AdWords and Twitter

Hilarious post Glenn. I\’ve been scratching my head about Twitter for awhile now. Best I can tell, it works for Guru/Celebrity types and those that want to follow them. So for example, Glenn I would consider following your tweets since my guess is that you would not waste my time and would only tweet items of value. However I\’d be just as happy to hear from you via email, so Twitter could be used as another way to pass along useful information.

I think it also falls in with the trend you see of hunting for more authenticity by customers…thus in the IM marketing space all the \’tours of my house\" \"here\’s my wife\" etc. I can see why that works. Everyone is skeptical and seeing that they drive a car (wow) or have a house (double wow) helps people to trust them more. I know one IM marketer who I trust who says she converts Twitter followers to her IM marketing as well as any other source.However when I inquired as to how she used it for another niche she worked (juice cleansing) she said she didn\’t bother. Aha. Even she admits that it doesn\’t make sense in all niches.

I tried to follow some suggestions she made for me to listen in on general Tweets in a niche I work (local real estate). What an utter waste of time. I found myself feeling like I\’d just been taken back to the old days of party phone lines and I was listening in on someone elses business. I could see no viable way of developing a relationship by randomly responding to tweets of strangers with real estate questions…it actually seemed counterproductive, even creepy.

I have two college kids…and the only friends they have that Twitter are the ones not passing their classes. Facebook yes. Texting on cell phones for sure. But Twitter? Nope. They think the same thing I do \"who the heck cares what you had for lunch?\" I feel like I\’m talking to my grandmother as she headed towards dementia actually and she would randomly update us on what she ate or her next medical appointment.

I\’m open minded, but for now, this is not a lead generation/ business building direction I\’m going to invest much time in.

Well that is certainly an element of Twitter. However it is a much more powerful medium than what is represented there. One case in point is the CDC and the recent swine flu issue. I found out on the CDC website that I could get updates from them on Twitter. So now I am getting updates on what is happening with the swine flu and know how many cases there are, deaths, etc. long before any media outlet could get that information to me.

I think the uses of the medium are yet to be explored.

Twitter reminds me of the movie Demolition Man. Where all that played on the radio were jingles… little 30 second hooks of music.

I am currently following a load of internet marketers on Twitter and it\’s interesting to map all the different ways that they are using to engage people and promote product. The bad ones stand out a mile \’Hi good morning- buy my product buy it now…with every last character\’ and the good ones are really gonna set the pace. I think its a great medium and the great thing is we get to watch the best of the best try it out live. I have noticed though that one of the winners is tiny url- they must be seeing a massive surge in traffic. Glenn- is there an opportunity there for ads or affiliates?

Gee Glenn this is a great chance to start a flame war…

I’ve been watching the Twitter users and for the most part it seems to be just a huge amount of noise. I keep asking myself why it is so important. I read reports from some that it is responsible for tons of traffic to their blog or website but what I haven’t heard is if there’s the profit in it all. I have followed a few notable people and even their Tweets are boring, nonsensical and superfluous for the most part. I get way more information more easily from their emails and the occasional blog (yours scores high).

Peter says he gets current info on the swine flu and I ask myself why. I don’t need to know about the swine flu instantly, what can I really do with that information? I don’t need to know there are people sick or dying or dead somewhere right now. If the sick and dying were next door is Peter or anyone else going to go into the fallout shelter? Stop going to work? stop visiting NYC? Not fly this week? I have my doubts, the same doubts I have about Twitter.

Can we become any more distracted from the real business at hand, don’t cellphones, texting, instant messaging and email already do enough to completely destroy our productivity?

Will Twitter improve the economy? Foreign relations? Stop foreclosures? Make our politicians more accountable? Correct the trade imbalance or unemployment or pay off foreign debt? Elect a better President? I do not think so.

A few will benefit perhaps but at what cost to society as a whole? It makes me very happy that I am not an employer of dozens, hundreds or thousands of employees wasting time.

Let the flames begin.

Phil

I am not sure whether using Twitter does help my business but since it’s a new marketing strategy, why not use it and see whether does it work for you? I mean in every business to success there’s 101 ways to make it work.

It’s how you see and understand the whole things. Some few ‘Ya, twitter does good for me since i can update my followers on stuffs, etc’ While i see others say ‘It’s a spam tools when every mins show something that’s unrelated’

For me, i just started to use twitter but i can see the potential in there with my target niche.

However it’s really does take time to really use it at the perk for twitter. Just like email marketing, you need time to really max the usage of the emailing marketing. It’s take time to learn and grow your understanding on different marketing.

Hmmm. I’m not a convert to Twitter. The name kind of says it all.

I like Perry’s position: If you’re an extrovert who *naturally* communicates and shares, go for it. The trick (like ruthless unsubscribing and spam reporting in your inbox) is to be able get positive results, then walk away. So Tweeting can be very productive time for *disciplined users.* I do see “addiction” problems for social networkers with poor impulse control. Ad Council PSA: Friends don’t let friends Overshare.

