Just like any other internet site, you have to use common sense on Twitter. There are thousands of Twitter users who are selling something – you can find them very easily. They are promoting MLM programs (which personally I detest), they are promoting Affiliate Marketing programs (and someone is making money from these, I don’t know who, but someone is). Everyone has something for sale. I’m not an exception to that rule – and I won’t pretend that I am. Recently I’ve been promoting an iPhone Application on Twitter. However, I have no vested financial interest in this application, I am merely helping someone promote it. I trust the person, I have confirmed that it really exists and to boot, it’s selling for a whopping $.99.
Nonetheless, there are some things that are inherent to usage of the internet that people think they can scam others. I often muse that if these people spent 1/3 of the time with legitimate work that they do scamming people that they’d be able to make an honest living.
I’m not trying to imply that everyone promoting on Twitter is scamming you. What I’m suggesting is that you use some caution when you are clicking on some of these “make money for free” offers. In fact, most of them are NOT free. There are strings attached and they don’t tell you that up front. In fact, go to some of the websites and see what you can see. Let’st ake a look at some of the common ones:
Get Rich Quick
I am not a believer in “get rich quick” schemes. In fact, I have a theory about these people who are promoting them. They are definitely making some money from them, or they wouldn’t continue to promote them. I wonder how much money they are making that allows them the luxury of posting the same link over and over to Twitter, Facebook and other social networking sites though? Chances are that these folks are making more from AdSense than they are making from their Affiliate Marketing programs or their Multi Level Marketing schemes.
Asking for Donations
There are plenty of great causes who are advertising on Twitter. They include Meals on Wheels, Kiva, Diabetes Awareness groups and many others. However, please use some caution. All of these programs are legitimate. But please before you make a donation, go to the real website. Kivas website, the American Diabetes Association website, and Meals on Wheels website are always looking for help. Go directly to a charity website to make donations.
Trial Offers
Please use caution when clicking on trial offers through Twitter (or any other website) especially if they ask for your credit card. Too often, these trial offers have fine print in them that commit you to some long term billing that you can overlook if you miss the fine print. Always check out the Better Business Bureau for any company that is offering a free trial.
Increase your follower/Twitter Income
Check these programs out very carefully. I’ve looked at a number of them personally. Most of them are to sell you some sort of software. The software WILL NOT do anything that you cannot do yourself if you put your mind to it. Some of it is “pay per month” ( (I saw one recently for $30 per month!) and others are one time fees. The fact remains if you want followers and you want people to buy your product or service, you need to be honest! If you have something for sale, fine, be up front about it. Forget about trying to make everything sound like the next best thing to sliced bread. Sure, some hype might be needed, but I am convinced you will get far more customers if you are not trying to sell all hype!
Work at Home
I am constantly infuriated when I see work at home offers where someone tells you “we used to give this away for free but not enough serious people were applying”. Folks, if you REALLY want to work at home, you can and YOU DO NOT HAVE TO PAY A DIME UP FRONT. I have been working full time from home for nearly 4 years. It has never cost me ten cents to get a job!! Don’t do it!! There are plenty of legitimate work at home opportunities without you having to pay for a data entry job. No experience required my foot – if you are foolish enough to pay someone for a data entry job, you need a lot more experience – in identifying scams!
Summary
Call me cynical if you want. But, I’d rather do it right the first time than get taken in by the hyperbole on Twitter or any other social networking site. Take your financial health seriously and don’t get conned on any social networking sites.
About Doreen Martel
Well-rounded freelance writer who contributes to various blogs, paid to write sites and revenue sharing sites. Doreen is legally blind and has worked at home for more than 10 years. She uses the lessons learned from this experience to enhance her writing and share information with others.
Contently Portfolio
Thanks for reminding us to use our heads, Doreen!
agreed- its definitely a downside to Twitter. There are soooo many people out there just using it to push a product or service. Like most things in life, you have to keep a balance… some fun and some marketing – otherwise, people will lose interest. I know I do!
I hope you have a nice day!
Thanks, Doreen! Nothing was really new for me, but it’s nice to have one’s own opinion validated.
I followed one person on Twitter and within ten minutes, I must have gotten 15 different marketing tweets from her – she had some program, I guess, that shot them out every few minutes, and she had a whole bunch of different ones.
Cheers for making this post. Could be very useful in the near future!
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