Like many others, I've played around with the micro-blogging platform Tumblr for sometime. A small, powerful, quick publishing application, Tumblr is probably the easiest blogging platform on the web (rivaled only by the very similar micro service: Posterous).
One of the reasons I've recently started using Tumblr more (my new tumblelog: "other matters") is that Tumblr's ease-of-use provides a convenient way to share with friends something of interest that can be completely random (example: your favorite song, music video, website, etc). As many of my readers know, I started a new blog last year, Reading the Greats. I recently discontinued it, actually replaced it, with "other matters" (if you are curious, you can read additional details on why, here).
What finally set me free to use Tumblr was that I found a design template that I fell in love with: scaffold, designed by Mike Harding. (Sidebar: I firmly believe that if you do not have a blog you should just get started, no matter how ugly you think your blog is. Since I was already blogging, I was in no hurry and decided I could wait until I found a template I enjoyed). John Mayer used scaffold for his tumblelog and after I launched my site, Team Coco used the template as well. (I'm flattered, Conan, you shouldn't have).
I'm digressing (permissible on Tumblr, but not here).
What I wanted to share with my readers was just how easy it was to post to Tumblr (compared to Wordpress and Typepad). At right is an image featuring a few different ways I've posted to Tumblr, mostly while on the run (click on the image to enlarge):
- One post was written (and posted) while in the car using the iPhone Tumblr app.
- I emailed a "quote" post while reading (I use the app Stanza for ebooks). Tumblr detected in my email that this was a quote post and formatted it to look like a quote on my site, automagically. (By the way, the best images of book covers seem to reside on Amazon, no surprise, so I search for the book via Amazon, take a screenshot of the book cover by pressing the Home button and the Sleep/Wake button simultaneously, and then use Instagram to post to Tumblr - it takes seconds).
- You can also simply use the Tumblr app for all of your posting but I like Instagram for photos as I can post to Twitter, facebook and other social networks at the same time.
These are just a few methods for posting, there are other ways as well, details for additional posting are in the goodies section after you sign up.
An additional reason I'm highlighting Tumblr on this blog is that I have many readers who still do not blog but want to. Tumblr is the easiest entry into the blogosphere. There are definite limitations from a social perspective but as marketers, I think we should all keep an eye on Tumblr. Their success as a micro-publishing platform has sky-rocketed this year, they've also scored a significant round of funding very recently and, given the dramatic changes with Typepad, Tumblr would be smart to release a corporate, business-friendly version of their platform (one can only hope).
So, if you don't have a blog, start tumbling. As always, if you decide to tumble or already have a tumblelog, let me know so we can keep in touch.
