I recently tried a new program where advertisers can purchase a tweet from you at a specific cost.
This was, for all intents and purposes, an experiment.
As you can see, I was paid $6.18 for one tweet via the SponsoredTweets.com program. They got a smashing good deal at 63 clicks!
Overall, my experience was mixed: I did notify my followers of an incoming tweet that was going to be an advertisement and even then, after the tweet fired, I didn’t feel too good about myself.
Of course I’m somewhat stuck because before I can extract anything from the program I need to make $50 or more. So, what I’ve done is asked for my next tweet to be $50. I doubt anyone will bite, but at least I’ll sleep fine at night.
What are your thoughts? Is getting paid to tweet a few links now and then bogus? Have you ever considered it? What if they were valuable products for ministry and the Church?
Give me your thoughts.
My thought is that you have spent a lot of time and effort to build your brand. These other companies are basically using your platform as a "spokesperson"; kind of like an endorsement deal of sorts.
I guess that there isn't anything wrong with it on its face, but there is a part of me that would feel dirty as well. I think it just seems to go against the unwritten rules of the twitter community.
It seems to me that if they really had something valuable to share, the community would do all the tweeting for free.
To be, it's only as bogus as any form of advertising. You get to confirm or deny advertisers that bite, right?
So really, if you're affirming their product by allowing them to use your tweet, I don't see it as very different from the advertising on a blog. If twitter is really a "micro-blogging" platform, than you'd expect to see "micro-ads" from it
I'd imagine there's opportunity for abuse, but it would become self defeating: if you just spammed out paid ads, people would stop following you, advertisers would stop buying tweets, you'd stop tweeting ads.
is it that you feel like a sellout or something?
Whats the difference between you getting paid by this service or sending out a tweet about your product, blog, or a conference you are going to be at?
I think it looks a little tacky, but in all reality you are using your platform (in this case twitter) to tell your followers about something. I think it can dilute twitter a little bit, but if the people I follow start to do this I will just unfollow them.
But I do think we get this all the time from the mega twitters (the celebs) when they are talking about products or conferences, usually they have some connection to what they are talking about. Either they are getting paid or speaking at that conference.
It is a very slippery slope, but I think we will see a lot more of this over time.
good points here kyle. I dig it.
it is a slipperly slope. we need to make sure we're wise about it.
It's a lame idea….we get enough ads on the web already.
cool, thanks for your thoughts. we do get a lot of that crap already.
john, it might be a quick and easy dollar; and some will probably make hand over fist money from it. but just like the first comment .. i want my "brand" – that being my twitter account, which is directly associated with my personal domain name and business – to be more reflective of not going the easy route.
i owe it to myself, my followers and my family.
if something is good – someone will bring notice to it.
If you're going to be giving $.618 to God, then go for it! We need to adjust our thought patterns to understand that we are going to have advertisements on the INTERNET. Advertising has been around for a long time. We are able to ignore billboards that don't interest us. We flip past ads in print media without thinking about it. We wear clothing advertising the name of the store as part of the design! In my opinion, if you are able to control what is advertised via your network spaces then do it.
thanks for your thoughts!
If you get $50 per tweet, I would totally support you. I'm not trying to stop someone from making money, especially when they (like you do, John) offer lots of valuable content.
Thanks dude! I seriously doubt I'll get even one look.
But thanks for the support!
Haha yeah I know. Just sayin, if you're getting $50…there's no way I'm trying to stop you!
HAHA!
Great discussion! I've been pondering this in regards to my brand – my PR business, LHPR, and my http://ChurchTechToday.com blog . . . I think at the core, just like everything else in life, God cares about the heart of the matter. So what's at the core for you? Making more money, or helping people in some beneficial way? For me, I want to make sure that whatever products and services I recommend to churches are really useful and needed. I look for clients to represent that have a unique offering that really makes sense for churches, and isn't something that they don't need.
If it's not something that I myself would use or find valuable, then why would I want to tell others about it? Just for the money – I think not! (although some would disagree).
Also, I feel that being totally up front with your followers is very important. So just the fact that you are wrestling with these topics out in the open on your blog is encouraging. If there was a way to put a star on the tweets that are sponsored, or say it in the tweet, I think that would go a long way in maintaining street cred!
That's just my two cents! Keep us posted on how the Twitter "pay to tweet" is going!
Lauren,
Thanks for this! yes, i want to be as transparent as possible… and just talk about it!