This is an awesome tip. I can't wait to offer it to my customers.

Great tip.

Would of made some money as WSO "Free text messaging for your offline clients"

Thanks for the tip Rick!

Now that I have read it...can you delete it?

(How am I supposed to sell SMS to my clients with this floating around? :rolleyes

Very cool tip thanx!

Way smart stuff

I found this about 3 months ago and offers free sms texting and unlimited keywords...they also provide a mobile friendly website builder...very exciting times...cheers, to all msg411 dot com and biz250 dot mobi

Rick I missed it Can you post it back or PM me? I'm in need of it.

Yeah PM me back if you can do that, I missed it too!

Thanks.

You guys are gonna have to wait till his wso comes out.

It has to do with Msg411.com

This is really cool information. Thank you for sharing. I did not know that twitter could be used this way.

Now I have nothing holding me back from offering sms service. Best post ever!!

I do not understand why people get crazy about someone sharing info that is out there publicly for anyone to find.

Innovate or die! If you are based on the per message system, you need to look to see how this info can beni\efit you, not hurt you!!

Outstanding information Rick! This could definitely play a major role in client relations. This is the type of information that business owners would drool for, instead of wasting away their money to a 'Local Mobile Marketing Guru' scam artist, stealing a high percentage of their money in exchange for their menial SMS management tasks.

Not only does this provide your clients/prospective clients with great information, it also provides them with satisfaction. Thus earning yourself trust, respect, and honor. 3 important qualities you as a marketer need in order to maintain a strong client-base, as well as a strong and stable income. The small amount of money you could make off of running a paid SMS campaign is nil, compared to the vast amount of money you can make off of providing actual service to the client, who has gained your respect.

Its simple, save them money (along with the frustration and the negative psychological aspects that come along with spending money), and replace is with value. Value that will gain you respect in their eyes, which will knock out half of the battle in your sales pitch. They will already be on your side. Then, offer them more value, your service, and they will most likely hop on it without even thinking about it. Their massive serotonin release will already by linked psychologically to you, they will want it again.

Being a good, successful marketer means that you must be a good person as well!

To Rick- Thank you for providing this information to me, and all others who can use it for the good. I am saddened by the negativity this has caused you, but please know that this info IS very much appreciated. Shame on those who let their ill-will and ignorance take control and harass you.

I'm extremely appreciative of everyone's comments and contributions.

Business owners are going to appreciate you even more when you share.

Wait until you see what I have in store for you.

And the best part is the stuff I'm sharing I've tested and proven in the field or on the phone.

- Rick Duris

PS: With "Twitter as SMS" service strategy, you can still sell the SMS service. Do you get that? It's just a matter of what your marketing process is. You can use it as a loss leader or use it on the backend.

this was sold as a WSO long time ago ... I just can't find the link to the WSO right now but I am 100% sure the guy who sold that wso made a lot of money.
Of course there are many things that make this strategy not as good as when you pay for specialized sms services. ie you can't manage your list and do whatever you want with it, users will find out that they are following this person in twitter easily.

I just tried this. You should of seen the eyes of the restaurant owner! Especially when I tuned over the keys to his Twitter account.

I didn't make a dime today, but sure felt good. I'll know in a few weeks if he'll pay to have me do his mobile website.

Interesting approach. Not sure how I feel about this.

It's really great outside the box thinking but I wonder if it opens up any legalities. Since they have to type leave [name] vs stop to end it

are you able to see the mobile numbers of the people who follow you?

Great information! Glad you share it and those who don't threatened you should be banned!

I came across something similar with QR codes. I was looking at a "fancy" qr code maker WSO and went on a web search for similar products.

I use a Mac, and found an awesome full featured, custom color with image qr code generator on the Mac store for $4.99. Save a lot on that one!

This is a really good way for businesses to get a start. My only concern is not having a true list of phone numbers, twitter has the list.

Great information. I believe, this info is gold! It's a nice way to test out a service and offer something to them for free.

Twitter, SMS for basic SMS is perfect.
The advanced is better, if you are asking payments from your customers.

Man this is SOOOO cool. I've not been able to sell the mobile SMS thing because of the HIGH cost in Canada. This brings my services to a new level!

Thanks Rick!

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I think you can also do the similar things now withFacebook I just noticed on business fan pages,not individuals at bottom left it says get updates via SMS or RSS options.

I am not sure what the big deal is if Im not mistaken its all over TV an Web that businesses can get a FREE website but we all know what that is like for the customer it still doesn't make sales, lead capture or post content.

I don't really work in the mobile SMS field, but this is a fantastic post nonetheless.

Unquestionably, this is great information. From my perspective, the most valuable takeaway from this post is the way Rick has positioned himself in the mind of his client, and he does it so well, it's subtle yet incredibly effective.

