The Twitter Marketing Blog

So...the last few weeks my Twitter account has pretty much been on auto-pilot because things have just been too dang hectic at the office for me to do much with it lately. And not just Twitter...blogs, LinkedIn updates, it's all fallen by the wayside. The ironic thing is one of the reasons I've been too busy to update Twitter is that I've been hard at work on my own Twitter management application. But anyway...

A few weeks ago I started trying out something called Twivert. It's a great concept. Basically, it's a platform that allows advertisers to advertise through Twitter users' accounts, and the Twitter users can earn money for showing those ads. It's a great, low risk way to make some money from your Twitter account...so it seems. After trying this out, here is what I've discovered:

1. You do get a $5 "bonus" in your account for signing up. Then as advertisers use your account, your balance grows. Well, after letting this thing post to my account for a couple of months now, I've earned an addition TWO CENTS. So...my account balance is now $5.02. You can only request a payout when your account balance reaches $30...At this rate, I will be 82 years old before I can get my money.

2. The only ads I have ever seen run through my account are the ads from Twivert itself advertising the fact that if you join up you get a $5 signup bonus...and so the cycle continues.

3. Really all this thing does is get you labeled a spammer. Thus, a recent reference to me from another Twitter user:

ASoldiersMother: @jwork could you just send me the $5 and forget the spam?

So...in the end, I've probably damaged my online reputation and annoyed the hell out of a lot of people, all for a fictitious $5 that I will never see.

If you have lots of followers, are determined to make money from Twitter any way you can, and don't mind being labeled a "spammer," then go right ahead. But for most people, I would say this is something to avoid.