While I just wrote a post on how to track conversations online with Google Alert & GMail, I’m noticing that while the feeds are updating, it’s not always showing up in Google Reader 100% of the time. This is also a great time to mention something CK just wrote on a process of listening for companies. She really does a great job of providing a beginning outline (or checklist).
With that in mind, I thought I would write up a second solution that can be used to track conversations (keywords) online using Blogines and Google Alert.
What you need
A Bloglines account. A Google Alert account.
Step 1: Setting Up Bloglines
- Goto bloglines
- Goto your Account Info (click Account)
- Click the “Blog Settings” link
- Type whatever you want your username to be, then click save
- On your left hand side (where all your blogs are listed) click the “Create E-mail Subscription” link.
- Type the name of the subscription & whatever folder you want it to go to. Eg: “nathan snell” and folder “nathan snell”.
- Click the “Create E-mail Subscription” button
Now that page will reload and give you an e-mail for that subscription. Copy the e-mail, which will look something like usernameyoutyped.randomnumbers
Step 2: Setting Up Google Alerts
Unfortunately you cannot edit your existing alerts, you will have to re-create them from Google Alerts with the new e-mail.
- Goto Google Alerts
- Create your new alert and make sure you put the e-mail to send alerts to as your bloglines e-mail.
Google Alerts now requires confirmation e-mails for the alert. This is a bit of a hassle but also a great way to make sure you’re receiving updates. Once you’ve created your new alert, do the following:
- Goto Bloglines
- Look for your e-mail subscription name in your feed list (mine would be nathan snell).
- Click on your e-mail subscription
- Confirm the Google Alert
2 Comments
Happy new blog…love it! And how kind for you to link to the listening post. It’s such an important job of ours. Since our job is our markets, eh? And so many innovations, smarts, preferences, ideas, problems and solutions being discussed.
All that’s needed is a commitment to the customer and processes to make good on that commitment. Sure, listening takes time but it limits risk. And it provides unbiased feedback ;-).
Really happy for your new “pad”!
Thanks for stopping by, CK :)
Hey, don’t thank me for linking to your post, let me thank you for writing a great one! I don’t think I’ve seen much in the way of a process post for examining what a co. listens to, so it was great to see something that gave good direction to companies and shows that it’s not enough to just let their tracking tell them there are conversations, they need to actually /listen/ and /respond/ when appropriate.
Happy you like the new pad! It took me some time to put together a design I really like, but I think I managed to put together something I’m happy with!