Sponsored Tweets Vs Be a Magpie: Two Ways to Monetize Your Twitter Account

Twitter is a social networking tool where you can discuss important topics such as lunch or celebrity news. The micro blogging platform (140 characters maximum) can be used to complain, start a Twitter feud with another user or participate in a cool hash tag trend. It may seem like a waste of time to some, but I find it enjoyable and interesting. Like many online websites, it is what you make of it. Besides socializing, Twitter is becoming a popular marketing tool and advertising goldmine. Both advertisers and Twitter users can cash in, and for freelance writers it is a perfect money making technique. After all, most of us already use Twitter to promote our article links. Tweeting and being paid for it only makes sense, but it really works too.

As the Associated Content's 'Most Successful Twit', I take my honorary title very seriously. My Twitter account has over 3,500 followers but I try not to be excessively obnoxious with tweets. I do try to engage in conversations with my fellow writers, faithful readers and anyone else who enjoys my sense of humor. I also promote my new blog posts and articles on Twitter, which has produced excellent traffic results. I have also signed up for Sponsored Tweets and Be A Magpie Twitter advertising networks. My account is essentially rented by these two companies and I may be paid for every sponsored tweet. The two companies have one similarity; both pay Twitter users for links. Their advertising methods and earning potentials are completely different.

Sponsored Tweets: Get Paid Per Tweet

Sponsored Tweets is the brainchild of Izea.com, the same company that pays bloggers for reviews and sponsored blog posts. Sponsored Tweets does have requirements as to how old a Twitter account must be and the minimum number of Twitter followers. The system is easy to use; an advertiser sends in a request and you can deny or accept it. An accepted opportunity is tweeted by Sponsored Tweets; there is no additional work that needs to be done. New Sponsored Tweets users are asked to fill in their profiles, type in a few keywords that relate to their account, and their requested price per sponsored tweet. You can request any price you want essentially, but your Twitter account had better have a lot to offer if you wish to get $10 or more per paid tweet.

When an opportunity comes in, you either are given suggested text or can write up your own. A disclosure is necessary. Several disclosure badges are available, such as #ad, sponsored or advertisement. You cannot accept a paid tweet without selecting a disclosure badge.

I started using Sponsored Tweets four months ago at requested price of $2 per sponsored tweet. The advertiser requests came in at an extremely slow pace. Balance of a Sponsored Tweets account has to be a minimum of $50 before cashing out. Reaching my first $50 seemed impossible at the rate, so I dropped my requested tweet price to less than $1. At this price, advertisers are more attracted towards my account and my sponsored tweet ratio has increased significantly. I am less than $1 away from my next cash out, which should happen in less than 4 days if advertiser's requests continue at the same rate. Overall, Sponsored Tweets is easy to use and there is no obligation to accept an opportunity. Nothing is tweeted without the approval of Twitter accounts owner, which makes it easy to deny those silly dating site and basic spam links. I also work for Izea's other companies, including Payperpost and Socialspark. I know from experience that their support team is efficient and go out of their way to help.

Be A Magpie: Join An Advertising Campaign

Be A Magpie is different from Sponsored Tweets, as their system uses an algorithm to match your Twitter account to an advertiser's request. Once a match is made, your Twitter account is enrolled in a "campaign" and tweets are automatically sent out for the duration of that campaign. The algorithm is interesting; it picks up keywords from your Twitter account to find a good match. Therefore, if you tweet about fashion, shopping or jeans, your campaign may be for a store's promotion or some new fashion line.

To see your earning potential go to Beamagpie.com website and enter your Twitter username. The results show potential earnings based on Twitter followers, tweet ratios and other requirements. My results showed hundreds of dollars, but I have yet to see that much money in my account. Take the results with a grain of salt, because advertisers have to offer campaigns before your account will even be considered.

I started using Be A Magpie 4 months ago, just like with Sponsored Tweets. I was asked to select my tweet ratio, which are five regular tweets per one sponsored tweet. There is a customized disclosure requirement, anything from #ad to sponsor: . A disclosure badge must be selected but it is automatically tweeted as a part of the campaign text. There are other options too, such as being paid per click, per tweet or per sign-up. I have everything blocked, except per click. The money in per click tweets is not much, but a few pennies can roll my way every now and then.

Unlike Sponsored Tweets, there is no way to request a price per sponsored tweet. There is also no way to approve or deny an opportunity. The advertising process is completely automated and links are sent to my Twitter account. Some Twitter ads posted are strange and would not normally be approved by me, but I have not noticed spam links or anything that seems like a shady activity. The advertisements are honest, but I would still appreciate a chance to approve an opportunity.

What is the money like on Be A Magpie? I was entered into a Halloween campaign, which did extremely well. I made $40 in less than a week. I have been paid as little as $1.95 per tweet and as much as $3.10 per tweet. A successful advertising campaign on Be A Magpie can certainly be worth it. There is also a cash out minimum of $50, which I have yet to meet. I am only $2 short, but it seems impossible getting there. The reason for that is that there is no advertising campaign available. I have to wait weeks for a campaign. I even posted on their support message board, sent them a Twitter support request and e-mailed. I have yet to receive any type of support response, or even an acknowledgment. That seems disappointing about Be A Magpie, which makes me consider dropping out of their system once my first minimum payout is reached.

Sponsored Tweets vs. Be A Magpie: Which Twitter Money Network Is Better?

I am not endorsing Sponsored Tweets, despite my positive experience with their Twitter advertising network. There is a serious lack of advertisers available on Sponsored Tweets and a lot of celebrity accounts. The non-celebrity folk like me can feel left out, especially since no one offers me $1,000 per tweet. A few advertisers have been shady, such as requesting tweet text that has nothing to do with their product or link. This seems deceptive to me and I will gladly decline their paid opportunity.

Be A Magpie pays well per tweet, much better than Sponsored Tweets. However, there is nothing that shows users what campaigns are available, how to make your account desirable to advertisers, or how to improve the algorithm or keywords. As I mentioned, it can take weeks for a campaign to come around. The main page where Twitter users are told what their earning potential could be is quite misleading. I have less than $50 in my account and nowhere near hundreds of dollars per month as indicated at sign up time.

Does this make Twitter advertising bad? Not at all. Both companies still pay for the work and you can earn honest money. Disclosures are important and I appreciate that both companies require disclosure badges before any tweet is sent out. This gives my Twitter account transparency and I'm sure my followers appreciate knowing if a link is a paid ad or not.

If you do sign up for either Sponsored Tweets or Be A Magpie, remember to not expect millions in your bank account overnight. It may take time, but you will be paid by both advertising platforms for every Twitter link posted.

Sources:

Personal Experience

Sponsored Tweets http://www.sponsoredtweets.com

Be A Magpie http://www.beamagpie.com