ONLINE MARKETING | Let’s Explore … Micro-blogging

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Popular platforms: twitter.com, plurk.com

By you may have heard about the phenomenon Twitter. Don’t knock it until you try it. I think I had a twitter account for months before I decided to really check it out. Most people that I know, once you get started, it’s a whole lot of fun – and easy!

Twitter is like blogging, but it’s different. Microblogging is a concise way of posting information in a few characters. So, if you’re not interested in creating a full-blown blog, but you want to jump into using social media, you might like Twitter.

Other microblogging platforms that compete with (or tried to) are Pownce and Plurk account. Pownce went out of business end of 2008. There are microblogging platforms like Yammer created especially for businesses. Twitter officially went mainstream. Mainstream means that it’s no longer a tool for just the "geeks" or business minded folks looking to network heavily.

You are allowed to send or tweet 140 characters. This seems strange, but as a writer you are encouraged to write tight and this is the perfect platform to put that skill to work. You can almost thinking of it like pitching or like the elevator conversation, because you want to say something meaningful to encourage people to follow you in as few words as possible.

Twitter is the best when it comes to networking. You can follow other people and if people like what you are saying, they will follow you. Sounds a bit like stalking I know, but really just try it. You can control who follows you, by blocking unwanted persons.

If an author has posted an excerpt for their upcoming book release to their Web site, you can draw traffic to your site by posting a twitter announcement. It’s a great way to let readers know about book signings and online events.

I will have an online class dedicated to Twitter starting January 2010. Be on the lookout!

By the way, if you want to connect on Twitter, I have a few twitter accounts.