Friday, March 28, 2008

How to Update & Automate Your Blogroll in 5 Easy Steps

I had noticed that my blogroll in my sidebar was horribly out of date. I've discovered many new voices over the last 6 months or so (the last time I think I updated it) and I wanted something to reflect my current reading - AND something that didn't require a manual update.

So I checked out my Google Reader and found that I could tag the blogs that I'd like to share and create a blogroll directly from my OPML file. This is in addition to the individual articles that I share through my reader. You'll find it over in the sidebar, as well as below.

Here's how I managed to update my blogroll in 5 easy steps:

Log into Google Reader
Select any blog you'd like to share and add a tag (I used "Blogs I Like")
Then click on "Manage subscriptions" at the bottom of the page
Select the blogs you'd like to include and tag them
Under the Tags tab, click on "add a blogroll to your site"

From there, you can format it and do what you need to do using your blog's platform.

Happy reading!

Photo credit: drp via Flickr

Labels: blogging, tools

Posted by Scott Monty at 12:46 PM

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Comments:

At 3/28/2008 2:53 PM, joel said...: Good piece! I LOVE blogrolling http://blogrolling.com/ It's great if you manage multiple blogrolls. You can insert a bit of code in your sidebar and then edit on blogrolling.
At 3/28/2008 11:40 PM, John Johansen said...: Great tip Scott. I've been looking for something like this and was just planning to use my GReader Shared items as a defacto blogroll. This is way better.
At 3/29/2008 4:53 PM, Sam Lawrence said...: Scott-- this is supa sweet. I'll have to look into getting this onto Go Big Always.

Thanks for sharing.

Cheers,
Sam
At 3/30/2008 5:59 PM, McChesney's said...: thanks for the list, one more I would like to add is mediameme.wordpress.com
At 4/05/2008 7:50 PM, John Piercy said...: Very cool and useful tip Scott ,, thanks for sharing

John Piercy
At 9/25/2008 11:23 PM, Anonymous said...: Hi there!..I Have also tried mypage.com, it's free and its nice. they have a lot of apps.(":)

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About Scott

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The best way to describe Scott is "Renaissance Man." Friends and colleagues that know Scott from one facet of his life are very frequently surprised to learn of his interests and talents in other areas.

Scott is a marketing and communications professional focused on the digital industry — specifically on social media. His career spans a number of industries such as healthcare, pharma, biotech, travel, automotive, tech, and communications, and includes a wide range of clients, from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies.

Currently on the staff of corporate communications in Ford Motor Company, Scott heads up the social media function and holds the title Global Digital & Multimedia Communications Manager. He is a strategic advisor on all social media activities across the company, from blogger relations to marketing support, customer service to internal communications and more, as social media is being integrated into many facets of Ford business.

Prior to joining Ford, Scott served as Consigliere for crayon and spent a number of years with PJA Advertising + Marketing, a boutique BtoB agency specializing in health sciences & high tech.

In addition to his consulting and agency background, Scott is an active blogger and podcaster. He writes about the intersection of advertising, marketing and PR at The Social Media Marketing Blog and also writes The Baker Street Blog, a literary undertaking. Scott has been featured in numerous news and business publications, on a variety of podcasts, and on national television. Scott is a recognized thought leader in the social media industry and frequently speaks at industry events.

Scott received his Master's in Medical Science from Boston University's School of Medicine concurrently with his MBA from BU's Graduate School of Management. He lives in the greater Detroit area with his wife and two young sons, golfs all too infrequently, and has a hidden talent for voice over work.

Oh, and one last little-known fact: Scott coined the term "tweetup."

You may download a headshot here, courtesy of C.C. Chapman and a PDF version of Scott's bio here.

Books in which Scott's work is featured:
The New Rules of Marketing & PR
Twitterville
Six Pixels of Separation
Monkeys with Typewriters
Read This First
World Wide Rave
Get Seen

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Scott is a judge for the SAMMY Awards
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Named one of iMedia's 25 Top Internet Marketing Leaders & Innovators
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Scott speaks on social media at events, seminars and conferences around the world. His topic generally focuses on corporate use of social media, becoming an online spokesperson, and specifically on the progress that Ford has made in the recent past. If you're interested in booking Scott to speak at your event, please send an email to speaking [AT] scottmonty [DOT] com. Scott's bio and headshot can be found in the "About Scott" tab above.

Some previous engagements include:

BlogWell - How Big Companies Use Social Media - Minneapolis - August 13

Who is Scott Monty?

Hi, I'm Scott. I'm the head of social media for Ford Motor Company. This is my personal blog, where I share my perspectives on social media - the convergence of marketing, advertising and PR on the Web - for marketers, agencies, the enterprise and the individual. This blog contains my personal views.