Archive for: Micro-blogging

Web App Buffers Timely Online Communication

Heard of Twitter? Sure the whole world has by now. Lone tribes on far islands have heard about Twitter. This massively immersive and widely used micro-blogging network has become a staple for both our personal and professional lives. The world seems to still be feeling the “Twitter effect” as industries adapt their existing messages to fit the fast paced world of this social network.

But do you ever feel like you’re being left behind? Perhaps not enough time to get the right message in a timely fashion? Now there’s a solution to that.

Twuffer presents itself as the buffer between you and your timed messages. By using the web application, you are able to preset messages on a timed schedule to be released on your network at the times you think most important. The possibilities of this type of functionality are as endless as your creativity.

The web app is easy to use and can serve you to better time your announcements, set reminders for yourself or others, engage in timed online activities, or, as the site suggests, make it appear as if you never sleep. The practicality of this app seems pretty straightforward.

The application is currently in beta, but your able to explore what it has to offer pretty seamlessly. I suggest you give it a try to announce regular days when your podcast or blog post will go live, or perhaps some other similar campaign to see if Twuffer is right for you!

Meme will Challage Twitter in a World War

It appears as though Yahoo! may be the first real competitor to Twitter. Other companies such as Facebook have tried to draw people away from micro-blogging back to social networking. But there has been no real competition on the actual micro-blogging front.

A while back, Yahoo! stealthily rolled out Yahoo! Meme in the Portuguese language only. Nobody was all too sure why they did this because as business goes, you’re supposed to promote, promote, promote! Now their reasoning is clear.

It was a test. To see if it stood a chance without causing the company any embarrassment if it failed. They are now tackling Twitter on the global front by launching the micro-blogging platform in the second biggest language in the world; Spanish.

While people all over the world do use Twitter, studies have shown that services are received better by the public when they are tailored specifically to their needs – in this case their language.

While I can’t see Meme over running Twitter on the English servers I can see the new Yahoo! service picking up steam in South America, Mexico, West Africa and of course Spain.

Pricing Books Just Got Social

There are a lot of companies out there doing amazing things with emerging social media opportunities. It seems that this opportunities are not industry specific. Currently new ideas and applications for these ideas span across all industries, and all it takes is some innovative thinking to make it happen. Being a start-up is no longer a requirement. There are a lot of existing ideas and companies out there that are reinventing themselves with social media, and the “now” generation when it comes to getting information on the spot.

Mobile technology does not make it any easier on companies either. With so many applications out there, you can do everything from making payments to ordering pizza, even shopping for groceries for a quick quick up at the store. The speed of technology is forcing companies to think faster and smarter, probably moreso now than ever before. This is the business world we stand in today; social media, mobile apps, instant connectivity, instant gratification, the world moves faster, so businesess have to move faster.

This is where Booksprice comes in. Here is a company with a solid business model of providing cheap books for users looking for the best deals. Their site is amazingly easy to navigate but offers more than just books, it offers music, DVD’s, and more. What’s the “more”? Think of it like a mashup of Amazon and MySimon, or any other similar combination. I’ve been using the site for searches over the past week and have found it very useful.

This is definitely a college student’s dream when it comes to finding affordable textbooks!

Pricing Books At Your Fingertips
Booksprice announced at the beginning of the month that their company was now offering instant lookup via Twitter, called Price Tweet. Twitter has been the micro-blogging application that has simply taken the social media world by storm as the ultimate way to connect with users worldwide. This life tracking application has been integrated into a number of companies as a way of connecting with the customer, announcing specials, and offering coupon codes, and now Booksprice has joined those ranks.

Via your mobile device, a user can now send a direct message to Booksprice (d booksprice) and after that input the ISBN/UPC number and click “SEND.” In a matter of seconds your mobile device will receive a reply with price comparisons for more affordable options. The idea is to provide the user with information on the fly, saving them the hassle of searching for prices across all the sites they would normally have searched through.

Lucy Orbach, co-founder of Booksprice states, “With this new tool, Booksprice goes beyond the online market. In a fast and easy way, it will help the shoppers compare the price of the items from the store where they are to their prices online. Since online shopping involves a shipping cost, the prices shown on our messages will include standard shipping to the US, making it even easier to compare. Now, that the Holiday shopping are here , our direct quote tweets can help shoppers make sure they don’t overpay for their books/DVDs at store.”