If I imagine being Rick's client, Rick's approach leaves me feeling - I don't know how much Rick charges, and I don't even know if I can afford him... but I want him helping me with my business' marketing strategy.

This could be a great method as a foot in the door, and make you the hero in someone's eyes for sure -

I think it is great you shared this information, and I hope people do use it to get their foot in the door, or help existing clients. I would see it being difficult building a whole business model around this idea though. Not to take away from the OP at all!

Not trying to make a buck , and adding value will come back and re-pay you 10fold.

Again, I can see this as positioning your self as an expert in the marketing field by "knowing this" (thanks OP) , but I cannot see a substantial SMS business built around for the lack of capabilities that are out there these days.

With more robust platforms, you can actually figure out your demographic: if you are a "club/bar" you can have the end user reply if they are male or female to target them. A grocery store can find out if you like coke or pepsi.. etc etc.

Ryan

Hey Rick,

Just have to say that this is an excellent idea that could be a great "foot in the door" to just about any business. Sure, you're not getting any of the features of a paid service and you're at the mercy of Twitter, but this could be just enough to prove that sms marketing works and there are so many ways this could be used as you've pointed out.

Thanks much for sharing this here!

Cheers,

Steve

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I don't think will "blow up" AS IS, and again this represents a HUGE opportunity, for us.

What will ALWAYS hold us back is the hard costs of messaging are passed on to the user.

Unless they have "unlimited texting", they being charged.

Normally, they don't complain if THE CUSTOMER initiates the text.

BUT if a restaurant iniiates a text? That text message will *scrutinized* for relevancy and usefulness to their lives.

That's where apps come in. I believe apps will be THE WAY for a business to communicate with it's prospect and customer base long term.

The folks who download and install and business' app WANT to communicated with regularly, the communication can be free, and you can communicate s much as is needed within reason.

With an appm installed on their cell phone, they truly will feel special.

For instance, a restuarant communicating its daily special, a bar talking about what band is playing tonight, etc., daily discounts at the local scrapbooking store, insurance companies will send out monthly reminders about stuff, etc.

What will be even cooler is given the backend, the customer content can be personalized and previous transaction data drawn on.

That's my opinion.

I think every local business within reason will have a dedicated app. That's what I think s going to be huge, especially to local marketers.

- Rick Duris

Dave Offen shared this great thread with me. I was looking for a great freebie to offer restaurant owners and have avoid mobile related marketing until now...

Would love to join your list, if you have one.

Cheers,

Brenda

Really good idea! Especially for a coffee shop or wine store.

Great Tip Rick for free SMS service for Local Businesses...

I'm based in Australia and for those in Oz the number to switch Twitter on in Australia is 0198 089 488...You will find that in Australia the end user being the client needs to have their Twitter account registered with their mobile number.....have tested today..the advantage thou if set up correctly is that the business owner will also build a following hence a database of local followers based on Rick's instructions to set up

this is really just killer stuff. Thanks. I just bought a new iphone, the only thing It cannot do is make your breakfast in the morning, and rumor has it, they are making an app for that we speak. LOL.

Hello. I think I need a step by step guide to get this to work for me as I have tried it with friend's phone number and he said that he did not receive any text.

Cool technique. I just setup a test run and I have another use for this as well.

I think i read that somewhere but I can't remember where exactly.. But the way you explained it is top notched; way better! Another reason to get your offline clients to get with you.. I like that! cheers

Hi, I maybe missing something here, the business owner will be still paying for the cost of sending a SMS (cost being the telco/carrier charge). Is that correct?

How does the customer opt-out of this service?

Regards
Mav

Great Info Rick, How do you go about offering it to new clients how do you put it across to them?

Thanks agin
Ian

Great share very clever, I just love it

I believe, this info is gold!

Thanks

Again, great info here. I wanted to share how I'm using this.

First, I approached a few non-profit types - limited budget organizations. I put together a quick twitter sms package and qr code for free. In return, I ask them to refer any business owners on their donor list that could benefit from text marketing. Also, I've been asked to speak at several meetings explaining how to use this "sophisticated" system.

When the business owners ask, I tell them I can set up a similar system for a fee or I upsell them to my "real" sms provider. When they see the benefits of the upsell - unlimited messages, unlimited contacts, and unlimited secondary keywords all for a low fixed monthly price - I close the majority.

Good luck!
Brian

ps - If you want to know more about my sms provider, PM me or email brian (@) molomarketinggroup dot com.

When you set up a new business on twitter, what good is it if they have zero followers? How do they build a following? Internal marketing to all their existing customers?

I've tested this before as well.....

It's a cool free alternative to traditional SMS marketing....but I agree it has some major drawbacks.

They may be appreciative but they're missing out on building a list, plus the fact that it is free will under value your later upsells and services IMO.

