what it means to subscribe – bay area child photographer

i have had some questions recently on what it means to subscribe to a blog, how to do it, and what are the benefits? i explained subscribing on my other blog earlier in the year and got to thinking… this subscribing thing isn’t new to me, in fact it is a time saver for me – that doesn’t mean that everyone out there knows what it’s all about. so i decided to take a post i had written before and bring it over here, to explain a bit the benefits of subscribing and just how easy it is to do so.

i am currently subscribed to 65 blogs – and i just cut it literally in half. some of which are friend’s daily chat, there are the blogs of inspiration, but mostly my reader is bursting with my fave photog’s blogs i enjoy stalking it used to be a long process for me, clicking through my bookmarked blogs/sites – only to find half of them hadn’t updated in days. disappointed i would come back yet again, finding my way through each and every bookmark, hoping someone had updated. it was time consuming, and unnecessary. that was until i was introduced to rss reader.

rss stands for really simple syndication and is often times called a “feed”. you the reader subscribes to a feed by entering the URL into your reader (see below to find out how to get a reader), or by simply clicking the site’s rss icon. the rss icon is generally an orange box with 3 white lines inside. if you are using firefox, this icon can be seen next to the site’s URL. many blogs now will have an additional icon you can click such as the one i have here on my photography blog, which is seen above in the menu. that will take you through the process, step by step.

why should i subscribe?

• it’s free! no cost to you at all.
• using an rss reader helps you to save time and energy. simply put – it does all the hard work for you. your reader keeps track of all of your favorite sites and blogs, and in turn feeds you what new content it finds in one easy location.
• the goodies you may get by subscribing are worth it. oftentimes a blogger will offer special incentives to subscribers only – such as freebies, secret codes, e-books, discounted sessions, and much more.

m’kay, now what do i do?

• you will first need to sign up with an rss reader. there are many readers out there. three that seem to be quite popular are: bloglines, googlereader, & newsgator.
• i use googlereader and love it. be sure to know that signing up for a google acount (to use googlereader) does not mean you are signing up for another email. you may use any current email address. of course if you already use gmail, it is all the simpler for you.
  
• be sure to add angie warren photography, the blog to your reader, by clicking here. then continue to add all of your other favorite blogs! before you know it you too will have a reader bursting at the seems with exciting content.
• below is an awesome video put together by the people at google to explain in detail the amazing benefits of having a googlereader and just how to use it.