How I Monetized Twitter

10 Comments

I was sitting down in the studio today and had a big realization . . . I just monetized twitter! There’s a lot of talk about how you can’t do that and I’m in the same camp at times. In this video I talk about how twitter relationships can lead to sales.

 

Click here if you can’t see the video on how to monetize twitter.

Posted on September 7, 2010

  • http://twitter.com/magalogguy Mike Klassen

    I think a good place to continue this conversation is how you, Justin, respond to someone who follows you. When someone follows me, I try to respond with a thank you. And I used to include a link to free marketing resources on my site.

    But I could tell that people rarely clicked on the link. In some cases, I’m sure it’s because the person making the initial follow is just interested in getting a return follow and boosting numbers. That’s pretty common on Twitter.

    In other cases, I’m sure it came across from me that my invitation was to simply try to rope them into buying something. Who knows?

    These days, depending on what I see of their profile and website, I’ve responded with an invitation to talk by phone so we can see what areas we have in common and where we might work together down the road. It’s interesting that I rarely get a response to that.

    So would you mind taking this to the next level and explaining how you respond to new followers and whether you do anything after that with DMs, or just let things happen naturally in the flow of tweets where someone might respond?

  • http://coachradio.tv/ Justin Lukasavige

    Great idea Mike. I actually took a (funny) look at what I do when people
    follow me, at http://www.coachradio.tv/your-crap-and-twitter-dont-mix.

    I never give out links because you’re right, people don’t care. I think in
    most cases people don’t care about links because they’re interested in you
    as a person. If they like you, they’ll find those links, or they’ve already
    seen them.

  • http://twitter.com/magalogguy Mike Klassen

    Well, at least Julia has updated her blog since your original post. :-)

    It’s good see that you’ve had some success with Twitter. I remain a bit skeptical about whether it’s helping me or if I’m helping anyone else.

    I come from a radio background, interviewing people for long stretches of time. You got to know people better as did the listeners. I really miss that with some of the social media tools.

    140 character isn’t enough for me. Facebook is a bit better because you have more space to get into a conversation and have other people join in.

    Blogs, like this, are even better.

    I guess my point is that I haven’t quite managed to figure out how to turn 140 characters into meaningful relationships. (Of course, as soon as I wrote that, it struck me that I saw the link to this video through social media, and now we’re here talking about it.)

  • http://coachradio.tv/ Justin Lukasavige

    Ah, now you’re on to it Mike! Perhaps it’s not about having conversations in 140 characters or less, but what those characters lead to.

  • Anonymous

    Keep the funnel full! Learning a lot about establishing virtual reputation these days.

  • http://www.rebeccachapman.org Rebecca Chapman

    Maybe it’s just me, but I would be totally turned off if someone sent me sales links, or even worse, I’d be extremely weirded out if someone I didn’t already know wanted me to call them on the phone (ugh ugh ugh!!!), just because I started following them on Twitter. I haven’t really used Twitter much yet, so it’s not like I’m following a huge amount of people right now, or vice versa, but when I do follow someone, I’m primarily interested in what they have to say to their followers in general, or quicker status updates if I’m already a customer and there are potential network issues.

    I might even make a comment on something they say from time to time, but I really don’t want a company acting towards me like they are some sort of very desperate “suitor” who gives me their phone number, their undying affection, and an engagement ring just because I was being polite and said “hello” one day in the hallway as we were passing.

    I’m also the type of person who wants to wear a shirt into Home Depot that states in very large letters, “If I need help, I’ll ask for it, thank you!” :)

    I don’t mind if people follow me back or make a comment on something I post, but I don’t necessarily want to be singled out the moment I decide to follow someone.

    Hope this helps!

  • http://twitter.com/magalogguy Mike Klassen

    Fair enough, Rebecca, but I feel I should clarify.

    First, I never ask someone to call me. I make the call if they want to talk. If they don’t want to talk, no problem. I certainly wouldn’t hound them.

    Second, I make the invitation to businesses that follow me (and not all of them) and that’s typically the type of person that does follow me… a business person. In fact, I’d venture a guess that they’re following me because they want to make themselves known to me so I can buy from them.

    If it just seemed like some individual who’s, say, going to college, I wouldn’t make that invitation. And, frankly, that’s not the type of person who follows me. My tweets really wouldn’t be of interest to non-business folks.

    I use Twitter for business purposes only. Some people use it for personal use… chatting with friends and family or following some celebrity. Both uses are fair.

    But if a business follows me on Twitter and is shocked that I’d make an invitation to talk about how we might partner on future business projects, my guess is that it’s not a very successful business.

    Many of my followers are marketers and copywriters which are perfect partners for me, a graphic designer.

    I know where you’re coming from with the Home Depot shirt. Unfortunately, it’s impossible for any of us to know what preferences everyone else has until we ask, or if it’s made clear on their Twitter page like, “Just because I follow you doesn’t mean it has to go beyond that.”

    In fact… this reminds me of a comedian who told the following story… “I went into Radio Shack to buy some batteries. As I’m paying the guy, he asks, ‘Can I have your address?’ My address? Listen buddy… I give you the money, you give me the batteries. That’s the end of our relationship, OK?”

    They way he told it cracked me up and still does a couple of decades later.

  • http://coachradio.tv/ Justin Lukasavige

    And yet it happens all the time Rebecca. :) You won’t believe how many
    people send me that stuff and we haven’t even met.

    And you’re also right that everyone seems to use twitter in different ways.
    I don’t think there’s a right or wrong, but there is a way to do it turn a
    lot of people off.

  • http://www.rebeccachapman.org Rebecca Chapman

    After your clarification, I suspect you probably are getting a lot of initial followers who are trying to boost their numbers as you mentioned earlier. You could try not following them back for a few days and see what happens. Usually the link farmers will drop you within a week if you don’t follow them and would weed out those who are less inclined to be open to collaboration or more hostile to being directly contacted.Unfortunately, I don’t have the Home Depot shirt I mentioned, so I usually just have to try not to make any eye contact as I attempt to make a fast beeline through the gauntlet of orange vests on my way to the potting soil. It doesn’t work though. I’m pretty certain I had one of them running after me once and I probably would have gotten caught if another customer hadn’t first flattened him while making her own escape from a different direction.Wow, I think I may have argued with someone in Radio Shack about that address request before. Or it could have been over the zip code in EB Games. I’ll have to remember that comedian’s response for next time it happens!

  • http://www.coastalblogcoach.com Traci

    I completely agree! Building those relationships is key to a successful business in this day & age. Typically women have always been about “building relationships” and being able to bring that into the business & technology world is teaching me that I can succeed!