Does Twitter Really Work

[cmo140]

Does anyone use Twitter for web traffic?

[The Dotcom Hippie]

For my purposes, no. Twitter traffic - just like other social media traffic - sucks for the most part.

Consider this: What's easiest and most efficient: Selling something to someone who is looking for that particular product (or - alternatively - looking to solve a problem), or creating a need from scratch? Most people would agree that it's easiest to sell something to someone who is already out actively looking for that product at that particular point in time.

Now, if I were looking to purchase, say, a sea lion on the internet: Would I log on to Twitter to find one? Would I start Stumbling with the hope of stumbling upon a site that sells sea lions? Would I go to the front page of Digg or to my Facebook? No, of course I wouldn't. What I'd obviously do is go to a search engine like Google and type in something like 'sea lion' or 'sea lion overnight shipping.' And that's why Google traffic works and makes you money, while social media traffic is a pile of horse manure in comparison, and at best only a very, very indirect means of making money (social media can be good for getting RSS subscribers, for instance, which isn't always the case with search traffic).

Googlers are out hunting for stuff. Social media users are out to waste some time. So why do SO many people go to great lengths to get time wasters to their sites, when they could instead focus on ranking no 1 in Google for the right keywords (of which there are tons and tons and tons available) and make a dependable, low risk, low maintenance and long term income online? Beats me. In fact, it really blows my mind.

Add to that the fact that Twitter has gone from bad to worse over the last year, and you have something that - while not being entirely useless - just isn't something I'd put a lot of effort into.

[WhiteCanvasPro]

I use it for my business as updates for what projects I am working on. I also let people know when updates occur and include links to related websites I find. Although I haven't seen many results, I feel it gives people an inside look into your business. Like all social networking sites, Twitter allows people to feel like they know you and feel connected. I don't really think I will ever gain more business by having a twitter account, but it allows me to let my followers see what I'm up to. And that's whats important.

[The Dotcom Hippie]

Originally Posted by WhiteCanvasPro

I use it for my business as updates for what projects I am working on. I also let people know when updates occur and include links to related websites I find. Although I haven't seen many results, I feel it gives people an inside look into your business. Like all social networking sites, Twitter allows people to feel like they know you and feel connected. I don't really think I will ever gain more business by having a twitter account, but it allows me to let my followers see what I'm up to. And that's whats important.

While I won't ever pose as some kind of 'Twitter expert' it seems to me you're using Twitter the way it was intended - perhaps unlike most users of it at the moment. The world - at least the one centering around Twitter - would be a better place if more people did just that.

[webcosmo]

Little bit, then again I dont even try

[MarkAse]

For me, Twitter has been extremely useful for business-business relationships....not much direct to consumer. We have been able to get in touch with a few large, local wine clubs through Twitter which could be very lucrative long term.

More then other social media, I think you've got to know what you're looking for. Using Twitter to find JV candidates might be a better use then finding individual clients.

[BeautyMade-EZ]

I think it depends on what your using Twitter for. spammers don't have much luick on Twitter but legitimate businesses do as well. I think overall twitter is for the young folks wanting to follow celebs. ... I won't put all my eggs in this nest.

[GoldStar1]

I think twitter and facebook are better for promoting offline businesses. They are great for promoting your products and services to your existing customer base.

[Dan C. Rinnert]

Originally Posted by cmo140

Does anyone use Twitter for web traffic?

Yes. It works great.

But, you have to actually use Twitter to interact as well. If all you do is use Twitter as a glorified RSS feed, odds are you're not going to get far.

[Dan C. Rinnert]

Originally Posted by The Dotcom Hippie

Now, if I were looking to purchase, say, a sea lion on the internet: Would I log on to Twitter to find one? Would I start Stumbling with the hope of stumbling upon a site that sells sea lions? Would I go to the front page of Digg or to my Facebook? No, of course I wouldn't. What I'd obviously do is go to a search engine like Google and type in something like 'sea lion' or 'sea lion overnight shipping.' And that's why Google traffic works and makes you money, while social media traffic is a pile of horse manure in comparison, and at best only a very, very indirect means of making money (social media can be good for getting RSS subscribers, for instance, which isn't always the case with search traffic).

