Feedburner is about to lose its identity, or at least, its look and feel as it migrates across to a typical Google look and feel including using your Google details to log in.

According to the Feedburner blog, you wont see many changes to start with but you will be managing your feeds through your Google account (if you have one). The blog also reports:

Following on the footsteps of this account migration, FeedBurner will start to look and feel more like a set of Google services, and we will be completing much tighter integration into other Google services such as Google AdSense.

Slowly and surely the internet is getting smaller. It wont be long and you will be able to log into Google; manage your Feedburner feeds, slide across to several different social sites before returning to your home page to check your gMail.

At least your Feedburner feeds wont change - although then again, reading more on their blog:

If you are a feed advertiser, don’t worry: we have some happy surprises coming for you as well, and if you are an advertiser who is not yet a feed advertiser, you too shall be blessed with good fortune.

Sounds a little confusing, particularly the last phrase. That is Feedburner and Google for you. So long as everything passes seamlessly everyone will be happy. From past web experiences, I doubt the seamless part. Happy feed burning.

Feedburner is a handy service that enables users to subscribe to your posts through either an email or RSS client. Did you know that could also get your RSS feed turned into an audio podcast. Not by Feedburner, but my a new site that is still in beta, but working reasonably well.

Don’t get to excited. Like all computer generated voices, it leaves a lot to be desired, however to have your Feedburner posts automatically converted to a podcast does save time and makes for interesting reading.

The site, Dixero, is currently free to use. There is no information available as to whether they will charge into the future, however, free is free and the end result is not too bad. The written word is not meant to be read out aloud, that is why public speakers often hire speech writers so that the text is written as it is spoke. Feedburner feeds are the written word so the podcast does sound a little stilted.

As with all computer generated voices (you have a choice of three voices), there is little in the way of inflection or emphasis. Pronunciation is good and the finished product a true reflection of the Feedburner feed - to true, the podcast includes everything from your feed including any advertisements.

If you don’t have the time to create your own podcast, give Dixero a go and see how it converts your feed. You are not restricted to Feedburner feeds, you can grab a feed from any site and have it converted to a podcast. You can also download the MP3 version of your Feedburner feed. An interesting tool if you do not have the time to create your own podcast.

From the beginning of March this year Feedburner introduced a new system that allowed feed owners to transfer their feed to another user.

This is of particular interest to those who are buying or selling blogs that have a Feedburner account. The ability to transfer feeds is not new, in the past it was done manually. The process is now fully automated and very straightforward with instant results - unlike the past where delays could drift into days.

To transfer a feed, the Feedburner account holder enters the information related the feed being transferrred along with the recipients email address. The recipient responds to the email and either logs into their current account or creates a new account.

That’s it. Job done. Nothing could be easier.  The transfer feed link can be found on the dashboard just below your sites name.  It attached to the  Edit Feed - Delete Feed - Transfer Feed line of links.

Now there is no excuse not to use Feedburner to send out your RSS feeds each time you create a new post.

Feedburner is, without doubt, the biggest server of RSS feeds on the internet. Using Feedburner to provide your content is easy to set up and is just as easy for your readers to subscribe to. The question is, my RSS feed is available straight from my blog, so why use Feedburner?

This is a fair enough question and you would be right, your feed is available straight from your blog. Feedburner however adds a little value to your feed, both for you the publisher, and for your reader.

For you the publisher, Feedburner provides a statistical analysis of your subscribers. While fairly basic, the statistics are still interesting provide an interesting look at your subscribers. Feedburner also makes it very easy for your readers to subscribe via email.

For your readers, Feedburner provides a feed that is easy to read and well set our. For email subscriptions, the feed can arrive with social buttons in place so they can bookmark the post with a single click.

Feedburner has now incorporated several ways to jazz up your feeds making them easier to use, easier to read and most importantly, easier to subscribe to. Their are numerous different widgets that you can place on your site to display feeds from any site you subscribe to.

RSS is now an important part of the blog world. With Feedburner, your  RSS feed can be modified to include advertising, special messages and bookmarking buttons - all managed from the one control panel. Feedburner, it is easy and it is free.

FeedBurner is one of the most popular RSS services with millions of subscribers and over three quarters of a million publishers using the service. You may well be reading this post through a FeedBurner subscription.

There is more to publishing content through FeedBurner now. The advent of FeedFlare allows publishers to provide the resources that allows subscribers to tag, email and share the content with others. Subscribers can now act on your content by tapping into a wide variety of social bookmarking sites including StumbleUpon, Digg, del.icio.us, Sphere, Technorati and Facebook.