Twitter is just another service where you have to focus on networking for new and repeat business while resisting the urge to be extra social.

It is amusing but deceptive to rate Twitter by the quality of the work attempted with the tool. Twitter is a tool like a hammer. Imagine the utility of a craftsman with a hammer. Now imagine the chaos of a child with a hammer.

Now evaluate email as a tool in the hands of Perry Marshall.
Now evaluate email in the hands of too many others. Yah, too true.

Imagine how Glenn Livingston and his wife, Sharon, use video. OK I am just a sap, they are so funny together and so $$$mart with their contributions. You see people wielding video well, and then you see blah video.

Twitter works to spotlight concentrated value. Ask compelling questions. Always add value. People will learn to listen to you.

disclaimer – I have plans for Twitter; but, alas, I have twittered once. I follow one person. Penelope Trunk. She is a hoot. She is one bright little gal.
A caveat: set the coffee cup down before reading Ms. Trunk.

Oh, and incidentally, as my eyesight gets worse and the- are you human detectors get more sophisticated with the security screening, I can foresee a time soon when I will be posting much less, and fuming much more.

Big Ed in TX

From the beginning of time, where people have gathered by the hundreds, thousands, or even millions, advertisers have tried to get their foot in the arena. Twitter should be no different!

From a personal use, twitter is really unnecessary, since most people of my age (20’s) are on Facebook and/or MySpace. Multiple platforms to share thoughts and chat with friends is just not time worthy. Unfortunately for Twitter, they are a little late, but still a great force to reckon with.

From a Marketing perspective, Twitter can be the best platform to market on for its simple usability and layout. There are not millions of ads and videos cluttering up the page.

But not every industry would get a bang for their buck from Twitter. You’re probably not going to sell a CNC Machine or PVC Tubing from a Twitter post but you could sell products geared towards fun like cell phones, cameras, and psychic readings.

Most importantly, what you are selling is BRANDING! Sporting teams can give day of game information, movie studios can create hype, authors can give updates about new books, and most importantly, I can find out what party Dennis Rodman is going to tonight.

By providing “inside information” to the public, they can create a buzz around themselves or product which in turn can generate sales.

An example of good marketing on Twitter would be the Milwaukee Brewers. Their TV broadcast provides in game information and in addition, they hold contests for free Brewer Tickets and discounts on merchandise. For a Brewers Fan, this is a great source of information where you can’t find anywhere else. It creates a greater loyalty to the team and has an ability to sell you on goods.

Yep, It had to be said. I always assumed that I should only talk when I had something to say that added value to my listener.

I think I will Tweet this
Cheers

JohnGG

If I hear: “I’ll meet you on the other side.” one more time… Lol
(Sorry, I don’t think you’re wrong.)
As I see it, Twitterers are either spammers or involved in the 2.0 web
experience.
If they spam, I ignore them.
If they are not, they are possible clients, but if you spam them, they
usually ignore you unless you sell crap like make $25,000 a month
income in 2 days, and they are gullible.
(even then the numbers I have seen have been around .01% on average
that even click a link that is obviously to an ad or an ad tweet, let
alone pay anything.)
I think using twitter with other 2.0 sites gives credibility to your
selling elsewhere, but as a complete selling tool, I may be wrong but
I just don’t see it.
I certainly ignore and remove people that post links to squeeze pages
or are obviously just there to sell
(looking at past tweets will tell you a lot)
and everyone I know that doesn’t sell on the web if they are in
twitter at all does so too (sometimes I think Twitter is a bunch of
people trying to sell each other and all the real people are somewhere
else. Lol)
If you have enough followers, I suppose sheer numbers alone could
bring in some traffic
but tweeters in general are not looking for something like when they
go to Google
so ads are now more content network oriented toward interruption style
ads
and since the cap is now (supposedly) set at 2000 followers, seems a
waste of time to interrupt them when you can interrupt thousands more
(even millions) on the content network.

(just my thoughts)

Another thought,
I have found that if you post a link to a blog post, and that is your
history, people will check it out in greater percentages
(if it’s your blog every so often, then it is possible to drive
traffic to your blog… that does have ads on it or is a company
blog),
but if you always only post links to one blog, the numbers of people
that will click your links link drop to nothing in a couple of days
It is a netiquette thing I think
if you want people to read you, read them (or at least read others)
be involved and sell as a incidental thing, not for the sake of
selling on 2.0 sites
2.0 people don’t mind being sold, they just mind being sold TO.
Google or other search engines are looking to be sold to.

totally different mindset of client
That’s why CTRs on the content network are so much lower than on
search
on search you are filling a request
on the content network you are saying, “Have you ever thought
about…?” and it is the numbers that eventually make the passive
approach pay.
(which is why other than the Huffington Post, the 2nd profitable
blogger makes a living, but he is not rich.
Arianna Huffington is, but she has 1500+ people writing for her blog,
most of which are famous. Lol)
~Mark (Again)