I do, however, see the value in this for referrals and for helping places like maybe the "Chamber of Commerce"?!

Thanks to Rick for this information. It's always good to see someone who believes in doing the right thing because it's the right thing to do instead of just trying to get more and more dollars any way he can.

I don't know much about Twitter, but I've been reading their TOS and I found this:
Current Twitter limits
The current technical limits for accounts are:

Direct Messages: 250 per day.

Updates: 1,000 per day. The daily update limit is further broken down into smaller limits for semi-hourly intervals. Retweets are counted as updates.

Changes to Account Email: 4 per hour.

Following (daily): Please note that this is a technical account limit only, and there are additional rules prohibiting aggressive following behavior. You can find detailed page describing following limits and prohibited behavior on the Follow Limits and Best Practices Page. The technical follow limit is 1,000 per day.

Following (account-based): Once an account is following 2,000 other users, additional follow attempts are limited by account-specific ratios. The Follow Limits and Best Practices Page has more information.

I found this at this link:
(Sorry I can't post the link so here is the bit.ly)
bit.ly/jVtc8E

Could that present a problem?

is there a way this can be joined up with Twitter analytics to give us more info than we would normally get ?

Also to UK people, not all providers are covered on this at the moment, lets hope they all come onboard asap

Awesome tip! Thanks!

Hate to be a bubble buster, but here it is.

FREE can go away at any time.

Why? Same reason no one really uses free hosting for anything serious.

Will you base your customer's, or your own, SMS to something that might go away? Ok, its Twitter, they don't seem to be going anywhere, but what if they change the TOS? Remember the craziness of the FB fanpage change?

With real SMS providers, like Avid Mobile, you pay less than a CENT for an SMS, charge your customer 2c a text 7500 SMS per month, that's only about $150 to the customer, charge $300 for it, 20 customers, 3K in your pocket.

You then avoid the customer finding out you;\'ve been charging them to build a non-existent SMS Database with which they can do nothing, because they have nothing.

Do as you will, but I very much disagree with using the Twitter model for a customers SMS program. You are asking for headaches.

.02

As I said, do as you will, but how will you answer your customer's questions about the number of opt-ins this week, response rates, total number in the database, possibility of cross marketing the list, how else can I monetize this list, etc, etc, etc.

You have no answer to these questions using Twitter as SMS service.

Please, by all means, give it a shot. Just understand the possible pitfalls. I'll leave your thread alone now.

Thanks Rick. It is guys like you that make this forum worthwhile.

lol bummer for me! I've been doing this silently for about 6 months now and putting together a report/WSO for it... so much for that *opens trash bin and...* 3 pointer!

However, there are MANY ways to leverage this beyond the basics... so think as hard as hard as you can. I might modify the WSO a bit to be fair to Rick and include this thread, but I'll give you a hint on how to use this even better:

Find a way to gather phone numbers (twitter followers as described) of interested home buyers (that's YOUR job, I'll tell you what to do with it) and work out a commission deal on clients who show up to open houses/buy houses through the twitter account.

Working out the deal with the real estate agent is your job. I've been paid as much as $2,500 for somebody buying a house when the agent was getting both ends of the commission (3% + 3% buyer/seller is normally standard, and on a 300k house, that's 18k, so $2,500 was reasonable and fair, to me)

Not to mention, they paid me to manage the twitter account as well

This strategy gives you a huge opportunity to basically "gift" business owners something that has the potential to greatly impact their business.

It allows you to prove the concept works, build trust and credibility, filter out the clients that are serious and want to go to the next step, and as the naysayers (they're always there, aren't they?) and the sky does fall, and Twiiter changes their TOS, a comet strikes Twiiter's servers, treasure hunters severe Twitter's fiber optic pipe to the Internet, or whatever, and talk about a forced up sell :-)

The bottom-line is there are tons of small business owners that will not commit to even $30 per month, but once you are able to offer a free solution to prove how well it can work, and you follow up with carefully crafted offers to get people to coming in (they have to show the offers message on their phone) then you can explain the downfalls and how to upgrade to a more practical, long term solution.

I just looked on my Excel file and I have created exactly 41 accounts for restaurants in my area with no issue and when I just read your post, I set up another and I just texted it and it worked fine.

You do have to have at least one message posted because all new subscribers receive your last message.

I can't speak for Canada, I am in Texas, USA, but I am subscribed to all of the accounts I created for my area restaurants.

What is cool for me at least, is I now have 40+ restaurants I can eat for free at each month. That has a value of at least $1,000 or more per month, if I were to have one meal at each location.

And I was able to sell websites to 3 of those restaurants thus far, generating $7,230 in actual green backs.

I'll continue to "give away" accounts to new restaurants I meet and play it by ear.

