Well, the news has been out for a few weeks and twitter has unveiled its plan to actually make some money!! Wierd, I was starting to wonder if Twitter didn’t like the taste of revenue or something. They obviously have a powerful platform and from the initial release, my immediate impression is that the route they are taking has potential and is a good one. It isn’t particularly innovative but it doesn’t have to be as long as it can maintain its service quality and experience.

They are calling it Promoted Tweets and are working with some major industry players to unveil it. Reuters described it as follows:

As Twitter broadens the program to include more advertisers, spokesman Sean Garret said, keywords on Twitter’s search engine will be opened to competitive bidding by advertisers, similar to the way that Google’s lucrative paid search advertising program operates.

Twitter also said on its blog Tuesday that the company planned to eventually serve Promoted Tweets ads beyond its search feature, offering the ads directly within users’ message streams.

I’d like to see twitter turn into a powerhouse but the snails pace has been discouraging.  Maybe I’m impatient (which I can be, coming from a bootstrapper’s approach myself).

I still think they ought to explore freemium more closely, offering paid accounts with more control, analytics, features, etc.  It could easily be done without degrading the experience, in my opinion…

Welcome to actual business, Twitter!!

Entrepreneur Mag for December includes an article here that helps put Twitter into perspective a bit more and gives “The netiquette of Twitter.”

From the Article:

“Twitter is about reaching the right people at the right time,” says Becky McCray, a longtime Twitter user and advocate who operates her own cattle ranch and liquor store as well as a website, SmallBizSurvival.com., in Oklahoma’s Woods County. “But you have to think carefully about what messages you want to communicate.” Here are some recommendations for what to do–and what not to do–on Twitter.

• Listen before speaking. “When you sign up and start reaching out to folks, listen to them before joining the conversation,” McCray says. “What are their customers talking about? Who are they listening to, and what can I learn from them? When you feel it’s time to tweet some messages, share things you find interesting–share things you wish other people would share.”

• Don’t be boring. “Make sure your tweet is interesting to the reader–be unselfish, and be useful,” says Laura Fitton, co-author of the book Twitter for Dummies and founder of the Twitter application storefront oneforty.com. Short, direct messages work best, especially given Twitter’s 140-character limit. Talk about what your business is doing–e.g., new products, services or promotions, or anything else likely to pique the curiosity of your clientele.

• Consider the source. “The beauty of Twitter is that tweets with value are almost instantly recognized,” says John Battelle, founder, chairman and CEO of Federated Media Publishing. “Does it come from somebody who’s been on Twitter for a month, or for a year? Someone with 10 followers, or 10,000 followers? Did that tweet get picked up and re-tweeted? You can tell a lot about the value of a tweet by those metrics.”

• Update daily. Give your customers a reason to follow and return to your Twitter feed. Download a mobile client to your smartphone to facilitate regular updates while on the go–some of the most popular include Twitterific, TwitterBerry, PocketTweets and Twidroid.

• Embrace Twitter applications. Don’t wait for followers to find you–identify and connect with local Twitter users via services such as Twitter Advanced Search, ChirpCity, Nearby Tweets and Tweepz. Other Twitter apps of value: SocialOomph (for scheduling tweets, tracking keywords and sending direct messages), CalTweet (for tagging, promoting and sharing upcoming business events) and Twitalyzer (for measuring the impact and influence of your tweets).

“Twitter is a tool that’s incredibly powerful,” McCray says. “What makes it powerful is the fact that it can be used in so many different ways.”

Well, there you have it straight from Entrepreneur. One day, we will all figure out Twitter and maybe, just maybe, Twitter will figure out itself!

Twitter’s growth is leaving some fascinated and devoted to the platform while others are confused and, frankly, wasting too much time with it.  A recent article in Fast Company here discusses Katalyst Media and Ashton Kutcher’s venture into the emerging realm of social media/ advertising/ entertainment/ whatever else you want to call it.  He is dominating twitter with 3.9 million followers and maintains an equally impressive facebook fanbase.  As Sarah Ross states regarding Katalyst’s business:

We provide a content solution for marketers and syndicate it through social environments.

