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Does anyone really make money with Twitter when it just seems all automated?

by Kamikazee
29 replies
Is it just me, or is it every time I log into Twitter and try and 'tweet' with people all I get constantly are automated responses. If twitter is just full of automated tweets, then how do you sell to a bunch of robots?
#automated #make #money #twitter
  • Profile picture of the author Kevin_Hutto
    I don't... It just seems like another good(well decent) idea gone bad. Now, at least in the IM market, its bots talking to bots...
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    • Profile picture of the author Kamikazee
      Thats what it seems like. Even when you want to get on there and try to talk, its just automated response after auto response. Im starting to unfollow the ones that just tweet bs every 2 mins. It's kind of annoying
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  • Profile picture of the author Kevin_Hutto
    In my opinion, there are much better ways to spend your time than doing anything on twitter.
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  • Profile picture of the author DylanJames
    The SEARCH feature on Twitter is unbelievable. I use it to see what people are saying about certain lines of product that I am involved with. For example, if a hot new car seat comes on the market (one of my businesses is a retail store selling baby products), I'll search on Twitter to find feedback on the item before I decide whether to stock it or not.

    I don't get involved with the "tweeting" much...it's just not really my thing...but I do reply to customers inside of my niche, whether they purchased product from my stores or not, and address the issues they have via Twitter.

    It's a great tool if you use it that way. If you use it like the way you are talking about, I'd agree, it's probably a waste of time.
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    • Profile picture of the author Kevin_Hutto
      I know some guys who use the search feature to make sales... they find people searching for specific stuff - then they reply to them with solutions like they are just being helpful. It works, but it is small ball. You might grind it out all day to make a couple of affiliate sales.

      Originally Posted by DylanJames View Post

      The SEARCH feature on Twitter is unbelievable. I use it to see what people are saying about certain lines of product that I am involved with. For example, if a hot new car seat comes on the market (one of my businesses is a retail store selling baby products), I'll search on Twitter to find feedback on the item before I decide whether to stock it or not.

      I don't get involved with the "tweeting" much...it's just not really my thing...but I do reply to customers inside of my niche, whether they purchased product from my stores or not, and address the issues they have via Twitter.

      It's a great tool if you use it that way. If you use it like the way you are talking about, I'd agree, it's probably a waste of time.
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      • Profile picture of the author DylanJames
        Originally Posted by Kevin_Hutto View Post

        I know some guys who use the search feature to make sales... they find people searching for specific stuff - then they reply to them with solutions like they are just being helpful. It works, but it is small ball. You might grind it out all day to make a couple of affiliate sales.
        Totally not even close to what I'm talking about. I didn't mean to search out a term and hit people with affiliate links. (No Offense meant!!!!)

        What I meant was listening in on conversations to see what your market is saying about products you are selling.

        I also meant using it as a customer service platform. For online sellers like Amazon, this is something they can use to directly converse with their customers. If someone tweets "Amazon sucks. 20 days to ship item." and Amazon was actively searching Twitter to monitor what their customers were saying, they can address it right then and there directly with the customer.

        For me, being involved strictly in offline "traditional" businesses, I service customers for products in general, not just my customers. I'll search Twitter for Doctor Browns (bottles) and see what people are saying. If someone is having a problem with a bottle I'll address it even though more than likely they bought the product somewhere else.

        It's a personal branding play that pays dividends over the long term.
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        • Profile picture of the author Kevin_Hutto
          Yeah... I knew what you were talking about, but your post just brought to mind a way I had seen some guys using the search function to make affiliate sales - which was an answer to the OP's question...

          Originally Posted by DylanJames View Post

          Totally not even close to what I'm talking about. I didn't mean to search out a term and hit people with affiliate links. (No Offense meant!!!!)

          What I meant was listening in on conversations to see what your market is saying about products you are selling.

          I also meant using it as a customer service platform. For online sellers like Amazon, this is something they can use to directly converse with their customers. If someone tweets "Amazon sucks. 20 days to ship item." and Amazon was actively searching Twitter to monitor what their customers were saying, they can address it right then and there directly with the customer.

          For me, being involved strictly in offline "traditional" businesses, I service customers for products in general, not just my customers. I'll search Twitter for Doctor Browns (bottles) and see what people are saying. If someone is having a problem with a bottle I'll address it even though more than likely they bought the product somewhere else.