There's a reason Google wanted to buy Twitter... People do use Twitter to find things. You might go to Twitter and ask, "Hey, anyone know a good place to buy a sea lion?" And then you can get personal recommendations, which trumps results returned by some mystical algorithm from a search engine. Alternatively, you might use Twitter Search, which is prominently displayed on Twitter's home page.

[Marty S]

I started exploring more social media outlets including Twitter, Facebook, BlogTv and SideWiki to such an extent that I have really cut down my participation in THIS forum. My Twitter account has over 1,800 followers in a short time and here are some tips I have developed with experience:

1- To get followers, forget about using auto-follow software because all you will get is other marketers who are more or less like Amway-in-your-face. Instead use automated searches related to your niche, and simply just start responding to questions and statements, like you were opening a conversation.

2- You do NOT need to sell anything. I have yet to put up a link to a clickbank page or any other affiliate offer. Instead, when I do post links in Tweets, I send them to videos or articles that are posted beside one of my sign-up forms.

3- Respond and search to a variety of topics, not just your niche. If you were at a party would you ONLY talk about your work? My Tweets are not only about poker, but also sports and team, music and artists, software and computers, Red Bull, Soup, my dogs, my daughter, funny SPAM mail I get... etc. etc. Tweet like you would "talk" at a party.

5- Follow people and tweet them at the same time. The way to get followers is to say hi. (Just like you would at a social event). Do NOT DM them, that is useless on Twitter because DM`s are full of SPAM. Eg. I have a search for Full Tilt Poker. So if someone uses that term in a tweet, I can respond by saying something like, "Great job in the tournament. Congrats. Brian have you tried the Midnight Madness tournament?" 9 out of 10 times, they will follow you back and ENGAGE you at the same time.

6- Slow is good. This may sound like a slow process to you but it really isn't. You would be doing the same thing in sales job, or as a business owner. People take you more seriously, and think you are more friendly this way.

7- QUALITY FOLLOWERS. Forget about following those massive Twitter users. They suck and never respond to you anyway. You are just a Twitter digit to them. The QUALITY FOLLOWERS have less than 200 followers, and the BESTEST BEST have only 50 or so. That's because they are using Twitter for its social aspect entirely, they are NOT marketing. They are also MUCH, MUCH, MUCH more likely to respond to your Tweets because they do not use software and probably still use their original Twitter stream when online. Anybody with 100's of followers do not watch their own stream anyway, and are trying to PUSH sell to YOU.

8- ReTweet is good for business. Have a saved search as RT@yourusername and make sure you reciprocate at a later time.

9- Do Not spew out numerous Tweets in succession or have an automated D, or automated follow. You will get nixed from many followers who gave you the benefit of the doubt to start.

10- Add your tweets to other platforms like Facebook and Google SideWiki. When I Tweet something that I have an alert set up for and re-post it to another platform, it gets picked up by Google in minutes.

11- Finally, use a third party software to manage different accounts. I have tried many, and Seesmic is the way to go.

With what I have done so far, I can INSTANTLY send anywhere from 50 to 200 viewers to one of my pages with any given Tweet, if I write a Tweet with some humour, charm, conviction or curiosity. You can plug in your own conversion math for sign-ups and eventual sales from there.

Yes, Twitter is worth it, but only if you are invited to the party because people like you, and what you have to say.

[Shannon Herod]

Twitter is a fantastic source of traffic. But you need to use it for what it was meant to be used for. You need to use it as a micro-blogging platform.

You cannot use it to stand on a corner and shout your advertisements over and over again. If you do that, people are just going to ignore you, block you, and report you. So, you cannot use it as a quick fix to just spam the heck out of it. Need to provide value and interact with other people. The more you do that the more valuable twitter will become for your business.

Shannon

[dsmpublishing]

Hi guys

twitter is so worth it!

ive been using it for nearly a year now and if i wanted to put all my eggs in one basket i could gladly run a business by just using twitter for traffic it is that good.

Its a case of getting into it and making it work for you. For example many people dont put the effort in and expect the rewards to be there instantly. All you need to do is put in a couple of hours a day and then twitter will work for you.

kind regards


sam
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