Dealer Dan, pictured here with WWE Superstar Mick Foley, has been in internet marketing since 1996. He likes hugs, long walks on the beach, and making money while wearing his jammy jams. For more information, you can read all 
It’s taken awhile, but I’m actually at the stage where I “get” Twitter. Not as an internet marketer – I’ve had a solid understanding of Twitter marketing for awhile, although not enough to go full hog on it.
But as an end-user, I actually “get” Twitter now. I remember reading a report that there was 120 million Twitter users, but only 20 million of them were active. Well I know it wasn’t just me – the majority of you reading fall into that 100 million category, where you have a Twitter account, have tweeted a few times, and now it’s been sitting there gathering dust for months.
Now you can count me in the 20 million category, because I get it! I get Twitter! And once you actually sit down and understand it – it’s really, really awesome, and you’ll be kicking yourself for not getting into it more.
I’m going to have a series of articles on Twitter in the next few weeks. First up we’ll be interviewing a gambling affiliate who also “got” Twitter at the beginning of the year, and he’ll be sharing a lot of information on it from an end-user and marketing standpoint.
I’ll also be discussing how to use Twitter, what websites need Twitter, and how to market on Twitter because seriously – some of the “marketing” I see from internet marketing “experts” out there amazes me. Guess what? Signing up at Twitter, following thousands of people, then spamming them with promos and affiliate links repeatedly is NOT the way to market. Yet I’m still seeing many people I respect doing this before claiming “Twitter marketing doesn’t work” and give up.
One thing I briefly wanted to touch on and get your brain thinking was personalized marketing. You see Twitter is all real people – it’s all about interaction. So when earlier today I tweeted:
Off to #Montreal this weekend for #F1 Should be a grand old time!
A restaurant in Montreal saw this, and sent me a mention:
@DealerDan Great! Looking for any dining suggestions while in Montreal?
That’s just fantastic. They didn’t even push their restaurant on me – it was more a friendly question. And now I am aware of that restaurant, and it’s possible I’ll go while I’m there simply because they reached out to me. If I enjoy my experience there? Well obviously I’d tell people about it, however even more importantly: I’m active on Twitter. So it’s possible I’ll tweet about it, and get the attention of my followers. That’s a lot of word of mouth marketing, the strongest form of marketing there is. And it’s all free!
That’s the kind of thinking you need to have not just for twitter, but marketing in general. Sometimes it really does pay to take the personal approach. One of the biggest “photoblog” style websites at the moment is TheChive.com – have you seen what they do over there? They don’t just throw up pictures after pictures like a robot; they personalize the hell out of it. They post stories; trips; things they do together. They create a community.
Hell they even printed off pictures of everyone that “Liked” them on Facebook and added it to their actual office walls.
Professional marketing does have its place; however personalized marketing does too, and can sometimes give you a really strong edge. I think that’s why Affiliate Bible has always done so well; because you know I’m a real guy, telling of all my experiences and always available for a chat about anything, be it on forums, e-mail, facebook, or instant message.
And now…Twitter!
This article was written on June 11, 2011 however all articles are looked at on a monthly basis and updated to keep them relevant.
If you need to contact Graeme, please see his Contact Page. If you are an affiliate manager wanting promoted please see this page.
