Twitter is a big source of traffic for my blogs – especially the newer ones. When you can tweet a new post and see hundreds of visitors within hours, that’s pretty darned cool.
I have started to compare all of my social networking activities to Twitter, figuring out my ROI. Last month on Profitable Mommy Blogging I shared my results comparing time spent using Entrecard to promote a blog versus time spent on Twitter. Minute for minute, Twitter is a much better use of my time.
There’s no doubt that Twitter is a powerful promotional tool.
One mom blogger commented to me recently that she never used to get more than ten visitors a day to her blog and now she sees over a hundred from Twitter alone. She has about 750 followers at this point and can’t wait to see what happens when she had twice that many.
Another WAHM told me recently that she has been using Twitter to double her traffic since the beginning of fall. She’s been so impressed with her results on Twitter that she hasn’t been doing much of anything else.
That’s great. Twitter rocks! But here’s a really important message:
You can’t rely on Twitter for everything.
Twitter traffic is wonderful, but if you pursue Twitter to the exclusion of other important marketing activities you’ll be shooting yourself in the foot.
Why? Well, Twitter is as Twitter does – if you take a break from Twitter, Twitter takes a break from you. Those hundreds of visits that flow in response to your tweets disappear.
I know, some of you are thinking ‘Take a break from Twitter?!‘ – and I know that sounds crazy but believe it or not, you will eventually, at least occasionally, want to disengage from the constant flow of information. Or simply slow down a bit here and there.
While Twitter is and will continue to be an amazing resource for all of us, we need to make time for other important marketing activities as well.
Think about Long Term Results
If I spend an hour or so tweeting, I can draw anywhere from 50 to 150 visitors to my sites in one spurt.
If I spend that time writing a good article and distribute it to a few popular article directories I can draw hundreds or even thousands of visitors to my sites over the next year and for many years after that.
If I spend the time writing a guest post for a popular relevant blog I gain immediate traffic and build an important authority link to my website, helping to boost my search engine rankings.
Create a Good Marketing Mixture
Do use Twitter – but use it smartly – in tandem with other good long term marketing activities.
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Leslie Truex is the pajama-clad work-at-home mom dedicated to helping other moms live and work comfortably. She's the author of The Work-At-Home Success Bible and owner of 
Laurie Ayers is a WAHM from Michigan and a Star Director with 
Just started twitting a few days ago and loving it. But you’re right. For me umplugging from online distractions is the only way I can sit down and take steps forward on my biz.
But let me fall in love with Twitter a bit more before I unplug
monicas last blog post..Cross Blogging with Carrie Lauth from Natural Moms Talk Radio -1
Hi Kelly,
Yep, there’s definitely a fine line to be walked with Twitter- and really any social media website.
I love Twitter because it takes the isolation out of freelancing and working from home. I have met some truly great people there and have even begun a couple new business ventures with fellow Tweeps.
I totally, agree, however, that Twitter is an “out of sight, out of mind” application. There is just too much going on the your general following to notice if you drop out of site.
It’s also SOOOO easy to lose time on Twitter- for me anyway.
Definitely a balancing act for me – and I’ve always been a bit of a klutz!
Teresa
You are so right Kelly, Great Post! I have had great success with Twitter, but we can’t lose focus. Everyone still loves a warm body, something fresh, and we have to keep business moving constantly, not just while we’re on twitter….but it’s so fun!! ♥
Tara B.s last blog post..My Husband Rocks ♥ Christmastime!
I’m curious to know how you have used Twitter to draw traffic. Do you tweet about new posts? Or do you tweet about daily things, eg “I’m eating a donut”?
Marvyns last blog post..Sophie Giraffe Toy
Hi Kelly,
I agree that you need to do more than 1 activity or rely on 1 group.
I do love Twitter. I am a link clicker of those I follow if they have placed a mini description that sounds interesting.
I also do many other things such as commenting on blogs & forums. These are 2 things that have staying power far more than Twitter. It may not be the immediate rush of traffic but it adds up over the long haul.
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Excellent advice, it’s so easy to get caught up in what is working NOW, but you have to keep the long term in mind too.
I often have to force myself to close my twitter fox up and ignore it so that I can get some work done and not be distracted! It is great to stop in and see what everyone is up to, but it can turn into a time suck in the blink of an eye and I get distracted way too easily.
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I love twitter. Like many others, I get a lot of traffic directly from twitter.
I also find my twitter account a valuable help with marketing for longterm results.
For example, twitter posts are inspiration for article ideas. You can see exactly what people are talking about and what they want to know, then write an article that answers their questions.
If you like to post on blogs and forums, you can find plenty of good ones by reading the tweets of the people you follow.
If your goal is to be a guest blogger, you can connect with bloggers on twitter, and create that opportunity for yourself.
While the traffic I gain from twitter is awesome, what’s even more valuable are the relationships I’m making there. These relationships open the doors to marketing with longterm results.
Great points about Twitter. It’s absolute my favorite networking tool, but I try to think of any “marketing” result as a bonus, I mostly use it for meeting and connecting with people, not to get traffic. It has given me clients though – gotta love that!
Laurie/Mobile Mommys last blog post..Sugar Magic!
Hi Kelly, thank you for being the one to turn me on to Twitter months ago! I’ve met some really cool people and recently started to see a lot more people following me.
I’m curious how you track your traffic from Twitter to your website(s).
And, since we’re talking about Twitter and following, I’m http://twitter.com/moneymender.
If you haven’t had Kelly do a Twitter background for you, you should. I love mine and have gotten a lot of comments on it.
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