To me this post points to why this thread is NOT a great idea. Let's put aside the fact that Twitter's TOS could soon not support this, the fact that you can't own your list, or even the fact that one of your subscribers could hijack the list with their offers once they realize you are broadcasting via twitter. Instead let's just focus on the numbers presented here.

At first glance it looks great that you could call on any one of the 41 businesses for a free meal. But really, how long do you expect that to last? Besides that, I'd rather buy my own meal or even cook every once and while and still get paid.

I can't help but thinking that if your efforts included presenting SMS as a valuable service and then actually offering it for a fair price that you would be in MUCH better position than a $1000 worth of charity or even $7,230 (which is great, BTW). Let's look at the numbers.

Even if you sold SMS as a commodity (that is basing your pricing off of a per message rate (i.e. $0.05 per text, $0.07 per text, etc.)), which is NOT recommended you probably stood to make $50-200 per business within the first 2 months and that number would grow as they built their lists. But let's call it $50. $50 x 40 businesses = $2,000 (real dollars - not charity) EVERY month (or $24,000 annualized).

Let's say you offered SMS as a fully managed service, which IS recommended, and assisted the business owners with building their lists, instructed them on the types offers to put out, showed them how to convert one time customers into repeat customers or raving fans, and provided them with ROI many times over their monthly investment at a rate of $250 - $500 per month. You probably wouldn't have 40 of those so called "customers" (I'm using that term VERY loosely) but what if you captured half them at $250/mo (20x$250=$5,000/mo or $60,000/yr.) or a quarter of them ($2,500/mo or $30,000/yr.) or even 1/8, which is just 5 of of them. That would be $1,250 per month ($15k/yr.) in REAL dollars that you could spend on anything that you wanted besides food.

And something tells me that those 5, 10, or 20 REAL customers would still be as grateful as the 40 freebies (if not more than because that's how the human psyche works - generally, the more we pay the more we value what we pay for). They'd also be more than happy to pay you for additional services (like the 3 websites you mentioned) because they were used to paying you a fair price and were used to receiving real ROI from you because a real price was attached to the transaction rather than artificial markup in the first place.

It's obvious that on some level you and the business owners feel that SMS Marketing is a valuable service. So, why make excuses as to why you have to give it away for free instead of selling it? It only erodes the market for it particularly when you scale this idea up in one area. And the reality is that even though you may be looked upon as a "smart guy" by those 40 business they are no closer to becoming your customer than they are to becoming mine or the next guy who comes along and ASKS FOR THE SALE. Because trust me, as soon as you left the Yellow Pages Guy, Billboard Guy, Direct Mail Guy, Newspaper Guy, Coupon Guy, Radio Guy, and TV Guy came along right behind you, didn't make excuses as to why the business couldn't afford their service or why the business needed proof of concept and converted your freebies into REAL PAYING CUSTOMERS with higher priced but less effective offerings. The only thing is, they collected REAL money AND got a free lunch too.

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I tried it and it is not working. I follow your directions to a tee. Does this not work anymore?

Works for me and all of the accounts I have set up.

Again, you have to have at least one post.

I just sold my appointment a website for $3,500, $1,000 down and $500 per month for 5 months.

And over the weekend I set up 3 more accounts in exchange for $100 per month in food and beverages from 1, and $50 per month for each of the other 2.

I am getting better and better at introducing my offer :-)

Nice marketing tip... I hope this is going to work with all kinds of mobile network service provider...

Maybe us Mobile Marketers need to give away free Websites and charge for Mobile Marketing! lol

GREAT tip Rick!! Thanks so much!!

This is a great start for those who are just starting out but as has been mentioned b4, I think its a lead in to a better upsell and no more. The features of the premium texting services far outweight the cost as our only concern is ROI.

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I've heard about this before and it seems like a great idea. However, down here in Australia, it only works if your mobile carrier is Telstra, which i am not. In fact, it is probable that most of the clients wouldnt be able to access this. Compounding the problem is that all recipients of these free sms must have a twitter account down here in Oz. THerefore, its a great idea but not actually available to many outside the US.

Great posts! What is the best re seller program or service provider in the USA? I want to sell sms services for about $100 a month to my clients with unlimited sms's, I want to be able to resell a white label platform that i re brand with my logo through a reliable company that will be around for the long haul.

[DELETED]

That is a great Tip/Idea. Thanks for sharing and giving more than taking. It is rare but very appreciated. Great lesson to be learned and repeated.

Thanks for this tip, OP.

You're right. It will create excellent goodwill, as well as provide small businesses with an opportunity to test SMS marketing without draining their pockets. It won't take the place of a fancier solution that allows text-to-win, birthday specials, etc, but is a great entry point nonetheless.

