If you follow this blog, you know that I am really into all things tech, social media, and geek.
My older brother is in sales and has been fortunate enough to be pretty successful. He is a smart guy, hard worker and also into all things geeky like me. But to be honest, he’s just not as good as me when it comes to the latest tech trends and tools. 
Usually, that is. Until today, when he caught me off guard.
I just had a conversation with my brother and he enlightened me to another new (to me) and efficient use of RSS (really simple syndication).
Background
Several months back I explained the magic that is Google Reader to my brother, and how it has decluttered my inbox, alerted me to other interesting and relevant blogs based on the trends I currently follow, and allowed me to peruse through 200 and 500 blog posts daily.
My brother was intrigued and gave it a try with an unsurprisingly positive outcome. However, he explained that he is using it in a different way than I currently do – for prospect research and relationship management.
My brother has subscribed to the websites/blogs of all of his current clients and prospects. He checks his Google Reader daily and if any of the subscribed pages shows a news release or other type of significant announcement, he makes a note to give them a call.
Essentially, he is using his Google Reader to perform basic (but important) industry/client/prospect research. Google Reader sort of acts like an administrative assistant to him in that it notifies him when the perfect opportunity pops up for him to give the client a call, opening with a comment about the recent news he saw on their site while easily transitioning to engaging conversation.
For current clients, this demonstrates a heightened level of customer service. For prospective clients, it breaks the ice, and allows for him to more quickly get to the point in the conversation where he can directly show a correlation between his product and their company, and how his product can help them achieve their goals.
Well done, Bro!
Sidebar:
I maintained my status as the family geeky gadget guru by sharing another tool with him, DropBox. He has a Netbook on the way since he is starting to take classes for an MBA and I explained how he could sync his Netbook and home PC, eliminating the need (and likelihood of saving over the wrong file) for a USB drive.
Boo-yah.
Hey Sis,
Thanks for the mention and thanks again for the Drop-box tip. I plan to keep my business files on there so that I can access them from where-ever without my thumb-drive. SF.com isn’t really setup to work like this so you found me a free band-aid.
As for the Google Reader usage, I have reader follow the “news” or “media” page for my client or prospect. Not sure if it make a difference…
-Nathan
Yo bro, this part of your comment (As for the Google Reader usage, I have reader follow the “news” or “media” page for my client or prospect. Not sure if it make a difference…) probably does make a difference.
Thanks for the tip and I’m glad that DropBox will be helpful for you. Nerd.
Hey Christina,
Great blog article and thanks for sharing that idea from how your brother uses his google reader. I think I am gonna try something similar and see how it works.
Great to see you writing, and look forward to more from “Light Bulb Moments”
Mike
Your brother is a genius…must get it from you! Thanks for the brilliant tip. I used to be annoyed by my google reader because it would just remind me that I was trying to keep up with too much. Now I see it actually can have a use that earns money.
That’s awesome, Traci! I am excited to hear how it works out for you. A couple of weeks later and my brother is still a big advocate of this use of RSS.
Thanks for your comment and can’t wait for your feedback! (feel free to guest post . . . btw . . . )
