I think what AWeber, the autoresponder service, has done is ingenious. They’ve added the ability to detect updates to your blog through your RSS feed and combined that into their already powerful emailing system.

So now, every time you post an update to your blog, you can also choose to email it to your AWeber list.

Of course, the idea is nothing new. There are already services like Bloglet and Feedblitz that do this. But what they don’t offer is control over your list and the ability to use the autoresponder follow-up system with your blog.

Here’s how AWeber explains the new feature they call the Feed Broadcaster.

Use AWeber’s new integrated Feed Broadcaster to allow visitors to sign up for a traditional email newsletter on your blog or other website that uses RSS. The Feed Broadcaster will take your RSS content that is published thru your blog and automatically create an email newsletter sent to subscribers.

Within one hour AWeber will automatically grab the available RSS content from your feed and queue that content as a new broadcast in review status. You can choose to send those broadcasts or delete them. From that point forward newsletter broadcasts would be sent out to any subscriber on the list automatically when a new story is detected.

I completely support endorse the idea that you should give your website visitors the choice to subscribe and receive your content in the format and method they want. Allowing them to choose between email and RSS as their preferred mode of content delivery shows your visitors that you respect their choices, and that you are serious about doing business with them.

Awareness of RSS is quite low among Internet users. 12% of users are aware of RSS, and 4% have knowingly used RSS, according to a white paper published by Yahoo in October 2005. If you’re not emailing your blog updates, you’re leaving out a very large number of potential customers. In a previous post on RSS vs Email, I noted that smart marketers use both - Email and RSS.

The Feed Broadcaster system allows you to combine the power of an email follow-up system with RSS broadcasting. It truly represents the future of newsletter publishing.

Dina Giolitto, one of my favourite writers and the moderator of the ABC Network: Articles, Blogs, Content network on Ryze, is in the process of rounding up gurus and web marketing experts to join her for the First Annual Web Content Awareness Day.

The “virtual holiday” is scheduled to take place on February 6, 2006 - a day to “pay homage to expectional content providers on the World Wide Web” with a plethora of free information, limited time only offers from some of the web’s most prominent gurus and independent consultants, and a healthy dose of lighthearted fun.

The web-wide celebration will be housed on Giolitto’s website, http://WebContentAwarenessDay.com. Topics covered by various contributing marketers will include copywriting, search engine optimization, design, tech tools, article marketing, blogging and networking. Every marketer who contributes to the project has been offered free exposure by way of feature articles and ad exposure on the Content Awareness Day website.

As Dina tells it, “I’ve always felt adamantly about upholding the quality and integrity of content on the web while providing practical solutions and useful information to my readers. I’m hoping the site will help promote this agenda while drumming up business leads for every single marketer who devotes their time and energy to the cause.”

All I have to say to this amazing woman is - You go, girl! I’ll be supporting you all the way.