Twitter May Not Be Making Money, But YOU Can!

Twitter has yet to announce their monetization plans.  There’s no doubt in my mind they will eventually make millions, but their hesitation surprises me.  Although everyone’s Web 2.0 sweetheart hasn’t made a dime, its community has the ability to monetize the platform.

Twitter enables users to communicate to the world.  Its power tweeters such as Kevin Rose, Jimmy Fallon, Leo Laporte, Shaquille O’neal, and Veronica Belmont (check out We Follow to find more) have a ridiculously huge reach of hundreds of thousands of followers.  Their reputation and influence in the twittersphere is more valuable than most could imagine.  Many don’t understand the power of twitter and what makes it so special.  It’s simply a personalized communication service, unlike anything else.  AND in turn, arguably the best new marketing tool.

HootSuite

So how can one turn 140 characters into cash?  There will no doubt be new, crazy innovations that I only wished I could dream of.  One of the tools available today is HootSuite.  Previously known as Brightkit, this rebranded service allows you to track and measure the success of shortened URL’s (simplified to http://ow.ly/1hf8, for example). Although there are many other similar services, HootSuite allows you to embed Google Adsense ads into the top frame of the page.  Although I’m skeptical of the effectiveness of this technique, it no doubt provides a unique offering to an otherwise archaic technology:

Adjix

Adjix offers a similar approach by placing ads above the linked page’s content.  They also provide in-tweet ads by adding a brief message of your choice to outgoing tweets:

Magpie

Magpie offers a different approach in which it tweets ads on your behalf.  Revenues earned are based on a combination of pay-per-click, view, lead, or sale.  The success of this heavily relies on the number of followers.  Magpie attempts to target ads relevant to the content typically tweeted.  They claim their click rate is twice as effective as any other online advertising – quite a claim, but I’m not surprised.  Just like any of these monetization methods, having a large number of followers is necessary to earn big dough.  Although this technique may severely hurt ones reputation, it can lead to massive revenues for power tweeters:

Twittad

Lastly, there is Twittad which allows users to display ads on their twitter.com page.  This is the least invasive, which in turn, makes it the least effective.  While I commend Twittad on their unique approach to online advertising (hell, I’m actually quite jealous), I don’t think it serves much use for advertisers because of the nature and evolution of how twitter is used.  A majority of its active tweeters use applications such as TweetDeck (my personal fav), Twhirl, Twitterific, or any one of the million of other tools out there.  Rarely does the community view individual twitter pages.

So what’s next?  I’m excited to see what innovations arrive to capitalize on the fastest growing social network on the web.  Twitter may be able to substitute for a part time job for some or a retirement plan for a genius few.  For those of you doubting this, remember when people were surprised to hear about blogging for money?

What other money-making twitter applications do you know of?

Street Fighter IV Goes Viral

I came across this awesome viral campaign through Kotaku, allowing users to embed their face within their favorite Street Fighter character.  I couldn’t resist so I figured I’d throw my mug on good ol’ Ryu.

(Unfortunately non-paid, hosted WordPress blogs don’t allow embedded flash video.  You will have to imagine me kicking ass, I guess.)

I just love this stuff!  This is a perfect example of an effective viral campaign.  Not only will I be posting this to facebook and other social networks for my friends to see, but this will definitely cement itself within my memory.

Marketers approach advertising with reference to reach and frequency.  This campaign achieves a large reach as users pass it along like a joint at a Snoop concert.  In addition, viewers remember the ad without having to see it a dozen times – frequency isn’t necessary.  Successful viral ads will definitely help marketers achieve the ultimate goal of TOMA (top of mind awareness) as consumers shop for their next video game.

Now go ahead and get your dome in Street Fighter.  HADOUKEN!!!