Sisterly Savings

This year, my goal is to do do more activities online that will hopefully earn me a little extra money that I can put away for Christmas next year, like I did this year. There are so many opportunities available online to make money like Swagbucks (where I was able to get kids a Wii this year for Free!!) to surveys that are totally legitimate and while your not gonna get rich overnight, every little bit helps and can really add up!

To start off with, Twitter has become a venue where you can earn a little extra money and there are currently 3 that I know of and have joined:

Sponsored Tweets: I have been with this company for a few months and to date I have made $28.30 so far.

How It Works: Once you sign up , you’ll receive offers from advertisers for you to tweet via email. You then get to choose whether you want to accept or decline an offer. This method was slow starting in the process as I only got a few offers the first 2 months, but lately I have gotten quite a few offers all at once. I generally get offers that are relevant for me to tweet out, however there were a few that I did decline because it wasn’t in my readers interests.

Twittad: I have been with Twittad for several months now and have a total of  $15 to date.

How it Works: Twittad offers campaigns that are matched up by your profile. Once a campaign is matched to you, you have the option to accept or decline it. If you accept , then your Twitter background will display the advertiser for a set amount of days. Once the campaign is over, your background will go back to your usual profile. So far it has been slow moving for me and I don’t get too many campaigns. Generally I get about 1-2 campaigns a month at best.

Ad.ly: I just joined this today and it appears to be the same concept as Sponsored Tweets as they match you with a sponsor and the ad gets tweeted out via your twitter account. One feature that I find interesting is that I can choose to have my earnings donated to a charity! I’ll have to keep you updated on how well I do with this program!

While I do realize these are all small amounts,  they are relatively easy and don’t  take a lot of time or effort. However, I do think these opportunities will increase as more advertisers sign on with these companies because Twitter has become so popular!

One word of advice: I do highly recommend that you only accept offers that are relevant to your Twitter followers though and that you are not just advertising just for the sake of earning a little extra money. I know your followers will thank you for it!

Have you had any success with any of these Twitter Programs? Or do you know of another company where you can earn money via Twitter? If so, we’d love to hear about it!!

Do you Twitter?? I found the cutest spot to get some very adorable Twitter Buttons for you to display!

Not sure what Twitter is? Read my post here about Twittering:)

Perhaps my favorite online development over the last year or so has been the explosion of Twitter. For those living under a rock who have not yet heard about Twitter, it’s pretty simple: it’s like instant messaging except everyone can read conversations and join in. You sign up for a free account there and can then send messages (and respond to the messages of others) whenever you want, from your computer or even from your cell phone via text message. You can also “follow” other people who have signed up for Twitter, enabling you to see all of their messages at once. So, when you visit Twitter, you’ll see the latest updates of all of the people you’re following (i.e. the people you’re interested in).

If you’d like to take a peek, feel free to check out my own updates. I also make Simple Dollar updates available on Twitter.

Anyway, one of the hottest topics among online marketers and bloggers is how exactly someone can use Twitter effectively to gain a following and perhaps grow one’s business. Twitter is particularly interesting in this regard because it allows one person to carry on something of a conversation with a large crowd of people that want to hear what they’re saying. Take my own account, for example: if I send an update, I’m effectively talking to 2,000 people who have chosen to hear what I have to say.

Surprisingly, out of this creative explosion has come a ton of bargains. Quite a few people have jumped on Twitter as a way to provide coupons for their business in a very inexpensive way. Others have written computer programs that scour the ‘net for bargains and post them automatically to Twitter. Still others are exploring giveaways and contests.

I’ve followed quite a few Twitterers who are trying these things and I’ve found ten well worth sticking with. Even if you don’t find them worth following, you may find this post worth bookmarking so that you can check in on these accounts from time to time.

DellOutlet – Dell already has excellent prices on computer systems, but they’re giving out some incredible deals directly on Twitter via the DellOutlet account. There are at least two items that I’m considering buying from Dell, so I’m just waiting until they pop up with great coupons on here. If you’re considering upgrading your PC, this is one that’s well worth following.

amazondeals – Every day, Amazon throws up a few “lightning deals” on their site, which are simply individual items sold at a pretty stiff discount for just an hour or two. I tend to follow these pretty closely, as there are often deals on there that can be “turned” for a profit or can be given as gifts later on (several of our Christmas gifts came from this feature). Amazon has chosen to share these on Twitter, which has made it very easy for me to keep tabs on these deals.

AmazonSteals – This one’s similar to the above “amazondeals” account, except this one isn’t directly affiliated with Amazon and it also digs deeper into specific Amazon categories to find steeply discounted items. It actually forms a very nice pair with amazondeals for digging up great deals buried within Amazon.

amazonmp3 – A legal mp3 album every day for $2. That’s basically what this account offers. The mix is widely varied, but I find about one album a month that’s well worth it for me (most recently, Urban Hymns by The Verve, which I listened to over and over again about twelve years ago).

dealyzer – This account seems to simply scavenge the web for huge discounts of all kinds. The mix is quite varied, but I find things regularly on here that are worth following up on (for example, I got the Planet Earth documentary set for my son for $34 shipped directly from Discovery because of this account).

shoppersshop – This is a very low traffic version of dealyzer. Outside of the pre-holiday sales, there’s only about one update a week or so, but when they come, they’re almost always well worth it. I actually found several of the other accounts listed on this page by following shopperssshop.