          It's a personal branding play that pays dividends over the long term.
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    • Profile picture of the author Vince L
      Originally Posted by DylanJames View Post

      The SEARCH feature on Twitter is unbelievable. I use it to see what people are saying about certain lines of product that I am involved with. For example, if a hot new car seat comes on the market (one of my businesses is a retail store selling baby products), I'll search on Twitter to find feedback on the item before I decide whether to stock it or not.

      It's a great tool if you use it that way. If you use it like the way you are talking about, I'd agree, it's probably a waste of time.
      Dylan, this is a good nugget! Thanks for the tip. I'll try it out today.
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  • Profile picture of the author Internet_Corporation
    It's gone bad for those using it as a selling tool, like those into IM, but as the communication tool it was developed to be it is and will be an excellent medium.
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  • Profile picture of the author jasonmorgan
    Through my numerous twitter accounts and thousands of automated followers, I get a trickle of traffic.

    I think the key to twitter is having real people who are following you for a reason. The whole automated autofollow I've got 10k followers thing is a wast of time in my opinion.

    I do use some tactical approaches to attract real people. For my adult sites, I'll follow others who have a large following of horny men (sports n' stuff like that) I figure those guys might see my cute little avatar and can't resist clicking on her.
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    • Profile picture of the author Rob Maggs
      [DELETED]
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      • Profile picture of the author Iemagine
        Originally Posted by moonfish View Post

        Ah, but if those followers are targeted and your Twitter software has filters to remove bots and spammers and is only adding real people in your niche, then it isn't a waste of time.

        I have to agree with Moonfishon this one. Twitter is not dead at all. If your followers are targeted to your niche then you shouldn't have any problems. Twitter is actually one of my money making streams. You have to tweet yourself and it shouldn't automatic all the time either. Be real with people and they will be real with you. Oh and it helps if you don't force your products on them. I only send out a tweet about my products twice a week. More than that and your followers will think your a bot.
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  • Profile picture of the author GoogleWarrior
    Twitter is a scam. No one reads your tweets unless you are a star.
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    • Profile picture of the author paulie888
      Originally Posted by GoogleWarrior View Post

      Twitter is a scam. No one reads your tweets unless you are a star.
      Sure, go ahead and delude yourself while the rest of the savvy marketers use Twitter effectively. The problem here is that you want an automated solution which is the answer to your marketing dreams, and Twitter isn't it. It actually requires quite a bit of work in terms of setting up and daily maintenance, and you have to select the people you follow with care (this is REALLY important), so this is all going to require effort and consistency.

      If you think you can log into Twitter, play with it for 10-15 mins a day and expect to make a killing with it, then I think you are sadly mistaken.
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    • Profile picture of the author Dan C. Rinnert
      Originally Posted by GoogleWarrior View Post

      Twitter is a scam. No one reads your tweets unless you are a star.
      Answer: Become a Twitter star.

      Problem solved.


      * * *

      Wow! This was my 3,000th post. What do I win?
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      Dan's content is irregularly read by handfuls of people. Join the elite few by reading his blog: dcrBlogs.com, following him on Twitter: dcrTweets.com or reading his fiction: dcrWrites.com but NOT by Clicking Here!

      Dan also writes content for hire, but you can't afford him anyway.
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      • Profile picture of the author paulie888
        Originally Posted by Dan C. Rinnert View Post

        Answer: Become a Twitter star.

        Problem solved.
        I love your sarcasm, Dan...were you born this way? I think you'd make a great stand-up comedian...lol.

        Paul
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        • Profile picture of the author Dan C. Rinnert
          Originally Posted by paulie888 View Post

          I love your sarcasm, Dan...were you born this way?
          I was born in a gerundial quatrain.
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          Dan's content is irregularly read by handfuls of people. Join the elite few by reading his blog: dcrBlogs.com, following him on Twitter: dcrTweets.com or reading his fiction: dcrWrites.com but NOT by Clicking Here!

