Finally, a U.S. company is promoting its moblog services for business applications. Textamerica has established a section on its Web site dealing with its business services, including its hosting of moblogs for companies and its platform (see below).
I have been waiting for moblog companies to begin marketing their services for business applications. As I've written numerous times before, offering free moblog services to consumers without also selling fee-based services is no way to remain in business!
Textamerica says its platform is "scaleable, modular, localizable & highly adjustable. It is configured to process text, still images and or video submitted by SMTP or MMS. We presently limit video to formats 3GP, .MOV and MP4, however it can be adjusted to accept video in any format you desire."
Value for businesses
Textamerica is marketing its business services to cellular operators and corporations. I previously wrote that the company has provided moblog services to the San Diego Union-Tribune and also is negotiating a deal with a major cellular operator.
Targeting businesses, textamerica writes on its Web site, "Whether you produce a television show, run a sports team or have a product line to sell, a Moblog is a great way to increase brand visibility, customer loyalty and sales.
"The flexibility of Moblogging is key here, it can be used to show your audience life behind the scenes or to get images of a product to the web instantly, whatever your business Moblogging can help you grow the bottom line."
White label services
Textamerica's "white label" services include:
"Robust template engine, fully customizable template option, image options including commenting, image sharing, voting, notifications, slide show feature, automatic top 10 image selection for statistics of your choice, built-in message board platform, built-in search engine, flexible & smart registration, live & automatic image refresh on home page, live news ticker, Editors Pick feature, user back office including easy editing, image library, Web stats & more, [and] mobile versions of site in WAP & XHTML enable your users to browse noblogs on any wireless phone or device"
Textamerica is marketing different moblogs for different applications, including: "Event moblogs, showcase moblogs, marketing moblogs, media moblogs, private moblogs and non-profit moblogs." The company includes examples of these moblogs, although most, if not all, have been established for free.
A great start
Textamerica is leveraging its free moblogs to illustrate the value to companies that could pay for more advanced services. This is exactly the type of marketing I have wanted to see from moblog companies.
(Disclosure: I did some consulting for textamerica last year.)
Larger companies that have been concentrating on providing moblog and related Web photo album platforms to cellular operators, such as NewBay Software and Hex Software, do a good job of marketing their products. But most of today's moblog companies are still puzzling how to make money.
Alternative income sources
Some companies have the luxury of time to experiment because they generate revenues from other sources. Textamerica's founders operate another business that provides the funding for the moblog venture.
The founders of Yafro, that provided personal moblogs for attendees (like me) at the Cameraphone Summit in Maui last week, receive income from the popular HotorNot rating/dating service.
More business models
I'd love to see other moblog companies begin marketing revenue-generating services. Just as importantly, I'd like to see good Web-based and paper-based marketing materials that discuss business models.
Since my consulting business focuses on creating new and enhancing existing wireless data businesses (including camera phone-related ventures), I know something about what it takes to develop business plans and marketing documents.
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