Sponsored Tweets: Are you selling out?

The Money Whale!

SponsoredTweets is a new Twitter advertising platform that connects advertisers with Tweeters. Advertisers can create sponsored conversations on Twitter. Tweeters can earn money for spreading the word.

I can earn Washingtons and Abraham Lincolns using Twitter?! Oh, boy! I always knew that the day would arrive when I could got paid to send out snippets of text and links. Now, only Facebook needs to catch up.

The Big Deal

Are you harming your credibility and influence by injecting sponsored tweets into your Twitter stream?

Of course not.

You see, there is a right way and a wrong way to approach the craze over pocketing as much cash as you can from Twitter. On one side, you’ve all but given up on Twitter and have allowed your feed to be littered with incessant sales pitches to “sign up and experience for yourself the amazing Microsoft Tag! With cool new features, you’re sure to love it!”

I think it’s safe to say that@coopchad is not a fervent user of Twitter.

Unless you are Kim Kardashian, this is not how you should be using Twitter. (I’m assuming you are not a “celebrity.”)

The Answer

There is a right solution to incorporating advertising into your tweets. Foremost, it should be relevant to your brand, reputation, and your interests. In other words, if you are Target, it’s not in your best interest to send out sponsored tweets about Wal-mart’s latest electronics sale. Ask yourself: would my followers be interested to know about this product?

The next key strategy towards incorporating advertising into your tweets is the rate of frequency. People have very little patience for ads. Avoid sending more than one sponsored tweet each week. That’s my rule. Become a nuisance, and you will suffer the consequences.

Lastly, hide away hints of the tweets as advertising by being personal. Don’t change your tone and allow advertisers to take complete control. Make it sound like a recommendation you are offering to a friend. Sure, you still have to disclose sponsored tweets making you sound like an idiot for trying to sound like you actually care. But, hey. Sure beats this right?

But, it’s soooo tempting to not do it!

Here’s my solution: Every time you receive a new offer, bump up the rate you charge per tweet. Disregard the suggested price, but don’t be unrealistic. No one will pay you a cool Benjamin Franklin when you only have 10 followers, 7 of which are probably spam-bots.

If you so happen to be a celebrity or have been receiving Kim Kardashian-esque offers, disregard everything I have said thus far, and join the ranks with @coopchad as fast as you can. Hey, in this economy, I’m sure you can understand. Find out more about Sponsored Tweets.

Image by Drew Hawkins

  • http://ileane.wordpress.com/ Ileane @ Wordpress SEO

    Hey Tony, I thought I would never send out a sponsored tweet – until I met MyLikes. The cool thing about them is that you only need to earn $2 in order to get a payout! Sure the payouts were low but at least I’m getting something. I really didn’t do it for the money it was more like a challenge of saying that I made a couple of bucks online. Goodness knows I may never get a payout from AdSense. LOL.

    Sponsored tweets hasn’t sent me many offers so at this rate I might reach the $50 payout sometime during 2011.

    Check out MyLikes when you get a chance and let me know what you think. Thanks for the laughs (as always).

    • http://loneplacebo.com/about Tony Hue

      Never heard of MyLikes. Sponsored likes?! Good lord. When will the madness end?

      Thanks for dropping by, Ileane! You’re wonderful (as always).

  • http://www.simplehomeorganization.com Melinda @ Simple Home Organization

    Good points some ad spammers should read. I think if you are going to send sponsored tweets it is ok if it fits in with your readers’ interests…and you aren’t constantly spamming sponsored tweets. I have no problem with someone sending a couple a day. We have to support the blogging habit in some way. :) But I would just unfollow an ad spammer.

    I’m with Ileane on Adsense..but I know I don’t have the traffic to judge that at this point. I joined MyLikes, too, but haven’t done any tweets using it.

    Nice site. I’m going to look around :)

    • http://loneplacebo.com/about Tony Hue

      A couple sponsored tweets in one day?? Advertisers would LOVE you, Melinda.

      Thanks for dropping by!

  • http://www.websitebegin.com Joe Boyle

    As the old saying goes, “You shouldn’t have too much of a good thing”.

    Don’t overdo the sponsored tweets or else you’ll come off as a spammy person who doesn’t care about their audience, just money.

    Great post!

    • http://loneplacebo.com/about Tony Hue

      Yea….like @coopchad. lol. Sorry, Chad.

  • http://www.johnsthomas.com John

    Aren’t the only people still using twitter spammers?

    • http://loneplacebo.com/about Tony Hue

      Twitter spammer has a varied definition.

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  • http://precktazman.blogspot.com tricks

    I registered on mylikes and so far I haven’t received any. Is it still working?

    • http://loneplacebo.com/about Tony Hue

      Kiss MyLikes goodnight. It isn’t a viable option.

  • http://roezer.com/LostBlog Roezer

    I am with Illeane and Melinda. Mylikes I know was the best form of paid tweets but now they suck. As for Sponsored tweets I got some offers from them but they were so few and far between that I just gave up. They are a good option for people like John Chow and Joel Comm and people with 10′s of thousands of twitter followers.