DealUniversity – Here’s another strong deal aggregator, but this one focuses almost exclusively on electronics deals. Their picks really are a mixed bag, but there are enough gems that come through to make it worthwhile if you are good at sniffing out deals on tech items.

cheaptweet – Cheaptweet is basically just an aggregation of the top picks from CheapTweet.com, which itself just scours Twitter for sales and other deals and allows users to vote up the best of the lot. There’s a fair amount of conversation in there, too, but when the deals come through, they’re usually good ones.

booksamillion – Run by the folks behind the Books-A-Million book chain, this account offers up deals on … books. Following this account is like shuffling through a good bargain table at a bookstore – you won’t be interested in most of it, but every once in a while a dirt-cheap new book will float through.

SmartyPig – I felt it appropriate to mention SmartyPig here, since I’ve been following them practically since their inception. SmartyPig is an online savings account with a goal-setting twist. So why mention their Twitter account? Every month, they give away a SmartyPig account with $100 in it on their Twitter feed (and their methods for determining winners is both transparent and entertaining). The traffic on here is pretty low, too – most of their Tweets are related to their monthly giveaway.

Do you know any other Twitterers that offer good deals on Twitter? Let us know in the comments!

Post Courtesy of Trent at the The Simple Dollar!

Since I have signed up with Twitter, it has become a great way to connect and socialize! In the beginning, i didn’t see waht the fuss was all about or completely understand it, but now, its become a part of my day to connect with readers, friends and network with other fellow Bloggers!

To introduce you to Twitter here is a great article written by Amy @ MomAdvice on what in the world is Twitter and how it has impacted her:

Here are some of the positive things that have happened for me since joining Twitter:

Networked With Other Bloggers- Twitter is an amazing networking tool. Do big-time bloggers not know about you? Do you want to connect more with bloggers in your own category? This is the place to do it. Following people requires one click and then you can begin building relationships with others. You might think, how could that possibly help me? Well, within the first week I was able to see how great it really was.

Is a blogger going away on vacation and in need of some bloggers to do guest posts? That blogger will post this on Twitter and you can scoop up a guest post on other blogs in your genre. Is a blogger looking for an article on a particular subject that you just so happened to have written on? That blogger will post that article request on Twitter and you can send them a message to let them know that you have the perfect article ready to go for them.

You can read the rest of the article here.

With Twittering, comes of course some basic Twitter Etiquette. Cindi @ Moomettesgrams Musings shares with us a few basic guidelines on Becoming a Model Twitizen!

 If you’re new to Twitter, or have yet to join the chorus, here are a few ground rules that will help you to make your tweets harmonious.

1. Follow me, and I’ll follow you…and vice-versa:
If I follow you, please do the community-oriented thing and follow me, too. That way it becomes a conversation, a collaboration, a community. For us dedicated tweeters, Twitter is about building relationships. Build one with me!

Most of us don’t tweet to hear the sound of our own voice. No one wants to be shouting into a well. Consider my follow an invitation into my world, as well as a tip of the hat to your skill in presenting a doorway into yours.

2. Write a good bio:
In the beginning, this tiny bio is all we know about each other. 160 characters of character. The bio is often an under-utilized aspect of Twitter. I’m encouraging a bio revival! Make me want to know you. (It’s great practice for your elevator pitch, too, right?)

I encourage you to include something about your openness to new followers, or the reason you’re on Twitter. I put “Follow me, I’ll follow you,” in my bio. If you only want people you already know to follow you, you can protect your updates. In addition, you could say “I only follow people I know.” This little step will save both of us time, energy, and pride.

In addition to the bio, there’s a spot for a url. Add a link to a place where I can find out more about you; your blog, your website, an article you’ve written, your facebook profile.

Read the rest of the article here.

And along with any good ole social site, comes of course fun add ons and apps to make the experience more enjoyable! RobynsOnlineWorld has compiled a nice list of very usable Twitter Helpers,Tools & Apps:

 Twitter Badges – Show what you are doing on Twitter on your blog, profile page, web page, etc. (officially from Twitter)

Mobile Twitter – This is Twitter’s mobile page. If you are using your cell to view or post this is the page you should use. You can use it in a regular browser though also if you want a no frills version of Twitter. If you get stuck here, scroll to bottom and click STANDARD to go back to normal. (officially from Twitter)

Twhirl – A lovely little desktop app for Windows PCs or Macs. This runs on the Adobe Air platform. I’ve just started using this and am liking it.

Twubble – Find more people you might like to follow on Twitter. It expands your Twitter Bubble by looking at who is being followed in the people you already follow and suggests matches for you.

Randa Clay Design – Free Twitter bird images (like the one I have over on the right). Several to pick from, including transparent backgrounds.

Twitscoop – See what is popular on Twitter right now – use the cloud (sigh) but still interesting, also searchable

Twitsay – To busy to type? Try Twitsay – you phone in and leave a voice message and they transpose it and post for you. The US phone number is out of NY, so you want to make sure you don’t have to pay long distance charges first.

To view more Twitter Tools, visit her blog here.

And there you have it Tweeps! A guide to what Twittering is, How to Twitter Proper & How to make it more fun! What more can you ask for?

Please take a moment to visit each one of the authors in this post and feel free to leave a comment thanking them for such helpful & informative Twittering Post:) Tell’ em SS sent ya!

PS. Are you following me? Just click on the little Animated Bird at the top to join me!