Here at OBO, Jim and I not only keep in touch all day via Skype, but we spend a lot of time reading feeds.  When I saw this Blaugh cartoon today, I just thought "welcome to my world".

I’m at 374 feeds according to Google Reader (I just checked).  This means that every morning there are over 100 (it doesn’t say how many unread over 100, just 100+) unread items to skim through.  Sometimes, its a two-hour job, sometimes less.  I also check through out the day.  Not really because I’m obsessive about the news, it just keeps my info flow more manageable.

Lots of folks wonder why Jim and I spend so long reading feeds (you can check out my Google Reader shared items here).  The answer is really simple, it’s our job.  For me, with my myriad of blogs, I need a continual flow of blog fodder or I’m toast.  Together we also are always on the look out for new trends, scoops, memes, whatever.  This is how we make sure our clients stay in sync with the rest of the world.

I don’t look at it as a race to blog something first, it’s staying tuned in.  It’s finding out Scoble included you on his Google Reader shared items (I’ve had it happen twice this week, plus twice on our new Social Media and Campaigns blog … though not my posts), it’s just being connected to friends and colleagues.

For our professional bloggers we strongly encourage them to get into the feed habit.  It’s really the only way to stay on top of your industry, and have stuff to blog about.

Am I caught up?  For the moment, yes.  Maybe 4 unread items.  I’ll check back later, I know I’ll have more to read.

Have you read your feeds today?

Tags: RSS feeds, professional blogging, social media