Blogs and RSS : tools for competitive intelligence

Within just a few years weblogs have become a hot topic of conversation, even a phenomenon. They are discussed in the media, journalists from le Monde and Libération publish their own blogs, experts and politicians have started to blog, entire radio or television programs as well as books have been devoted to them.

Generalist media often approach the subject of blogs through the example of “personal journals” written by teenagers. While it is true that this sort of blog is popular, it would be wrong to limit the whole concept of blogs to simple personal journals posted on the web. That would be a case of missing the wood for the trees. For the blog has also made considerable inroads in the world of business.

Blogs can offer content of strategic, or at least relevant, use for companies, presenting unique material with messages and language different from those seen on standard websites. They constitute a new tool for both internal and external communications, as well as a valuable information source for other companies. An organization that “blogs” provides just as much information for its customers and competitors as for its own personnel.
RSS, a file exchange format, has developed in parallel to blogs to become an essential element of intelligence activities thanks to its simplicity and flexibility. Below are some hints for using blogs and RSS within your intelligence activities…

"Blogs and RSS : tools for competitive intelligence"

• Summary
• Blogs: concept and evolution
  • what is a blog?
  • blog characteristics
  • main differences between standard websites and blogs
  • blog statistics
• blogs for competitive intelligence (ci)
  • benefits and advantages of blogs for ci
  • types of blog beneficial to ci
    • the “introspective” blog
    • news and opinion blogs: thought and commentspecialist subject blogs: enthusiasts, experts, professionals, consultants and technicians
    • company blogs: external communication tool…for business leaders, employees and marketing
• monitoring blogs and news via rss
  • the principle of rss: extraction, reading and syndication of the content
    • what is rss format?
    • examples of rss feeds
  • how to read and monitor blogs and rss feeds
    there are several ways to subscribe and read rss feeds
  • rss feeds from search engine results
  • rss feeds to monitor distribution lists
  • the advantage of rss
• finding blogs and rss feeds
  • scan through the blogroll on blogs you know already
  • use search tools
• how can you estimate the popularityof a blog?
  • blog charts
  • calculation of a blog’s authority
  • the number of comments versus the number of incoming links
• new trends: podcasting
  • podcasting or integrating multimedia