In reality you have participated in the successful marketing of someone else's blog. Obviously this is good news for the blog you are gleaning information from, but it can also be a positive lesson for you as well.

Let's follow this line of thinking to its logical conclusion.

1) An online business developed a blog in an effort to drive consumers to their online business.

2) You visited the blog and found the information useful.

3) You sign up for an RSS feed so you are made aware of new content when it is posted.

4) You routinely link to the blog you visit because it has great material your readers would be interested in.

5) That business receives additional visits because your blog readers trust you enough to accept your recommendation of the material.

If you are b-blogging without incorporating an RSS feed there are many potential visitors who are left in the dark about the potential of your blog. An RSS feed can act as a mini press release. The notice is sent to a group of individuals interested in any new information you may have available.

I have always spoken highly of the use of a press release, and an RSS feed is an online equivalent for a more specific and motivated group of consumers. Certainly they are interested first in the information you can provide, but there will be a certain consumer conversion rate that may be attributed to your willingness to offer an RSS feed.

You can also consider an RSS feed a means of directing potential customers to your own ‘publication'. In an interesting twist, the marketing of your online store through blogging or knowledge-based content has made it possible for you to become an actual publisher of valued content.

Publishing is no longer an elusive genre reserved for the gifted or fortunate. You can effectively use your time, talent and passion to create a blogging publication that can gain a substantial readership. While this is important in and of itself it is not simply a matter of playing into your own personal interests, it should be called what it actually is – crucial marketing. The same concept applies to new site content you make available.

This strategy is not simply for those who are more established or have a bigger name. As an online company you have the ability to take your message to the people using an RSS feed – and they might just love you for it.