The RSS promise for end-users is simple:

--> a unified one-stop-shop to consume online content, without having to visit dozens of sites every day to see what’s new and without having their online subscriptions interfere with their personal and business e-mail communications;

--> complete control over their content consumption, including a quick, easy and reliable mechanism to unsubscribe from content they do not wish to receive;

--> ability to receive breaking news as it becomes available, without having to wait for a monthly, weekly or daily recap sent to their e-mail addresses;

--> certainty of actually receiving content they want, without fear of it being stopped by spam filters on way;

--> ability to receive rich-media content directly to their desktops, including audio and video content;

--> promise of providing tools to make their lives easier, including receiving critical content updates as soon as they become available.

These points are not simple enhancements, but important advancements that can fundamentally change how internet content is consumed. Furthermore, these points themselves prove why marketers need to start implementing RSS now!

To bring point home, let us inspect some of content services already powered by RSS.

LIBRARY ELF: MAKING THE LIBRARY EXPERIENCE EASIER (http://libraryelf.com/) Library Elf helps you keep track of your library accounts in one place and received reminders, such as what library material is due, overdue and ready for pickup. Library Elf uses power of RSS to help you forget about your library accounts and instead be directly notified of changes you’re waiting for, directly to your desktop.

INDEED: HELPING YOUR FIND THE RIGHT JOB (http://www.indeed.com/) Indeed.com provides its visitors with job seeking results from hundreds of sites and then makes search results accessible via RSS feeds. Users can subscribe to individual search results, pertaining directly to their search keywords to be notified immediately new jobs are available.

FLICKR: SHARING YOUR LIFE IN PICTURE (http://www.flickr.com/) Flickr is most popular photography management and sharing service on web, enabling end-users to upload their photos and then make them available to their friends, associates and family through a wide assortment of content delivery channels, including RSS. By subscribing to individual Flickr feeds from their users, everyone can have direct access to latest life experiences from their friends.

Starting an online business is probably one of simplest things to do. You make decision that you want to make some money on internet. You join a few free affiliate programs, maybe a couple of free mlm programs and if you’re really into it, you get your own domain name and web site.

So far your business expenses are peanuts and you can close shop anytime without any regrets. You don’t have a vested interest in your business due to lack of a financial commitment. That’s how about 80% of so called “online business owners” operate. No concept, no plan and no future.

Then there’s another group of “online business owners” who are all fired up about their new Endeavour and nothing can stop them. They do everything they’ve been told by whom ever they listen to and they also spend a considerably amount of money to get their business going. There’s really nothing wrong with this other than that they are too eager and too motivated to get their business off ground. Unfortunately most of them will quite after a few months. Unfortunately this is mostly due to avoidable mistakes.

The third and smallest group are folks who actually made it. Well, let me define “made it” for a moment. I call a business a success if you can make a profit after you paid all expenses and I mean all expenses. Now you can argue if it is worthwhile to put in so much work for not much in return. This is a call that every one of you has to make on your own.

I purposely left out group with guys who are making more money a day than most of us make in a year. First, it is completely unrealistic to assume that you actually will achieve same results as “big ones” with limited resources you have. Second, these guys may have started as a one man show, but today they are a corporation with many employees like every other company doing big business on internet.

Back to 3 groups I mentioned before. Group #1, no concept, no plan, no future group, is not even worth mentioning. They are just a waste of time. Group #3, guys who ‘made it’, is out o reach at moment. The fact that you’re reading this article puts you into group #2 category. You’re eager to build your business and you’re determined to make it happen. I hope by pointing out pitfalls you will actually avoid mistakes I made and it will bring you a step closer to your ultimate goal. Be your own boss.

Here’s a list of common mistakes every startup online business should avoid.