Over the last little while, I’ve been wondering why people are so focussed on collecting subscribers, friends and followers. Sure, they’re nice to have, but unless you’re focussed on delivering content that people can connect to, then all the subscribers in the world don’t matter.

That’s the topic I’m exploring over at MarketingProfs Daily Fix today. Here’s a quick excerpt from a post titled, “Are people who share better to have around than subscribers?“:

It’s the traditional marketing problem all over again. It doesn’t matter how many people subscribe to your magazine if they skip over your ad or never open the publication. Nor does it matter how many people Nielsen says are watching if they’re in the kitchen when your spot airs.

Same thing with social media. Don’t fool yourself by counting people if you’re not connecting with them.

What do you think? Join us over at MarketingProfs to discuss!

Over on the Marketing Profs’ Daily Fix Blog today, I’ve explained my decision to change the way I use my newsreader to collect information and how, by Planting Seeds throughout different networks, I’m able have the top online content come to me.

For a little context and background, though, you can start with this post:

The Old Set Up
Previously, I had pulled in feeds and assigned them to folders. I have a Tech + Tips folder (includes Mashable, Lifehacker, Venture Beat and others), a Must-Read folder (included: Steve Rubel, Armano, Saul Colt, Andy Nulman and many others), a Search Folder (Search Engine Guide, Search Engine Roundtable, Search Engine Journal), plus Healthcare and Government folders as well.

After that, I subscribed to a whack of other blogs and would read them, generally, only after I was five posts behind or more.

The result of this set up? I’d always be behind. I got stuck listening to the same voices over and over. And it became uninteresting to keep up.

First, the clean up
Recognizing that my reader had become stale, I purged many subscriptions. I’d say I probably killed about 30 to 40 subscriptions that I just hadn’t been keeping up with. Then, I completely changed up my “Must-Read” folder. Some stayed, others got booted or relegated to the “whack of other blogs” list.

Finding “Community Identified” content
Next, I decided to rely more on what I’m calling “Community Identified” content. Using social bookmarking sites and other types of aggregators, I’m allowing you and a whole lot of other people connected to me to point me to important content.

Which tools am I using? Without giving too much away from my post over at Marketing Profs Daily Fix, I’m using Delicious, Google Shared Items, Social Reader, Micro Plaza and BackType to find important posts and meet new people.

Head on over to the MPDailyFix post to learn more about each of these networks and how I’m having all this new content delivered to me through RSS. It’s a lesson in Planting Seeds through a different perspective.

Feel free to leave tips here or there, but make sure to let me know what you think!