Thanks again

Tracy

Wow!! Such an informative and interesting thread!
Thank you Rick for the amazing share and thanks to everyone else for sharing.
I am a newbie to mobile and sms marketing, I was wondering if there was anyone in NZ on this thread who may have tried some of these tactics, very interested in havn a chat

This is a fantastic service. However like others have said, free is free. Meaning value perceived.

BUT...this is where it can be great.

Imagine this: You go to sell this service (free or not, you still have to sell them on listening to you and why they should bother at all) with huge caveats and the right positioning.

You manage expectations from the start. "This is just a taste" and, "it gives you an idea of the potential power to bring in customers."

You explain how it certainly is no substitute for the total control, power and versatility of a SMS platform (that you offer as well), but that it can do the job, bring in customers, and make a difference within weeks. (Hopefully.)

You offer to set it up, get their feet wet.

Now you work the magic. After you've managed expectations and played up all the possibilities with a "proper" SMS platform.

1) Tell them the general, but powerful benefits of getting customers in the door through text messaging (applicable to both methods).

2) Spend a few minutes and verbally go over "what if you could's" (What if you could send a message and instantly see empty tables in a dead afternoon fill up with customers...broadcast a no-cover special to you VIP club...announce a recession buster offer...whatever) that encompass just the SMS paid platform.

3) Drop back a bit and say, "But I don't want you to pay anything. I don't even want you believe me just yet. Let me show you just a taste of the power of text message marketing that you can use indefinitely to quickly bring in more business, more sales, and more good will than you wouldn't have had otherwise. All for free, now and as long as Twitter allows (you're managing their expectations).

In fact, this is great because you won't have to pay a dime now or ever. It's a great way to quickly test and see for yourself what the potentials are. While it won't do everything we talked about you'll see results you're going to love.

And if you ever want more robust options like (list the added features of a paid platform) then we can always set you up for far less than most advertising you've been doing and with far greater ROI.

For now though, here's what we'll do..."

Now you've positioned yourself with the best of both worlds. You're demonstrating value (and demonstrating that you give value) and setting them up to potentially want more.

And if they don't, there are many other upsells you can do obviously, plus you made a business contact and you can leverage them for more, right?

Over the weekend, I received 2 additional website projects from my free sms clients!

I am loving this more and more.

This a really great concept. It has the same impact as a text message would, but with all the added bells and whistles...and minus the cost! Nice!

ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT! Nothing else needs be said...

Kick ass! These are the little golden nuggets that I wish I could come across more!

Thanks Rick!

Just going through the thread and still can't believe it! Fantastic. Can't wait to incorporate this into my client's marketing campaigns.

Thanks Rick!

this only works in the US!.

Great tip! Ill definitely do these. Cheers to you Rick Duris!

Regarding the comments of perceived value, the actual perceived value is based on the number of customers claiming each SMS offer, not the actual tool itself.

And I am not walking in telling restaurant owners, hey, this is FREE.

I set their restaurant up with a special Twitter account, ie: for Roy's Cafe it might be royscafevips

Then I create the first offer (which must be evergreen as each Twitter message or "offer" will become the first message those that subscribe while that offer is live) and I give them a demo and hand them 20-30 table tents and flyers for them to display.

I tell them the limitations of the service I am providing them, review my disclaimer flyer, which is really a sales letter with a strong call to action for my web design service and if they should choose to "upgrade" to a paid SMS solution.

Once I was able to perfect the pitch, I have yet to have a restaurant reject me. Of course, I am also a customer and not perceived as a sales person trying to part them from their money. And I genuinely am trying to help them grow their business.

I had to stop by and post this one.

My wife and I like to have a sort of date night once a week where the little ones stay with the sitter and we splurge a bit.

We also like to try new restaurants and this evening, fate took us on a rather interesting journey.

Not only did we have an incredible meal, but we also made some new friends and when I told our server I'd like to speak to the owner and tell him or her what a fabulous job she was doing, our server almost tripped over her own feet trying to get to the back of the restaurant and fetch us the owner.

Well, out from the back comes a big ole Texan wearing the biggest cowboy hat I've ever seen. Now, we have a saying here in Texas (even though I'm originally from Arkansas, I am a Texan now) about someone being "all hat and no cattle" and I'm here to testify, that was not the case here.

Four hours later, my wife and I parted with a down payment check of $4,000 for a contract totally $16,000!

As it turns out, the owner, whom by the way is rarely at this location, thank you Jesus! owns additional restaurants in Texas, Florida and South Carolina. I was hired to build 6 websites with all the bells and whistles.

And it all started with me demonstrating the SMS service I had spent about 7 minutes setting up prior to our arrival at this owners wonderful establishment.

Of course my wife and I were having a magnificent time and thoroughly enjoying the company of our server, the captain, busers and even the servers for the tables around us. And I am sure the energy was contagious as the owner seemed to lap it up the moment he arrived at our table for the critique of his employee.

