by Karri Flatla

When I finally did get on the micro blogging bandwagon (and no, I don’t count Facebook, not even the “new” one), I put my profile on pretty much all of the Twitter-ish sites I could find. Hey, why not? It’s sort of like one of those drinking games where you do a bunch of different shooters in about half and hour, realize most of them just make you want to throw up and go back to your favourite beer the following Saturday.

My favourite beer is Twitter. My favourite shooter is Ping.fm. Both have a special place in my repertoire, and I’ve not puked even once. A veteran knows how to pace herself. Here’s what works for me in the micro blogosphere, hangover free:

1) Twitter is my water cooler. (And yes, I was calling it that BEFORE Joel Comm or anyone else called it that. So there.) As such, it has a special place on my desktop via the twhirl app. Tried others. Came back to twhirl. So, I take a sip of water often throughout the day, and if I see a good conversation going on “over there,” I park myself at the water cooler for a few, give and get some advice, be entertained, gossip a little about my own life and then it’s back to work. Refreshing without feeling like I’m drowning.

2) Ping.fm is my broadcast. It’s no micro blogging tool, and it wasn’t meant to be one. It’s  for blasting a short message that you want everyone you know and might want to know a little better to read. I use Ping.fm for general, marketing related communications as well as other juicy bits that may be of interest to my kin. And when I Ping I Ping it good. I Ping LinkedIn, Facebook (uh, the new one), Twitter, Plurk, Pownce, Plaxo and so on.

There are so many ways to slice up the micro blogging pie. At the end of the day though, Twitter is where I hang out. It’s my community. Maybe Bebo is yours. (What’s a Bebo?) Ping.fm is what its name implies: a way to reach a lot of people without getting too personal. Sort of like radio. 

The best way to illustrate my micro blogging strategy(?) would be with examples.

Twitter Post Examples:

• Want to try the new Ping.fm for micro blogging en mass? It’s in beta. DM me for the code.
• My laptop would make a better doorstop. Where are the best laptop deals in Canada online?
• The next kid that pulls the cord on my modem is getting put up for adoption. Takers?
• Woohoo! Just signed a new client who loved the website audit we did. Nice lead gen tool.

Ping.fm Post Examples:

• New Search Engine Guide post – Bet You Didn’t Know Micro Blogging Could Be This Simple – http://searchengineguide.com/karri-flatla/etc
• Star Wars-meets-Izzy-Izzard skit in Lego. Funniest thing I’ve ever seen on YouTube – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sv5iEK-IEzw [No really, you do have to see it].
• Latest newsletter went out today. New whatever offered for download to all subscribers.
• If you like purple widgets, Digg this – http://www.somewebsite.com/somepressrelease.html

See? Nuthin’ hard about this micro blogging thing. We’re all connected now, and that doesn’t have to be overhwhelming. Just pick your pleasure on the micro stuff and stick with it (i.e. Twitter for me). And Ping the macro once a day or once a week. No hangovers. No headaches. No hassles.

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