How to do anything on Twitter – Part 3
Part 3 – How to make money on Twitter
Ah, making money on Twitter, doing something you love. That’s the dream.
Not surprisingly, there are loads of people telling you how to ‘GET RICH QUICK!’ on Twitter. But I’ve weeded all that out and (hopefully) come up with the goods.
First, let’s clear one thing up. You’ll only make money from Twitter if you don’t sell on Twitter. I know that sounds weird but it’s true. The best way to make money is to attract followers, then offer something of value off Twitter.
So, with that in mind…
How to attract more followers
You can attract followers in two ways – quickly or slowly. Quickly means you have to spam people. But that’s not how I do things. I attract followers by adding value. It’s slower, but much nicer – and long-term.
Write good articles. If people like your articles (or posts), they might RT you. And if they’ve got 20,000 followers, there’s a chance some might follow you. Works for me.
Offer value with every tweet. Do people really want to know what you did last summer? Maybe. But most people like links, tips, tools, quotes, articles, posts and ebooks. Stuff that enhances their day.
Get involved. Communicate with your followers, thank them for RT-ing, engage. Twitter is a community – so treat it as such.
Run a competition. People love FREE – I know I do. So give away a laptop, phone or even a free report if it’s interesting enough. You’ll get more followers doing this.
So you’ve got followers, now what?
Start a blog or website. I’ve only had twitterblogger.co.uk for two weeks and it’s gone ballistic. And a blog or site is a great place to offer people MORE – for free. Then every so often, sell on your blog or website. You’re still adding lots of value and you might make money too.
Yes, it all sounds, ‘gently, gently’ – and it is. People are sick of long-form, SHOUTING, web pages that say your life will improve dramatically as soon as you spend £5 on this AMAZING gadget/system. People want real value. And who can blame them?
Yeah, yeah I’ve got a fancy blog – nowwww what?
Okay, here are some ideas on how to make money from your blog, which Twitter has driven lots of visitors to. And how not to annoy people doing it.
Affiliates. I use WordPress, who display ads on my blog. Please don’t shoot me, but I don’t mind. They’re discreet so I don’t notice them. Join up to a decent affiliate network, find something you’re happy to back 100% and promote it on your site. Just don’t go overboard or people will bounce.
Articles. You won’t get much, but if you’ve written loads of articles why not sell them to businesses that need SEO pages. Edit them so they are not duplicate content and this can be a nice little earner. You can even link to them from Twitter to attract more followers. Nifty.
Book. Deborah Micek wrote the first book on Twitter – it’s selling like hotcakes. It’s called Twitter Revolution. It’s not amazing, but she’s making money. Writing a book is self-perpetuating. Write a book, you’re trusted. Trusted people get more followers, promote your next book to all your new followers…and on it goes. Need help? Get a ghost-writer and go halves.
Report. Can you sell ebooks online? Yes. It happens everyday. If you create an amazing report (200 pages, loads of value, brilliantly written) and you sell it for a tenner, you only need 1,000 people to buy it and voila – £10,000. Promote it with PPC and SEO – if it’s niche enough it won’t take long to rank high on Google.
Tool or widget. Obviously not for the techno-phobes, unless you pay someone to build it. Most tools and widgets are free, but some are sold and make a lot of money.
Sponsorship. If your blog starts getting loads of traffic, sponsorship can be lucrative – as long as your sponsor can offer something of value to visitors too. It’s a bit like affiliates, but more of a relationship.
Some interesting links about making money on Twitter
Some of these articles and tools I don’t agree with, but I’ve included them because they are interesting (far-fetched?) and humorous.
Article: Make money on twitter with Magpie
Wow, Magpie is a wee bit controversial. To be honest, I’d un-follow anyone using this. What do you think? Leave a comment and let me know.
http://mashable.com/2008/10/31/magpie/
Tool: Twittad
Twittad is an affinity network that connects advertisers and twitter users. By using Twittad, advertisers can reach ALL of Twitter, third party applications and mobile devices. Hmm…
http://www.twittad.com/
Ebook: How to make money on Twitter
I’ve read this and it’s not bad. Lots of ideas on how to grow your followers and I did mark down quite a few little tips. Hey, it’s free – so why not have a read?
http://www.geekpreneur.com/twitter-ebook
Forum: The millionaire and future millionaire’s forum
Pretty heavy stuff – these people are certainly keen to make some dosh – and fast.
http://www.onemilliondollarday.com/
Blog: John Chow
Ever wondered what makes more money: blog, email or Twitter? John had a chance to test the three channels recently and the results were interesting.
http://tinyurl.com/dend8j
Article: Make money on Twitter
A team of mercenary cut-throats offer some suggestions on how to monetise your Twitter experience.
http://crave.cnet.co.uk/software/0,39029471,49301053,00.htm
Tool: Lively Browser
Lively Browser is an advanced web browser application that has more then 2,000,000 sites, forums and software. It costs US$50, but according to the reviews I’ve read, it does get you loads of followers really quickly – spamtastic? Please let me know.
http://www.livelybrowser.com
Well that’s the end of part 3. I hope you enjoyed my little series. Please leave a comment and tell me what you think. Missed part one and two?
Part ONE – How to find a job on Twitter
Part TWO – How to find love on Twitter
If you’ve got any ideas on another ‘How to’, please let me know and I’ll be happy to post it right here.
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Ciao! 