When we asked him to sit down and that I wanted to pay him the biggest complement that I knew how, for doing such a splendid job from the pristine parking lot, to the incredible knowledgeable staff, fresh cut flowers, superbly broiled rib eye steaks, fabulously steamed lobster tails and the most amazing, sweet, and tender Alaskan king crab legs I have ever indulged in. These babies were huge, the size of a small tree trunk.

We were all having fun and enjoying life. So, continuing, one of the greatest gifts I can give a fellow business owner is a referral, and I shared that I'll certainly be referring all of my family and friends, but that also opened the door to explaining what I do for a living, and the cost of acquiring a new customer, versus simply asking an existing customer to return (which by the way was the #1 reason what someone had not visited a previously frequented business, they were simply not asked) and I explained how I had taken the liberty of creating a system that will allow him to send specials out once per week to his very best "VIP" customers.

I then shared the glossy table tents I created for him. I then had the business owner use his own cell phone to demonstrate the power of technology. To say that he appeared truly astounded, would be an understatement. He was blown away and you could see that his wheels were spinning, however, little did I realize at the time, his wheels were spinning not just for this restaurant, but for 5 other restaurants!

Again, talk about the moon and stars aligning up, but what I have discovered is the more you put yourself out there, the more you partake of activities that have the greatest chance of growing your business, the more times the starts and moon align.

It's like the more action I take, the luckier I get!

So, I just wanted to come here and share this, as I am so excited and my wife is too.

It is so nice for her to see what it is that I do and to hear her words, " you know, you are really amazing, but I think I could do that..."

;-)

And you know what? She is right.

In closing, I want to thank Rick Duris for sharing this amazing tip with me and my family. My friend, you have no idea what it has meant to my family, to my business, to my sanity. I mean I was doing ok, but I was losing my sanity trying to stir up projects. It was not fun, and I looked at it as a chore, because it quite frankly, it was a chore.

And for everyone that wanted me to share the flyer I am using to help me win over new clients, after some research, I know that Rick Duris is an accomplished copywriter and his ideas and solutions for those of us that sell to brick and mortar businesses can not and should not be ignored. I found out later that he and his partners are actually working in this space themselves. I know that I went through a lot of trial and error and IF I had known what Rick actually did and does for a living, I would have gladly hired him on the spot.

Once more, thank you Rick Duris!

Thanks for the share, I will use this in some other industries, but I don't think its great for the restaurant industry and here is why. After a while, they will build their list to include 500, 750, or even 1000 people, and they will have problems. SMS has high open and response rates, so if they send them a great offer they will have lines out the door and upset customers. A real SMS system could segment the list and avoid this. But after it happens once they will probably stop using the system, or just start sending out poor offers.

awesome post man! I will definitely use this on some local businesses!

I still like this idea as a door opener, but I stumbled across a weak point. It's in unsubscribing.

Say I opt in to 4 Twitter text follow offers, two are legit Restaurants, one is a restaurant that never does offers anyway, and one is a spammy internet marketer I just happen to follow because I'm intrigued by their offer.

I like the deals and stuff I get from the two restaurants, and the third restaurant never sends offers anyway, but I get annoyed at the constant crap I get from the internet marketer.

One day he texts me an afffiliate link, and I've finally had enough. So, just like I do with most spammy texts, I reply STOP.

Guess what?

Now I am unsubscribed from receiving ALL texts from Twitter, including the two I wanted.

The right way to unsubscribe from just one list is to type OFF @Businessname

But who is going to remember that? I didn't

And once you do you have opted out of ALL Twitter texts, I say again......

For Offliners , Its Amazing thing to play with using Twitter ! FOC for SMS is cool if you have many subscribers !

I have been considering this but see several drawbacks
1 how can the client not know you are using twitter, the first message you get mentions you are getting tweets
2 you are not building a list, you have no idea how many people you are reaching
3 what if someone is just killing it and twitter decides to limit the number of messages a day it could be a disaster

any thoughts on this

Please guys its kinda time sensitive aswell

Just found this think it could help everyone if they dont already use it especially with the tracking results bit

Twitter Auto Follow/Auto Reply. AutoResponder DM. Send a message to new Twitter followers automatically.

Just found this think it could help everyone if they dont already use it especially with the tracking results bit

Twitter Auto Follow/Auto Reply. AutoResponder DM. Send a message to new Twitter followers automatically.

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Rick - I will be happy to talk to you and share my results if enough people would be interested in a WSO, I won't even ask for a dime, my pleasure for all of your help in growing my biz!

Cool Tips!
Yeah there are limitations and opt out compliance issues but still pretty cool.
Has anyone tested this with non-Telstra phone in Australia?

Thank you for this very useful information.

"And to those who threatened me for sharing something designed to be free?"

To those who did that F U

This is so incredible.

