This morning I had the opportunity to speak to the Golden Strip Business Network of PNC in Simpsonville, SC. I spoke on RSS: Blogging and Podcasting - Distributing your message to the web and beyond. I was prepared with small speaker system for my iPod to demonstrate some podcast and a projector to show my Keynote presentation on the subject but the restaurant was not conducive to using either one.

My presentation however did go very well and those in attendance did ask a lot of questions on the topic which I Iove because it helped me focus on the subject at hand and I know they were interested in learning more. It’s also amazing that I will learn new terms I probably should have know but for some reason I missed hearing about.

It’s not entirely related to blogging and podcasting per se but I was asked by one lady, “Is that what a squeeze page is?” admitted I didn’t know that term but would look it up and blog about it. A squeeze page refers to a web page that is designed to compel visitors to “opt-in” to your web site. This is usually done through asking for e-mail addresses so they can be added to an opt-in e-mail list. I mentioned I had never heard the specific term but was familiar with a “landing page” and a squeeze page is a sort of landing page. I can see where this person was confused however because I did mention one can “subscribe” to a blog however the big difference is if you have newsreader software, use smart bookmarks or online services that read and import updates from blog you don’t have to provide an e-mail address or give personal information. Those are two different means of “subscription.” A squeeze page is “squeezing” something out of you like and e-mail address in exchange for their information.

While squeeze pages are not always a bad thing I think I really need to communicate the idea behind the totally free RSS subscription.

Another person asked if a blog was something someone else used to write on your web site. I explained that while a person can leave a comment on your blog the owner of the blog/website is the one who either does the writing or is responsible for seeing someone within their organization does it. This however did lead to a great conversation on the subject of commenting on blogs. I explained that when I was giving my presentation I was essentially “blogging” in person and when they were asking questions or sharing their thoughts they were “commenting.” Blogging can very much be a like a business network meeting or seminar except it’s online and you don’t have to be their in person all the time.

One final question I was asked was, “Do you build web sites?” I actually mentioned that in my introduction but after talking for so long about blogging and podcasting I guess the idea seemed totally separate and different. Yes, our major product is web site development however all of our site have the build in functionality for our clients to log into their web sites and post updates without touching the web site design itself.

I hope this follow up not only help those who attended the meeting this morning but also others who find the vast terminology confusing. Any other questions?

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 28th, 2008 at 11:19 am and is filed under Compelling Content, Internet, RSS, Upstate,SC, blogging, podcasting, web design, web development. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.