          Dan also writes content for hire, but you can't afford him anyway.
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  • Profile picture of the author zachary0611
    Have you guys thought about going geo with twitter? Follow people and businesses in your city this is great for offline marketers and businesses
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  • Profile picture of the author Nancy Radlinger
    I don't have luck with Twitter at all - in fact find myself unfollowing more and more daily because of all the spamming
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  • Profile picture of the author mgpweb
    I have about 900 followers on twitter and I have only had 1 sale come in from twitter and thats it! I think most people are using it to promote their products, and they don't really look at what the people they are following are promoting.
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  • Profile picture of the author IM Outsider
    Seems like another great medium gone bad. Is it really that hard to understand that when marketers develop more and more automation and spam tools they effectively kill the golden goose. How many more pieces of software will scream make thousands of bucks from Clickbank by sending automatic messages through twitter?
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  • Profile picture of the author bobbobson
    Wow - a lot of negativity about Twitter!

    Twitter works, you just have to do it right. Trust me, I use it in a few niches including (recently) IM, and if you approach it properly it will generate traffic. And I set it up for a couple of the offline people I work with too, who have had great success using it on a more regional basis.

    Is this going to send hundreds/thousands of people to your site each day? I doubt it.

    Can it help you build a reputation, research your market in a way that you would struggle to anywhere else and complement your existing traffic methods for just a few minutes of your time each day? Absolutely.

    It's like anything; approach it the wrong way and expect poor results. Get it right and you can generate a lot of traffic.
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  • Profile picture of the author Britt Malka
    I don't think that the robot speaks to robot way of using Twitter will work.

    Personally, I'm very selective with whom to follow on Twitter. I don't follow back, unless the person who starts to follow me interacts with me in some way.

    Or, I follow people because I know them from other places than Twitter.

    If somebody sends out the same tweets several times per day, I unsubscribe.

    My guess is that very few actually reads my tweets, but I've met new people there, and got new relations, and building a network is always valuable.

    So maybe I'm just using Twitter the old-fashioned way to relate to people. Not to spam them, not to sell to them, but to relate.
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  • Profile picture of the author aldovacano
    Yeah there are lots of robots out there on twitter , but twitter still a very good way of getting traffic and making money , if this wasnt like that those robots wouldnt be active .
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  • Profile picture of the author ryanbiddulph
    I've made money off of twitter by being human. There are actual people who use twitter too; you need to take the time to find them.

    I automate some tweets but also hand tweet throughout the day.

    People hate doing business with bots. They are, however, willing to do business with people.

    Automate as few processes as possible to prove to people that you are human. I would toss aside the automated DMs because they are a turn off for most people, they want a person, not a bot

    RT, engage, build connections. Repeat the process each day and when you've made connections, you will make money.

    RB
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  • Profile picture of the author Thomas W
    It's probably because your not doing twitter correctly. It works when you actually interact with followers and put meaningful content.

    It doesn't work if you just post links
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  • Profile picture of the author MichaelHiles
    I dunno how you're using Twitter, but I have real conversations with real people.

    Then again, I don't follow 2,500,000 people to try to get auto-follows back. I follow real human beings and actually have real conversations with them and everything. I even have real conversations with people who I don't follow and who don't follow me. That's because I tend to follow keywords to track the conversations around TOPICS vs. the spamtastic crap that stupid wannabe internet market "failtrains" do.

    The second someone hits me with automated garbage and/or spam, they're blocked and reported for spamming.
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  • Profile picture of the author beginner warrior
    That's interesting, Kamikazee.

    What does a robot twitter conversation look like?

    I hardly ever go on twitter. Honestly, I don't totally understand twitter to start with. I was hoping you could paraphrase what some of these robot conversations look like. Then I can go out there and look at all of the robot stuff.
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    • Profile picture of the author Dan C. Rinnert
      Originally Posted by beginner warrior View Post

      What does a robot twitter conversation look like?
      Robot 1: Check out this great marketing software at http://

      Robot 2: I got my site ranked at #1 with this tool at http://

      Robot 1: New blog post: Great marketing software http://

      Robot 2: Cool new vid on ranking at #1 in Google http://

      Robot 1: It's like Viagra for your website! http://

      Robot 2: Why settle for Viagra when you can have Cialis for your website! http://
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      Dan's content is irregularly read by handfuls of people. Join the elite few by reading his blog: dcrBlogs.com, following him on Twitter: dcrTweets.com or reading his fiction: dcrWrites.com but NOT by Clicking Here!

      Dan also writes content for hire, but you can't afford him anyway.
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      • Profile picture of the author beginner warrior
        Oh, I see.

        It's like blog-post spamming or forum spamming.

        Thanks for the good examples.
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