Uberblogger Robert Scoble is truly one-of-a-kind. For those who don’t know, he became famous as a technical evangelist at Microsoft and quickly became their most outspoken and influential blogger. He now interviews people like Bill Gates, and the worldwide media reports on his every move. One of his most mindboggling skills is information management. He currently reads 622 RSS feeds a day — it used to be 1,400 feeds a day!
How the hell does he do it?
I dropped by the Podtech offices and hung out with Robert to find out. How does he avoid overload and process so much information? In this exclusive 11-minute interview, we answer quite a few burning questions I’ve wanted to ask since first meeting Robert:
Which RSS reader does he use and why?
How does he configure it to save time?
What are simple keyboard shortcuts anyone can use?
How does he find and pick feeds?
How can you catch his eye with your posts?
How does he use RSS feeds for building relationships?
How does he use sites like Techmeme/DIGG vs. niche blogs?
One thing impresses me about Robert more than all of his credentials: he smiles more than almost anyone I know. All the time! There is much to be learned from the Scobleizer. The ending of the interview — Robert’s last line — is also not to be missed.
My apologies for the hyperactive camera work, but the whole thing was quite impromptu, and I’m no Spielberg. Just close your eyes and listen if I make you seasick.
[UPDATE: Sorry, but the below video has been removed. Not sure why. Apologies!]
Stay tuned for part II, coming in the next week, which will answer the question: How does Robert Scoble read and organize e-mail? From speeding up Outlook’s performance to reverse spam filtering, it’s all covered. In the meantime, for a solid overview of how I cut e-mail time by about 90%, see my new manifesto at Seth Godin’s ChangeThis.
The Tim Ferriss Show is one of the most popular podcasts in the world with more than one billion downloads. It has been selected for "Best of Apple Podcasts" three times, it is often the #1 interview podcast across all of Apple Podcasts, and it's been ranked #1 out of 400,000+ podcasts on many occasions. To listen to any of the past episodes for free, check out this page.
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This is a very impressive post. Interesting to see how professional RSS-subscribers do things. This is extremely informative for those of us starting to use RSS feeds.
Very interesting post. It’s great to know how a true professional manages RSS feeds. A great video for those barely starting out subscribing to RSS feeds.
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Thanks a few interesting points there some good pointers for handling a large amount of internet data
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I usually dont take this kind of personal branding and hero worship seriously. Reading 600+ RSS feeds is not much to be heaved about. I manage 150 RSS feeds, 200 domain content, visit a thousand web sites each day and answer forum posts and blog comments. I know many people who do more than me. While that is admirable, it is not that only Scoble has this so-called :”talent”
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seems like a complete waste of time, overload of information? good for him tho lol.
Wow, great article! crazy that its still relevant so many years later!