Thanks so much for sharing Rick. I appreciate your courage and generous spirit in making this information available for us. The world is a better place with you in it :-)

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Hey Rick - I rarely read an entire thread all the way through but this one has been absolutely valuable and enlightening. I really appreciate all of the positive sharing that has been written on this thread and the comments of many who help to clarify various potential issues with this approach.

From the beginning, I was disturbed to read that you had received threatening comments. Honestly, there are plenty of Internet marketers who avoid the warrior forum for a host of not very attractive reasons. I deeply appreciate you sharing this great idea and I am certain it will help a great deal in my business. It is actually refreshing to read about a great approach method without having to pull out my wallet.

You and net empire have really put together a tremendous amount of information. I am grateful for your efforts. I don't really have a clue about dealing with comments that are threatening because it's so far out of the norm in business communication. I guess it's probably best to approach this forum cautiously. However, again, I am extremely appreciative of what you all have contributed here and wanted to put it on the record. Thank you.

Not liking this post Rick, just laid out money for text service for my clients. Anyways doesn't work in the uk
Mike

Mike it does work, read through the thread someones put a link to the UK number needed , I'm using it succesfully in the UK

How do you actually set up a separate business account ? been scouring twitter for this and don't see anywhere how this is done

best Mike

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Great tip.

Thanks a lot for sharing this. This will help me a lot.

There wasn't much info by the OP about what happens to customers numbers.

Who owns 404040? Is this Twitter? A 3rd party?
Is the service being provided by Twitter or someone else?
Only a fool would turn over his customers numbers to someone else which is what many text providers do.

Not a bad concept I'm just sayin...
Needs more details...

thanks bro...nice share

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thank you for the awesome tip, never knew this but Im not surprised

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nice tips ..
i will definitely try it in near future

You can try it on my account if you want. Text "follow mytestlist" to 40404

Excellent tip to get your foot in the door for most businesses.

"Upgrading" their free account to a real account where the business owner captures the cell phone numbers (and not twitter) is brilliant.

This concept is the same with the business owners using Groupon and Daily Deal sites and thinking they have a great marketing tool... Dah, Groupon and others have the list - not the business owner!

Wow, great thanks! Its really worth to read and I learned a lot from your post. I find it really interesting Congrats!

I'd like to take advantage of those unlimited texting programs. I'm assuming you have to have permission to send the texts, right?

Hi Rick,

This is really good stuff and you have add value to the peoples lives. Thanks for sharing your ideas. They are really gems.

Will this work in Sri Lanka?

If anyone has documented this whole process appreciate if I could get a link or a IM so that it will be easy for me to understand how to set it up. The reason is I am not that technically sound on this.

Thank all you guys in advance.

Rick,
Great tips!
Thanks

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Is this only for America. Or is it worldwide. Any idea!

I don't sell sms services though I am considering an investment
in a local marketing firm that does... but here's my take on what I've
read in this thread.

On the surface this might look like a no brainer but before you get
all excited and start doing the happy dance I think it would be prudent
to think a little farther down the line and consider the law of unintended
consequences.

As I'm seeing it this "free" service can be a short term source of excitement
and good will that can easily turn into a source of anger and frustration down
the line on the part of the client.

I can't seem to get this thing to work...I'm in the UK so i texted "follow usernamedeals" to 86444 but I have received nothing back from twitter.

I have done a few tweets, but still i have not got any response yet from twitter for over a day.

What am i doing wrong?

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ditto, theres also a long code you can use under all the countries list for non conforming suppliers

Most people would have sold this as WSO.. thanks for sharing.

Thanks, Rick.

I knew free SMSs had to exist but I had not figured it out. Yet, so simple.

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Can we apply this to Facebook too ? Don't they have a feature where you can make a post and everyone with a cell can get the message to their mobile phone (as long as they have it added)?

Thanks for tip.

This is sweet. Kudos Rick and many thanks for sharing!

This is great information and I have used this in the past , particularily with restaurants. thanks !

Quick update:

I created this thread a couple of months ago, and I have to say if you're struggling selling and closing people, this is by far the easiest way to get the relationship started with a business owner.

The private communication I've had with other consultants has been absolutely mind blowing.

I urge you to at least try it. Especially if you're struggling. Or if you're new.

- Rick Duris

PS: Thanks everyone for all your appreciation.

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Once again... this is fantastic and one of the coolest things I've come across in the WF. I have a question, does anyone know if there is a way to find out who and how many people have followed a particular client? I am guessing there isn't anything to tell you directly in Twitter text joiners fly under their radar and aren't followers really. But is there a third party app of any kind that would tell you how many people are receiving a tweet/text that is sent?

Just curious. Again, thanks so much for sharing

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Just let the customers USE the received text message as the proof that they have a right to the COUPON or DISCOUNT.