To further impress upon its users the usefulness of the Twitter client, users can set up alerts for a certain time frame to announce when the price drops. If you are still unhappy with the prices offered by various vendors, and you’re waiting for another price drop, simply fill out some information and alerts will be sent either to your mobile or desktop Twitter client as soon as it records a drop. When the end date comes, the updates stop, without the users need to go back into the site to stop it. It’s very innovative and useful no doubt for seasonal shopping whether it is for books, DVD’s, music or other items of interest.

I highly recommend this site as an option for your bargain shopping. Chances are you may not go back to your old price hunting sites again!

Twitter Goes Political with Election 08′

If you’ve been on Twitter for the last few months, you’ve probably noticed a few of your stateside followers in deep conversation about the upcoming election to replace President Bush. While we all have our own opinion on how the country has been managed, the good news is that finally some change is coming and this election will determine the course of our future. Even our friends overseas are watching closely to see just what will happen, for better or worse.

Twitter has gone the extra mile and included a “Twad” (Twitter ad) at the top of their site to keep users up to date on the election, fundamentally calling it Election.Twitter. At midnight last night, Election.Twitter went live, finally acknowledging just how popular, if not important, this topic has been on their micro-blogging service. The site will be very familiar to long time Twitter users, except for one big difference. “What are you doing?” is being replaced with “What do you think?”, opening the floor for debate, discussion, disagreement, and speculation.

To get the low down on what is going on, stop by get involved, and get informed!

Twitter with Ads, Worthwhile?

With as long as Twitter has been with us, it’s amazing that we’ve not seen a monetizing model sooner. Well…it was bound to happen, and it’s here. Twitter can now display ads, and users can get paid for it with Twittad .

As you look at your account, think to yourself, “I’ve got followers, why shouldn’t I make money for being so popular.” If that’s your train of thought, this little addition to Twitter is right up your alley. Having full control of the ad space, you set the price on the space you are looking to sell andTwittad will match with the advertisers in their database.

Where does the ad go?

Good question, simple answer. The advertisement will sit in the upper left hand column of your Twitter homepage. That big empty space can be used more effectively now by placing an ad that will interest your followers. That’s it, it’s that simple. While some may have feared that the advertisement would have been plastered across your background, or cover the page with flashing, twirling, and otherwise annoying attention grabbers, the simple fact is that the ad will remain unobtrusive.

For the Twitter User

So the first question is obvious, how do I become a part of Twittad? Allowing Twittad to pair you with the appropriate advertiser and marketing promotions can be lucrative and here’s how.

You start off with submitting your page to Twittad for advertisers to purchase (remember you set the price). Once the price is agreed upon select the duration for which you’d like the ad to appear on your page. Now you wait, it can be long or short, but the advertiser must contact you once they are interested. You ultimately have the choice to accept or deny the advertisers offer. If you deny, wait for another offer. If you accept, then simply upload the ad to the design of your template and then notify the advertiser that you are ready to go.

You basically get paid for every hour you serve the advertisement to your followers, and a virtual account will keep track of your earnings. Once the duration of the advertisement has come to an end the virtual account releases the “real” funds to your account. So no worries, you don’t get paid in Monopoly money.

For the Advertiser

Being a part of Twittad is just as easy for the advertiser. All advertisers are able to browse what the users are willing to share and for how much. This gives the advertisers a chance to find the right candidate for their brand and hopefully gain some exposure on the popular micro-blogging site.

Advertisers start off by creating their advertisement using guidelines set by Twittad and following their examples. Once the ad is designed you browse the user database to find the right candidate for your product. You select the “Buy Now” and await their denial or acceptance. Denied? Keep looking. If you are accepted you simply connect and pay via Pay Pal, and if the user removes the ad prior to the agreed upon time, you are credited for the loss. Ultimately the tracking that is provided for the advertisers will alert them if agreements are broken and the advertiser is free to leave negative feedback in such cases.

Twittad receives 5% of the total paid out price as their fee for using their services.

Is This Viable?

I ask myself this question ever since I hear about Twittad. Is this a viable solution to make money on Twitter? Well, sure it can’t hurt to make a little money. The site itself shows how much individuals are making based on duration and follower count. But ultimately, how many people actually travel to your homepage on Twitter? The only time I can think of is when they choose to follow you, but otherwise with all theAPI’s out there, Twitter users are hardly ever on the actual site itself. Perhaps it won’t be long until these web apps we use are filled with advertising. If there’s a way to market, leave to the advertisers to find it.