Setting up FeedBurner

While the concept is not new, the FeedBurner FeedFlare options has two major pluses. First, its free. Secondly, for the publisher, enabling FeedFlare it is very straight forward. Log into you FeedBurner account, set your FeedFlare options then place the HTML code on your site. FeedBurner does the rest. It could not be easier.

Adsense in FeedBurner

You also have the option of placing AdSense ad units into your content. Goto the Monetize section of your FeedBurner account and fill in the details. If you have enabled FeedFlare then that is all you need do. The ad units will be placed automatically.

FeedBurner for WordPress

For WordPress bloggers, install the FeedSmith plugin and you can add customized messages to your feeds. This is ideal for sending out messages, for example at Christmas or to highlight particular campaigns.

FeedFlare in FeedBurner is easy to setup. The hard part is getting the subscribers - but that is another story.

RSS (Real Simple Syndication) can be a double edged sword. Sure, your blog is getting read, but those readers aren’t increasing your page views, and they aren’t seeing your ads. So, how do you get RSS readers to click through to your blog?

Feedburner has a tool called Feed Flare that can help. It will show at the bottom of your entries how many comments have been left on your entry, amongst other info you can set. It’s a great way to get way people to click through, leave comments, and give you those all important eyeballs on your site.

1. Log in to your Feedburner account.
2. Click on the name of the blog you want to work on.
3. Click on the “Optimize” tab.
4. Then click on “Feed Flare”
5. Answer the questions as to what you want to display
6. Hit “Save”

You’re good to go!  It’s easy, and it can help turn your RSS readers into a steady stream of site visitors.

This is the last of the are you a cheapskate series. I’m sure you’re glad by now.

Let’s start with the content on your blog. If you write your own blog, you may wonder what this has to do with you. However, it needs to be noted that the more often you post to your blog, the better results you will get.

Many blog search places like Technorati serve up the “most recent” results related to the keywords a searcher types in there. That means if you have not posted for awhile you will be buried under all those who have used your keywords and blogged more recently.

In part 1 of are you a cheapskate, I mentioned sweat equity. This is where that comes in. You need to post no less than once per day if you want to be found in places like technorati.

Many bloggers, who also may be targeting the same keywords as you, are posting 2, 3, 4, or more times per day to keep their blog current. So how can you compete with that? Especially if you blog less than once per day?

How do you find the time to blog more than once per day? Invite a guest blogger to post on your blog. There are a lot of bloggers who will post to your blog for a link back and a little recognition. Ask people who comment on your blog. Ask bloggers whose blog you read and like.

Another way is to hire a blog content provider. Pay bloggers to post daily to your blog. Make sure they know how to target your keywords. Make sure they post about things you want them to post about. Give them instructions. A professional blogger can help you keep your blog up-to-date if you don’t have the time.

You may spend a little money, but it pays off in the long run. Your readers will keep coming back if there is new content all the time. They will get bored with your blog if there is not. After all, there are thousands of blogs that are updated more often that they could be reading.

Now about advertising your blog. Again, a little of your time is required first. There are a lot of blog directories you could be listing your blog in to get more traffic. You have to invest the time to do it is all. Most of them are free.

Using places like feedburner that make your blog’s feed available to more people will help you get traffic as well. You have to invest the time there and make your blog available through all of these mediums.

Now, about money and advertising for your blog. You need to create a budget. Decide how much you are willing to spend to advertise your blog. All the free services are great, but buying the right ad on the right website can bring you in extremely targeted traffic that can convert to click-thrus or sales.

You may want to use adwords or yahoo sponsored ads to bring in more traffic. It doesn’t take that much money to get started, but you have to be willing to invest a little if you are doing this as a business or a profession.

This series wasn’t meant to belittle anyone who is not doing this professionally or anyone that does not have the money to get started. It is just meant to make sure you know that just like any business, blogging takes a little money to make some money.

The more money and time you put into your blog, the more it will pay off.

I know feedburner has been around for a long time, but I just started using it on a couple of my blogs. I think feedburner is pretty amazing. The number of ways you can customize the feeds you offer allows you to reach more users and look more professional.

Feedburner makes it easy for subscribers to sign up and follow your blog. You can even monetize your feed through feedburner making it profitable as well.

You can add images to your feeds, summaries, widgets, affiliate ads, and more using feedburner. I just wish I had started using it a long time ago. But speaking of time, it takes about 30 minutes to set up, add it to your blog template, and customize all the options feedburner has for you to choose from.

I think feedburner is worth the time and effort and recommend you set up an account there as well.