As a startup you know that one of the big problems you face is getting your message out to the wider world.

Whether it's a new product/service, some exciting news or another cause, getting your message seen by a larger audience can help increase signups and supporters. Getting your family and friends to share on Twitter and Facebook is great. I'm sure they be happy to help and it will broaden your message to your second and potentially third connections.

But as these go out in drips and drabs, here and there, the message can be missed by many. Another way is to have your tailored message sent out from the social networks of your first connections, all at the same time. Creating a much bigger impact.

It's less likely it will be missed and if people see the message shared by multiple people then they'd be much more inclined to find out more. That's the power of the crowd. It's the fear of missing out.

But how do you do that? Thunderclap.it It's a great platform that I recently came across which allows you to create a message and then have your friends, family, colleagues etc back their support with a tweet, FB post or even Tumblr.

But it will wait until your pre arranged date and time to release the message across your supporters networks. In the mean time you can see the aggregated social reach of your connections.

Do bear in mind however that you must hit a certain number of backers for it to work. You can choose 100, 250 or 500. Pick wisely though. Don't pick 500 if you don't think you'll be able to get any more than 300 at a stretch as the campaign won't go out.

But if you pick 250. You'll still have 300 supporters but your campaign will go out on your given date. It's actually great marketing from Thunderclap as you're continually pushing more people to the site, increasing awareness about what they do. If you want to see the platform in action then you can help me at the same time and back my campaign to support young entrepreneurs here:

As you can tell it has a very simple UI with a clear call to action for users to support the message (in the blue box) via the Twitter, Facebook or Tumblr buttons below it.

It also shows campaign live date and how many supporters have backed it so far and what the target is. The added bonus is that if you gain enough momentum you can be featured in the front page and then you'll have access to supporters from the wider public.

How do you see yourself using the platform?