll have a much better shot at creating winning RFPs in future.

Diane C. Hughes * ProBizTips.com