REDEEM YOUR COUPON BY SHOWING YOUR SMS TEXT AT THE LOCATION AND YOU WILL RECEIVE YOUR DISCOUNT!!!

This is great !
The only downside is:

It can cost money to receive text messages for some people.
It says, WELCOME TO TWITTER BLAH BLAH.

Other than that, fantastic !

Wow. This is pretty cool. Thanks for the tip Rick!

awesome post, thank you for posting this. you can totally use this to offer it to churches, you can charge them about 100$ per month with this.

And also thanks to Rick for starting this thread. What can I say...this is what I expected this forum to be. And all of the feedback, both supportive and critical, are great ways for us to gain new perspectives.

Thanks,
Warren

For some reason, this doesn't work for me in the UK.
I've created this account https://twitter.com/TayDoOffers

UK code is 86444. I've tried on my T Mobile phone and not working.

Do you have to use the quotes as it's not working for me.

Any ideas anyone?

Thank you for the replies

Hi Michael, I beleive TMobile is one of the providers it doesnt work on (think it says this on the site) , but others on other providers will still be able to connect

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I've used this method over the past year to introduce myself to many new groups/ businesses and have set it up for some them at no cost. Once the church or group begins using this it isn't long before the members know I was the guy that showed them how to do this for Free ! I've gotten plenty of busines from being the guy who helped them out for free.
This can get a foot in the door to many groups, and groups have members. Groups like Chambers of Commerce...... (hint-hint)

Thanks for sharing awesome tips

Very Cool. Thanks for the Info.

great sharing here..!!

no it doesn't work...can't believe how many people are so negative about this open this door opportunity...thanks OP, I will test it, for others, I don't think it will work for you.

Thank you, this is really usefull.

Really not sure how this works. I live in Canada, the twitter SMS number is 21212. So what do I do... create and account "canadapizza" and then send "canadapizza" to 21212??? It wants me to log into my twitter account through SMS. How does someone build a list to send a message to...

Local business is such a great niche this days. People are improving a lot!

Rick, great post.

I looked into an SMS solution for my coupon business and this works perfect. I don't sell the service to customers but I do use it as an added feature to help get them on board to promote their coupons. So along with the normal traffic avenues such as Regular Twitter, Facebook Business Page, LinkedIn, Pinterest etc I have set up a SMS only twitter account and those that quick follow receive each new deal/offer in whatever category they choose.

Again great post and great easy fix for added value to my business model.

great share, i see it was started quite sometime ago but used it effectively today, in the UK we are stuck with O2 and Orange service providers but as Rick says its a perfect intro to new businesses thanks again

I made this Wso last year. For all the people mad at Rick, I was the first on here with the idea, I made about $1000 bucks on here. I was shocked how much I made. I cant get mad that he posted anything like it on here, I dont know why other people are. Its free info on the internet. It does not promote it like this, but it doesnt take a genius to figure this out.

Free service, but where is the tracking and analytics? This may get your foot in the door but over time any sensible business owner will want more tracking and data so they can justify whatever it is they are paying you for Mobile Marketing.

I send the "follow mydeals" text msg to 40404 and it does tell me I am now following. I also get the last tweet that went out from the twitter feed. However when I send a new tweet, it does not deliver the sms/txt msg.

What a freaking AWESOME rockstar idea. I never hopped on the Paid SMS services bandwagon, and this is a GREAT way to get your foot in the door with new prospects. Talk about providing VALUE right away!

I am under the impression that after I send a SMS "Follow <twitteraccountname>" to 40404 (USA) from my phone and I receive the intro msg plus the last tweet send out by the <twitteraccountname>, then I should start receiving SMS messages any time a new tweet is sent from <twitteraccountname>, correct?

If so, this doesn't appear to work any longer.

I DO receive my initial SMS after sending a "Follow <twitteraccount>" to 40404. But I do NOT receive anything when tweets are sent out.

Wow this sounds really cool and I feel that so many business especially small businesses really need an advertisement source like this. One that can be implemented with ease and have a very low cost. Small businesses are our growing economy and we - They need help to fight costs. Thanks Good Information!!

can anyone confirm if it still working or not?

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@RickDuris - This is the type of share that makes WSO's obsolete and elevates people like you to star status fast.

Nice share and i look forward to exchanging more great ideas with you.

Regards

Los

Awesome tip!

I love it. Always love to grasp more and more value and implement them.

awesome tip, thanks buddy!

I just read this whole thread, tested it out and it works perfectly. Thanks alot Rick This will be extremely handy for me in breaking the ice with future website prospects.

I just looked on my Excel file and I have created exactly 41 accounts for restaurants in my area with no issue and when I just read your post, I set up another and I just texted it and it worked fine.

You do have to have at least one message posted because all new subscribers receive your last message.
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This is brilliant!

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