The article states, speaking with Kutcher regarding Katalyst:

What the Katalyst team is planning, he says, is simple: Make entertaining stuff, give it to people where they already are, let them have some fun with it, and mix in brand messaging. And because of the viral nature of the Web, each new consumer is cheaper to win than the last one.

The article continues:

Of course it’s risky, Schmidt adds, because the more commercialized personalities become, the less influence they have. Kutcher acknowledges this: “I am consciously risking my career on the edge of what’s too much information. Eventually, we’ll open up this platform to others, just like Facebook and developers. For this to work, it has to be open.”

I love that Kutcher is grasping the open nature of the web and social media.  This is crucial to understanding and capitalizing on it.  Katalyst has become successful in utilizing the platforms that so many struggle with including raising substantial money for charities and current work with Pepsi.

The obvious benefit illustrated by Katalyst regarding social media is not direct monetization but maintains an emphasis on monetization nonetheless.  In today’s no revenue digital world, this is often a lost focus.  In order for business to survive, it is absolutely necessary; it’s just common sense!  Katalyst is actually profitable with social media!

So what is the take?

What can each business learn from Katalyst’s experiences?  It is about building reputation, enhancing customer experience and loyalty, and creating highly effective channels of information distribution.  Don’t prostitute the channels, however, through product hocking and spam.  That does not enhance experience or reputation.  This is the beauty of proper social media management, if reputation, experience, and loyalty are considered, the channels of distribution will maintain effectiveness and integrity.  They will only grow and become more efficient as well.

37 Signals has a new, excellent podcast.  I highly recommend it.  Simply a group of entrepreneurs discussing interesting topics.  The latest piece (as of this post, episode 2) found here, addresses the interesting actions and valuations of tech 2.0 companies.  That is, they often forgo revenue for massive growth, tons of venture capital and astronomical valuations that make you question “Is the value really there?” This is interesting as I’ve asked this many times, only to be scorned for questioning the all-seeing powers at be, whoever they are…  Is Twitter really worth $1 BILLION?  If they began seeing revenues, would this valuation actually drop?  Interesting stuff… go check out the podcast here. and decide for yourself…  are they over-kill on pessimism or right on the money?  I personally like twitter (as do they) among other services but do I like them $1Billion?

Twitter has been around for some time now and I have had an account for a lot of that time.  I did not begin using it regularly until just a few weeks ago (month or so? eh, a bit now).  I had a small handful of updates and a few followers but honestly, I just could get it.  I could see it for celebrities and others who looked for the cult following but I just couldn’t grasp it for me, my use.  I shot out a snippet here and there but all in all, maybe once a month.  So I did not use it myself nor did I really follow anyone.  I obviously was following some technically, but I never got on and really used it or check updates, feeds, the tweets of others.  I heard guru after guru say how they loved Twitter and are making all this money and getting success from Twitter but I couldn’t grasp it still.

The Turn to Twitter

Finally, one day I am speaking with an associate about Twitter and other technologies when he made the simple comment about utilizing it as an aggregator and the light finally clicked on!  I fairly regularly surf for new articles, content, reviews, etc.  I may as well share the wealth with others!  If you have ever seen my twitter updates, 90% of them are interesting articles, posts, and other tidbits from around the web.  I rarely, practically never, respond to direct messages (dm’s) or other more active forms of twitter use.  I do re-tweet from time to time and now I actually follow others in search of good articles, ideas, etc.  So my use, both in posting and reading, is looking for thought provoking tidbits, articles, and blogs.  Now, I’m not saying the other uses are not valuable, only that I haven’t found them to be for me (at least not yet). Twitter tends to be one of the biggest traps when attempting to regulate the information flow.  It is a matter of balance as well as efficient and effective utility.  At this point it is neither efficient nor effective FOR ME.  I definitely have to emphasize this as me sharing my use.  I am keen to the fact that others have found additional means of value and power to them!