Will Twitter make money?

Here is an excerpt from an in-depth post on Twitter's business model and potential sources of revenue.

"Twitter has publicly mentioned future revenue extraction opportunities from businesses on Twitter. Dell directly measures revenue generated by its multiple Twitter channels. Comcast offers "digital care" for its customers through a special Twitter account. Whole Foods discusses groceries with over 22,000 subscribers. Twitter has yet to extract value from the thousands of brand connections it currently enables. Brand monitoring will likely be the first corporate product from Twitter."

This was posted by Niall Kennedy at his blog and click here to log on to the post about Twitter revenue

Click here to read my opinion on whether or not a business should automate its Twitter followers.

Automate Twitter followers or select Twitter followers manually

Applications are readily available with the promise of adding thousands of Twitter followers in 24 to 48 hours. Sounds like a great way to market online.

Should your business add Twitter followers automatically or take the time to select Twitter followers like a real person? Does adding Twitter followers manually make marketing online more time consuming?

I believe companies should add Twitter followers strategically. I don't see how it's valuable to try to get the numbers to soar for most businesses whether those are brick and mortar operations or even online writers.

What's the benefit of having thousands of followers who aren't in your target market?

It's not that difficult. Log in to your Twitter account, use a # symbol and then search for topics that are related to your business or related to the people you want to contact. Go in and follow 1 dozen or two dozen who are closely related and strategically related to your Tweets.

Soon, their followers will discover your presence and you'll begin to build a following. So you don't have to add all your followers manually. But I don't see why businesses feel they need to automate followers simply to get the numbers to soar.

Using Twitter as a marketing and business research tool

Twiter is a useful marketing research tool.

For marketing purposes, Twitter can quickly spread positive comments about a product while it can also generate negative buzz, too.

For business research using Twitter is a cost-effective and time-efficient way of gathering useful information and even networking for potential business contacts.

Simply entering a search term and seeing what people link to may be faster than using the traditional search engines. This article assumes you have a Twitter account. The users who are "tweeting" on that topic are users who are worth following for your company or consulting business.

Let’s say you want to conduct a search on favorite wines. Maybe you’re going to use them as promotional giveaways and you want to see which ones Twitter users recommend.

Here’s an example. Enter #smallbusiness and see what the results return. When I did that, I immediately found several people who seem worth following and their links to topics could prove useful for the online writing and research I do for myself and for clients.

Twitter is a strategic, free tool to begin using to find information – and people – with whom you might want to connect and eventually do business transactions together. Feel free to follow me. I'm @donsimko. Glad to make your Twitter acquaintance!

Click here to see how the online printing company PrintRunner is using Twitter strategically for its marketing and social media purposes.

Free marketing tip - focus marketing message on customers

Let this free marketing tip focus your attention on making your marketing message focus on your customers. A customer-centric message is necessary and strategic.

While that's common sense most companies large and small feel they need to make their marketing message center on their own capabilities. They talk about themselves rather than speak to customers and show how the customer-client benefits.

Focusing on the user (or the customer, client) is what Yahoo! is now doing.

The company announced today that it has realigned all aspects of its business around simplifying and enhancing the Web experience for people throughout the world. To underscore its commitment, Yahoo! is launching a global brand campaign to celebrate its connection with people and communicate core product enhancements.

“Today the Web and your world are inseparable,” said Yahoo! Chief Executive Officer Carol Bartz. “Hundreds of millions of people use Yahoo! to get the information they need, connect with friends and family, and be entertained. We are about creating online experiences people find meaningful, relevant, and fun.”

Yahoo will launch its brand campaign September 28 in the United States, October 5 in the United Kingdom and India. The campaign will run into 2010.

Ask yourself: do your customers understand the benefits your company offers and is it at the core of your marketing messages?

Free marketing tip - write articles on the Internet

This free marketing tip says it's effective to write articles on the Internet as a marketing strategy for a company and especially for independent consultants.

Marketing with written articles is a way to share specialized knowledge, your unique perspective on a subject and, in the process, be found by people who need the services you offer.

My financial planner is writing a book and he sent me an email saying that people who were interviewing him on the book did a search on him on the Internet. They came across an article I had written on him in late '07 (two years ago) and they found it informative and helpful.

Here's a link to the article titled "Should you invest or pay off your mortgage?"

Writing articles as a marketing tool is not a short-term proposition. It takes consistent effort and there must be both quantity and quality in the posts. However, it is ultimately a marketing tool that offers credibility.

For an independent consultant who's working in one geographical area such as Orange County, California or southern California, it's likely that the article can be used to email to a prospective client. The article then is a second touch. That means the consultant uses the article as tool to build credibility.

For a company or sales rep working across multiple states it's likely the article can be a "first touch" found through search engines or a second touch when the rep says "we wrote an article on that very subject" and then emails it.

In the next post, I'll write more specifically on using articles as a marketing tool on the Internet to build credibility and as a tool in winning new customers and clients.

Marketing tip: listen to customers

Listening to customers is a marketing tip that costs little to implement. It may require some time to pause and adapt what is being said.

Listening is one of the greatest assets in selling but it's also a vital tool in gathering intelligent information to use in making strategic marketing decisions and overall business decisions.

An example is spa manufacturer CalSpas that originally launched as a pool company but while displaying pool molds at the Los Angeles County fair, heard customers requesting hot tubs after they saw the pool molds.

Click here to read more on Giving customers what they want: a lesson from CalSpas

Listening to customers may not make your business change its core competency. But it can help in gathering data to sift through and make useful decisions.

Have you done customer surveys? If so, how have you used the information?

What are the greatest reasons for customer satisfaction?

What are their complaints?

Don't let a few negative customer comments get you down and don't let a few positive comments overinflate your ego. Use listening to your customers as a free marketing tip to run your business more effectively.

Marketing lesson in creating buzz

A marketing lesson in creating buzz is Spa Week. I discovered this as I was researching articles for my page at Examiner.com.

The marketing and promotional event happens two times per year at more than 700 spa locations around the country. The purpose is to make spa visits affordable and introduce new spa-goers to the services of spas in their city and community.

Services that may normally cost in the hundreds of dollars are offered for as little as $ 50 for a visit.

Users have to go online to sign up at spaweek.com.

The week is in its 11th season and it helps drive traffic to local spas and provides promotional contests as well for web visitors.

For more information log on to this article about Spa Week.

Spas also gain potential media exposure at both a local and national level.

A lesson to take from this is creating a special event or week for your business or related businesses in your city.

Remember: consistency is required for marketing success and is needed to generate marketing buzz.