Because the people having the highest success rate with it do so. There is absolutely nothing authentic about using a service with different intentions than what it has been created for (let's say generating a 'traffic stampede' in this case). Same goes for people promoting their business on MySpace. I wouldn't expect much high quality traffic if any - let alone sales - from either. Well trafficwave, I'm glad it works for you, but Twitter doesn't appeal to me as a useful marketing tool without investing alot of time, dedication, or being authentic, as you would entitle it.
I use twitter to promote one of my core blogs. Every time I post to my blog, I generate a tweet automatically. As a result, I often get 100 - 200 visitors directly to that post within 30 minutes. Now consider that some are using that model on a much larger scale and you will begin to see how Twitter makes people money.
I think Twitter is a great way to build connections in your niche. Sure, it's not the only way, and may not even be the best, but it's still very effective at putting you in contact with people you may otherwise not have found.
The point is to increase your readership. It's a marketing tool to both keep in touch with your readership (on a more personal level than RSS updates) and also get the word out about your blog. Embrace it!
I've been using twitter for a while and never really enjoyed it that much, but I notice now that a bunch of people are starting to follow me. Hmm, that sounded stalky, but you know what I mean.
It's probably the fastest way to get people to respond to "anything". Whenever I post a link, it takes just a few seconds before at least 10 people have clicked on it. Whenever I ask a question, I get replies within 30 seconds. - jens -
twitter is like instant traffic. I use it for my new projects, You can test new offers, new niches, everything.
Twitter is good fun and i think you can make some good money from it but it does take a lot of hard work.
If you are still coming to this board, David, thank you for one intelligent thread. You don't see that much intelligence on this board. heh heh there are a lot of monkeys out there. What's even funnier is that they (the inexperienced noobs, mentally slow, or just plain liars) say it works, but the idiots only get a few hits every now and then. Uhhh, what makes you think they are reading your page? They follow you, JUST to follow you, Gomer. And you two are a couple of idiots who posts shit just to get attention. I Uh-huh. And how many actually read your page? And of those who do, which aren't that many, how many actaully go to your site? And, of those who do, how many actually buy something or actually stay past 3 minutes? Yeah, ok. I love how so many noobs/indiots here, and other lame boards filled with idiots, say that it is great, and you can get traffic (when you cannnot) and blah blah blah, and they really don't know themselves. They just repeat what other dumbasses say in order to be part of a conversation, and so on and so on and so on.....
I have to commend you on the attention you've gotten with this thread talking about something you "don't" do. Certainly Twitter isn't for everyone, but it has its uses as it can be used in various ways. It's a great way to get and give information. It's a micro-blogging site, so if you didn't want to write an entire post on something you can just tweet it, like an interesting article you read and think your followers would enjoy. Best, -SpotZero
Once again, you don't even know what you are talking about. I ask again, do you even have a twitter page? You post crap, just to be part of a thread. I feel sorry for the inexperienced webmasters who have a brain and they truly want to learn, but they are mislead by such idiots who repeat stuff, like a talking parrot, just to be heard.
Honestly - too many people get distracted with twitter, facebook and messaging, the more you stay away from these - the more productive you can be.
I tend to agree with you David RSS combined with subscribers who find your content, products and services interesting are most likely Tweet your site to others anyway. For me it's just another viral network account that needs time devotion and maintenance. ROOFIS
the point of twitter for me is to make money. Personally i don't use it except for the precise reason of generating revenue.