Weblog
Mar 4, 02:03 pm: Second, follow.
So if you spent time last week searching a lot, this week should be about following the things that you found.
There are a few ways to follow. Some easier and some harder. The harder method is to pop open your Google Notebook and click on the links every day. The easier way is to use RSS. I’m going to recommend Google Reader for this. I’m not trying to be a Google stooge here but let’s use a batch of their services for the sake of username/password simplicity. Over time, you find another service you like better (over time, I’m going to recommend that you keep information in formats that allow others to contribute but that’s not for a bit yet).
Subscribe to everything on your collection of research that is subscribe-able. Subscribe to people if they write on your topic area a lot. Subscribe to terms. Subscribe to blogs or tags or other streams of information.
And every day open your subscriptions and read them. This is the important part of follow. It is not “check back in in a month or so and see if you can remember what you found interesting.” It is “read first thing every morning.”
Okay. Not just read.
Read and mark (with a handy star — it feels good like pre-school!), the things that you find interesting.
And then share them or comment on them.
If you think someone in your office, on your team, would be interested send a quick email pointing to the link. If you want to talk to the person who initiated the item, do it. Leave a comment in the comment field. There’s almost always a comment field.
For the next week, follow, share and comment.
Oh, and don’t stop adding new and interesting things to research list and subscription list. As you follow, you’ll find new people, new tags, new terms. Capture them on your trusty Google notebook page and subscribe.
