Make Money On Twitter (TIPS)

Become an Affiliate Marketer

Affiliate marketing involves generating leads for “merchants” who ultimately make a sale to the referral you sent. In exchange for sending them an eventual customer, affiliates get cut in for a percentage of the revenue generated.

Many affiliate marketing programs can be applied to Twitter, but some simply work better on this platform than others given the manner in which tweets are consumed.

Affiliate Marketer Ilustration

1. Join the Tweet Adder Affiliate Program. The affiliate program for this Twitter marketing and management software includes in-depth tutorials and strategy guides for getting started. Affiliates earn 50% commission on direct sales referred.

2. Become an iTunes Affiliate. Apple has an affiliate program that allows affiliate marketers to earn 4% to 5% commission of the sale of songs on iTunes that come from their affiliate links. iTunes has historically accounted for a significant portion of affiliate marketing activity on Twitter, and a number of individuals have had success with this affiliate program across various platforms.

3. Become a Groupon Affiliate. The Groupon affiliate program also lends itself to Twitter, where many users are interested in finding out about timely, local opportunities. Groupon affiliate marketers can earn up to 10% commissions for sales generated. Groupon is arguably one of affiliate marketing’s greatest success stories, and there are some good resources out there for those looking to get started. (Daily deals competitor Living Social also has an affiliate program that can be used through Twitter.)

4. Become an Astrology.com Affiliate. This might seem like a less obvious opportunity, but Astrology.com is one of the largest merchants on Twitter. This merchant pays out a 25% commission on every sale referred to them, as well as commissions on any purchases made by a referring customer for the next six months.

Other Tips to 'Monetize' Your Twitter

If you have a product to sell online, you might want to consider utilizing Twitter as an opportunity foryour affiliates to work. Reach out to some influential folks with substantial Twitter accounts in the space, and ask them if they’d be interested in an affiliate arrangement for any sales you ultimately close to their Twitter followers.

Barter With It (Tweet Swapping). If you’re not comfortable becoming a merchant who partners with affiliate marketers, you may still be able to turn your Twitter following into sales. Consider a non-cash barter exchange with other users who have valuable followings; you tweet about their business or website, and they return the favor for you. This one won’t be applicable to everyone, but can be a creative way to generate a little buzz and expose your business to new potential customers without spending a cent.

Build Links. One of the most valuable things you can get from your Twitter activity may be a link to your site(s). There’s obviously no money exchanged with a link, but there are some clear indirect benefits; links to your content will expose new audiences to your site, and may help you move up the search rankings as well. If done correctly, Twitter can be a great tool for highlighting the content you’ve published on the Web–and getting other users to send links to it. That can have a big payoff down the road, as it leads to more visitors and more potential customers.Check out further reading on link building with Twitter.

Drive Traffic. If you run a website that makes money from display ads, on-site affiliate links, or a number of other monetization methods, Twitter can be a great tool for boosting revenue indirectly. Though you won’t be making money directly on Twitter, you have the opportunity to drive your Twitter followers to a place (i.e., your website) where you can make money from them (in the form of display ad revenue, or various other opportunities).

Drive E-commerce Sales. If you have a product to sell on your website, Twitter can be a great way to get in front of potential customers by engaging in discussions on relevant topics and including links to your products. Many e-commerce companies use Twitter to offer special deals and advance opportunities to nab popular products. Below is an entire section of further reading dedicated to selling products on Twitter.

Provide Customer Service. This might not make your company money directly, but there’s a huge opportunity to build goodwill and customer loyalty (and therefore future revenue) by using Twitter as a tool to provide quick customer service. Media Temple is one example of a company that has an active customer support team operating through its Twitter account.