Micro-Blogging – What's It All About

If you’re looking for a great way to keep your customers and other business contacts up to date, or keep up to date on them then the latest craze of microblogging is for you. Maybe you just need a quick and easy way to keep up a personal relationship with your contacts over the internet? Well this great new trend called microblogging may just save you time and even expand your customer base.

Microblogging is similar to regular blogging, but shorter (usually limited to 150 characters) and usually faster and more convenient. While you can access normal blogs through the internet on your mobile phone, many microblogging sites will have applications that automatically update you on your phone. This makes it easier for you to reach your friends, family, and customers.

Depending on the service you use, you may be able to microblog in forms other than text. Some sites will let you add video and audio as well, as long as it is smaller than a certain size. This makes it as effective as blogging, but a lot faster and more accessible for you and your contacts.

The top 5 microblogging sites are:

1. Twitter. Launched in July 2006, Twitter won the Web Award in the blog category at the 2007 South by Southwest Conference in Austin, Texas.This free service has grown exponentially over the past 18 months and gives you the options to post status updates via Text Messaging (SMS), e-mail, or web browser. A large number of 3rd party applications have been developed to enhance the user’s Twitter experience.

2. Tumblr. The nearest competitor to twitter, a tumblelog is a variation of a blog that favours short-form, mixed-media posts over the traditionally longer editorial posts frequently associated with blogging. Common post formats found on tumblelogs include links, photos, quotes, dialogues, and video. Unlike blogs, tumblelogs are often used to share the author’s creations, discoveries, or experiences while providing little or no commentary.

3. Plurk. Similar to Twitter with it’s 140 character limit, Plurk is themed IM (Instant Messaging) for groups of people spread out on a time line. And if you like Twitter and Pownce, chances are, you’re going to like the microblogging Plurk, as well. As a social network, it has been said that Plurk has huge potential. But Twitter certainly had a stronghold on the market.

4. Pownce. users can post messages, links, files, or events. Messages posted to an account page are viewable by friends and “fans” of the user. Once a message is posted, it can be replied to and forwarded, and there are a couple of options for recipients. Pownce is also an advertising channel, charging a flat rate of $3 for an ad (a Pownce “note”) that is displayed 1000 times.

5. Jaiku. To many, this interface looks a bit more polished and more “Web 2.0? than that of Twitter, but in a lot of ways the two are almost identical. After a year and half of it’s launch it was purchased by Google on October 9, 2007. And though posts have a smaller size limit than Twitter, Jaiku more closely resembles a real blog site in that posts get their own pages, where comments can be added.

Although the above are listed as the top 5 micro-blogging sites, Twitter has the highest percentage of users worldwide.

To microblog effectively, you need to have contacts who receive your posts. The easiest way to build your customer base and advertise a campaign is to use already existing networks to your advantage. A friend passes something along to three friends who pass it along to their three friends and so on, and eventually you’ve got a huge network of people to work with. The beauty of micro blogging is that these sources already have thousands of people who are all interconnected.

Microblogging can be used as a great way to promote your blog. You can add short comments, then direct them to the blog to hear the rest. This way, more people read what it’s about because they don’t really have to go out of their way to look at your blog. Plus, there is software available that will post the microblogs for you. That way, you get all the benefit without all the work.

If you don’t have a blog, you can still use microblogs to increase the traffic to your website as well. Any time you release a product or make an update, you can tell your contacts about it. This will keep them coming to your website over and over.

Microblogging is a great way to keep in touch with business associates and customers without having to do all the work of emailing. You can communicate what you’re doing with them, and keep up and their lives and businesses, and it’s all quick and easy.

You can also use microblogging as a way to establish yourself as an intelligent business person and a valuable asset in your field. You probably already do research on what’s going on with businesses in your field, whether it’s a new idea or an upcoming product release. Microblogs are a great way to pass along these tips, and an even better way to keep up on them yourself.

However, beware – microblogging can become addictive, so limit the amount of time you spend on these social platforms.