Incorporating Revenue Into Your Twitter Stream

Every social media purist on the planet just keeled over and died.

Let me preface this post with a huge disclaimer: this post is not about using your Twitter account for shady MLM practices, spamming links and selling your heart out. This is gentle, involved and transparent revenue generation. Huge difference mmkay?

Okay, so it all started when a colleague of mine asked me, “How can I incorporate some revenue generation into my Twitter stream? Is it possible? Should I do it?” My simplistic, summarized response is: yes, it is possible and sure, you can do it – if it feels right.

When I’m talking about Twitter to anyone, the first thing I say is that they should approach Twitter (or any other social media site) the same way they would an in-person networking event. Just like you won’t walk into that networking event shouting your marketing spiel, you don’t want to do that on Twitter either. For example, could you imagine the person who Tweeted the Tweets in the screenshot below walking into an event and ONLY saying the things written here?

Of course not. Everyone would turn and stare at that human being as if they had four heads. However, this is often the approach people take online. Really aggressive Internet marketers may disagree with me that the above doesn’t work but I don’t think it does. If it does work, it might work for the first two or three times and after that, people get tired of your spiel and start to desire substance.

So, how do you incorporate revenue generating opportunities instead? Passively create them. Here are two things you can do that won’t annoy the socks off of (all) your Twitter followers.

Twitter Revenue Generation Idea #1 – Share Resources

This is an easy one to incorporate into your Twitter account that most people don’t seem to mind. Sharing resources can be done in the moment or, as a pre-scheduled Tweet. If you are going to do a pre-scheduled Tweet however, make it useful and helpful and avoid doing them too often. Let me breakdown each of these options for you.

In the moment resource sharing is done when someone says, “Looking for a recommended project management tool” and you reply with, “Check out Web Collaboration, I love them! <LINK HERE>” Now, sometimes you’ll just share the web address, the Twitter account or whatever other contact information you have but if you want to get credit for sending people to the service, use an affiliate link shortened with Bit.ly.

It can also happen when a friend or a colleague launches a new product or service. For example, when Mercury Grove launched their new Web Collaboration software, I Tweeted it out using my affiliate link. Why? Well, why not? It’s not like I’m going to be able to retire to Tahiti on the earnings and if people find it helpful, I’m doing them a service by providing the resource. I’m also helping out my friends at Mercury Grove (which I would do with or without an affiliate link). Here is an example of that Tweet:

Now, since the FTC changed their guidelines and require you to disclose of all affiliate links (if you are in the US), some people have started posting (aff) behind their Twitter links or hash tagging them to annotate that they are indeed a referral or recommendation. Make sure to look up the FTC rules and abide by them because it could mean the death of your Twitter account if you do not.

Pre-scheduled Tweets can also be used and in this instance, I highly recommend coming up with a theme for your Tweets. For example, every day at noon Eastern, I Tweet out a new #ltrr (lunch time recommended resource). In these recommendations, I recommend products, companies and people that I know, like and trust. Every single person or thing I am Tweeting about is something I’ve used and that I enjoy.

Within these Tweets are a few affiliate links. Not all of them are — I will recommend without there being a cash incentive — but some of them do contain affiliate links that I earn a few pennies from if someone clicks through and signs up, purchases, etc. Here are a few examples of those Tweets:

I keep the sharing of affiliated resources to a minimum and to fully disclose it, here is a list of the services and tools that I use, love and recommend often:

So, when I’m on Twitter and I see someone that I can help out (by recommending a resource) and it’s something I already use and love, I’ll grab the Bit.ly link for that particular service or company and share it! The thing is, if you’re going to share it anyway and it’s not costing your followers anything extra and it’s a product that you genuinely do love and use, why not earn a bit from the referral?

Twitter Revenue Generation Idea #2 – Periodically Sell Your Offerings

Many people despise marketing on Twitter but the thing is, everyone markets to some degree. If you’re in business, if you’re a blogger, if you’re sharing information that deviates at all from the “Here’s what I’m eating, doing, saying, etc.” sort of Tweets, you are marketing.

Marketing doesn’t mean slimy sales pitch, it’s simply the act of informing people about what you are doing. Going on your book tour and letting the world know about it? Yep, that’s marketing. Feeding your new blog posts to Twitter? Marketing! Letting your followers know that you just finished a website for a client is marketing too! You can see that it pretty much pops up everywhere.

So, use it to your advantage. Sneak in a Tweet every once in awhile that points people to something you are doing, gives people an indication of how they might engage with you on a paid level or share your new product or service during a launch (or at anytime!) Just use tact and tastefulness when doing it and make sure that your Tweet stream isn’t just broadcast out. Engage just as much, actually… more, than the marketing type Tweets.

Here are some examples:

Can’t Stop the Broadcast Marketing?

If you find yourself really unable to stop the massive outpouring of marketing related Tweets, take a page out of the book of some of the large companies on Twitter. Create dedicated Twitter accounts that are in your company’s name and make it very, very obvious in the bio line what the account is being used for.

Here are a few examples: