There are two ways to approach Twitter from an Internet marketing standpoint.  You can either try to figure out how to really get involved and to parlay that into improved business or you can try to find the shortcuts and secrets that will dump a pile of cash in your lap overnight.

Here’s the scoop.  The people trying for a quick score aren’t making money.

The only way to really use Twitter to your advantage is to use it the “right” way.  You need to be a real user an a legitimate member of your (and others’) social networks.  You need to contribute and you need to interact.  If you’re there looking for a quick buck, everyone will smell you coming from a mile away and they’ll lock down their wallets before you get near.

Let’s say it again to make it clear:  Real users make more money with Twitter.

That’s ugly news for the get-rich-quick crowd, but it’s great news for marketers with enough perspective and understanding to recognize a good thing when it’s staring them in the eyes.

Have you figured out how you can really use Twitter?  Do you understand how that usage can lead to real business improvements?  If you still have questions, you need to learn more about Twitter.  Otherwise, you’re wasting your time.

Twitter marketing is gaining in popularity.  That makes sense.  Twitter is huge, growing and provides a fantastic way of getting in touch with a lot of people quickly and easily.

Not everyone is doing it the right way, however.  In fact, some people seem to be bending over backwards to make sure they don’t make a dime via Twitter.  Here are three of their “methods” that anyone who’s interesting in turning a buck should ignore.

The automatic “thanks for following” message with an affiliate link strategy is a complete disaster.  Those automatic direct messages are one of the most hated aspects of Twitter and only a handful of users will even bother to click on them.

The people who think that following a billion people is the best way to go because it can get them a ton of reciprocal followers just don’t get it.  The magic of Twitter is its ability to help you find a targeted audience.  The scattershot approach doesn’t pay off worth a hoot.

Pounding your followers with your links every ten minutes like clockwork?  I bet you’re not too happy with your sales, are you?   You have to understand the mindset of Twitter users and why that technique can’t get the best results.

Those are just three of the ways people are wasting time and not making money.  There are others.  If you don’t know what works and what fails, you need to learn more about Twitter.

The critics are having a heyday with Twitter.  If you’re not listening to someone go on and on about how great it is, you’re probably listening to someone who’s making fun of it.

You’ve heard the criticisms.  It’s narcissistic volunteer voyeurism at its worse.  It’s nothing more than gobs of self-important people sharing the mundane details of their not-so-exciting lives.  How can Twitter be the next big thing?  Are there really that many people who care what everyone else is making for supper?

Hey, there’s a lot of truth to the criticisms.  There’s a part of the Twitter community that is droning on and on about the minutiae of every day existence.  It would be a mistake, however, to think that’s what the whole thing is really all about.
We’re talking about millions of users and millions more to come.  People with defined interests creating social networks with one another and communicating together.

If you’re a marketer and you’re laughing at Twitter with the critics, the joke is on you.  Beyond the silliness lies a great deal of potential.  There are few ways to reach as many people so easily with a well-targeted marketing message.

When you’re done laughing, start making some money!

Those of us who’ve been around the block a few times can get a little gun-shy about hopping on the latest “big thing”.  We’ve seen popular trends and sites that the world gushed over go cold and dead more than once.  We’ve seen the “game changers” quickly transform into a standard-issue piece of the process.

That’s probably why some of us have been reluctant to get going with a plan to leverage the power of Twitter to improve our marketing.  We’re just suspicious and cynical enough to wonder if this is just another fad.

There’s no way to say definitively that Twitter is going to be a big piece of the Internet landscape in five years.  There’s no way to say what’s going to be happening with the web in five years.  Anyone who claims to know is feeding you a line.

It is, however, safe to say that Twitter is going to keep growing through 2009 and that it’s unlikely to collapse any time soon.  This is one of those trends that hasn’t yet reached its peak and even if that peak hits soon, the fall-off will take awhile to really set in.

Here’s the good news.  Unlike those other situations where it was necessary to act at the beginning of the trend to make money, there’s still plenty of marketing room in Twitter.  It’s not virgin territory, but all things considered, not many marketers have really tapped into its potential yet.

Don’t be cynical or suspicious this time around.  This one’s the real deal.  It’s going to stick for awhile and the moneymaking potential is strong.

When a plane crashed and the big news crews didn’t yet have anyone on the scene, they relied on Twitter reports from eye witnesses to patch together what had really happened.

Actor Ashton Kutcher made headlines on all the gossip rags and entertainment shows when he snapped a photo of Demi Moore’s derriere and shared it with the world.  How did he distribute the photo?  He posted the link on Twitter.

Laid off people are finding jobs with Twitter.  Grandma’s are Tweeting to granddaughters.  College students are Tweeting back and forth in the classroom.  Twitter is everywhere, from the kids in the skate park to the senior reporter at National Public Radio.  It’s only a matter of time before we here about the first marriages between folks who met on Twitter.

Twitter is the big story.  Millions of users.  Millions more to come.  It’s growing fast and it’s being used for every purpose under the sun.  That means there’s a place for you on Twitter even if your girlfriend isn’t an actress, you haven’t witnessed a disaster and you’re not looking for a job.

Here’s a hint.  Millions of people.  Interests of all sorts.  Easy to make connections.  Pushbutton simple to share a link with the world.

Are you putting this all together?  It’s a smart marketer’s dream.  When we first started thinking about the potential of social networking as a marketing tool, we couldn’t have dreamed up a better scenario.

Get busy.

Once upon a time, Wordpress was one of many little blogging platforms a person could choose to use.  Today, it’s the top dog in the world of blogging.  What allowed it to crush the competition and to become such a powerful force online?
Part of it was the simple fact that it’s a good product.  It works and it works well.

There was something else at play, too, though.  It was a collection of coders and fans who developed a massive array of plug-ins and widgets to increase the utility and functionality of Wordpress.

Today, Twitter is following the Wordpress success plan.  They’ve made their API available and now we’re seeing the creation of dozens of tool designed to make Twitter user easier and more productive.

Do you need the tools to use Twitter?  No.  You don’t need Askiment to run Wordpress, either.  Those extras, however, make the tools more functional and a lot more attractive.
Twitter continues to grow.  That’s definitely being encouraged by some great third-party tool developments.

Do you ever follow those people on Twitter who don’t have photos?  I’ll be honest:  Unless I know the individual associated with the profile personally, I don’t.

That’s not because I hate that little default graphic Twitter supplies (although I do).  It’s mainly because experience has shown me that 99% of the accounts that don’t have a picture belong to spammers and robot accounts–not the kind of “people” I need in my social network.

So, if you don’t have a picture for your Twitter profile, I’m not following you.  And I’m not alone.

You look suspicious.  You don’t appear to be invested in participating.  You bear a strange resemblance to a spambot.  That’s not your best look.

If you don’t have a picture up yet, get one there now.  If, for some reason, you don’t have a little picture of yourself, find a stock photo of a cottonwood tree on a summer day or a cute puppy or something.  Just put something in that space.

Let us know that you’re a real person.  Please.

There are different ways to get Twitter followers.  You can follow everyone and their house pets yourself, hoping that enough of them will reciprocate to boost your follower total through the stratosphere.

You can make a concerted effort to promote your Twitter URL at every turn, hoping to find new followers from the population that visits your website or blog.

There’s another way to do it.  The third route, by the way, is the one that works the best.

If you Tweet quality, you’ll get followers.  Good followers.  The kind who want to listen to what you say and who are willing to follow your advice.

When you’re Tweeting the “good stuff”, people notice.  They re-Tweet you.  They recommend you.  They respond to you.  And every time one those things happens, more people become aware of you and the fact that you’re doing something special on Twitter.

Want to get a nice big collection of rabid followers who can actually produce results?  Start bringing your “A” game to the Twittersphere.  When your dropping great Tweets, people will find you.  There’s a magnetic thing about quality that makes it happen.  Every time.

See You next week… Happy Fourth of July!

You know the deal about snowflakes, right?  Every one is unique. They’re all different and you can dig through a snow bank after a mountain blizzard to prove it.  You’ll never find the same design twice.

Twitters are a lot like snowflakes.  There all different, too.

Did I say Twitters with an “s” instead of plain old “Twitter”? 

Absolutely.  And I did it on purpose. 

You see, people too often think of Twitter as a sort of  monolithic thing that everyone uses and sees the same way.  It isn’t.  Everyone’s experience with the fast-growing social networking service is different.  Unique.  Like snowflakes.

My Twitter isn’t going to be like your Twitter.  Your Twitter won’t be like anyone else’s, either.  We all have the chance to use the same tool to create very different realities–with benefits that uniquely suit us.

Are you getting the most out of Twitter?  If you’ve never thought of it as being millions of separate experiences, you might not be on the right page yet.  It might be time for you to start thinking about the best ways to use Twitter to create a set of circumstances that will really work for you.

Don’t believe the critics and cynics who are having a good time roasting Twitter.  They like to think of it as a narcissism-driven site where people wildly shout out trivia about their boring lives hoping that someone is listening.

Yes, there’s a component of that happening.  And it is sort of amusing in a sad way.

However, there’s real value under the surface of Twitter.  There are people sharing important information and ideas.  There are experts offering guidance.  There are potential customers talking about what they really want to see in products.

It’s a huge and growing population.  A chunk of it is boring everyone to death by sharing details about the dressing on the salad served at lunch.  There’s a substantial user population, however, that’s making exciting things happen.

If you’ve believed the critics and you’re not part of Twitter, it’s time to rethink your position.  You can become a part of this exciting collection of social networks.  And I promise:  You won’t be forced to share your lunch stories with anyone.  Honest.