Twitter traffic machine makes me sick
It makes me want to shut up about micro-blogging.
For $27 bucks this guy is selling you five CD’s that will help you make money on Twitter by building 16,000 followers in 90 days. It’s called the Twitter Traffic Machine.
The pitch video is really sleazy. And what’s with the sign up page? Those red arrows give the whole game away, don’t they? Welcome to the automated snake oil salesman.
Now if this was a joke, a way to prove that there are enough dumb people who will actually pay to have followers, more power to Bill Crosby. If not, will someone remind Mr. Crosby that the broadcast model of ‘monetizing’ eyeballs and traffic have crashed and burned?
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Comments
July 29th, 2009 at 12:23 pm
Has anyone proved that actually having 20,000 followers is all that beneficial, unless you’re Aston Kutcher or Dunkin Donuts?
July 29th, 2009 at 3:28 pm
Only $27? That’s cheaper than any local professional communications group’s monthly luncheon. Can you learn more? On top of that communications group’s monthly meeting there are yearly dues of $500, but that includes local and national membership, a membership directory and quarterly newsletter, right?
Since this “Twitter traffic machine” is a typical sales technique like infomercials – only online – there needs to be a catch. The $27 will get you a sheet of paper, correct; but if you want the full five CDs, I’m sure that’s $27 per month for at least a year. Then you’re enrolled in their free club for that, right? Where you get free phone service to a disconnected number?
Shipping is only $19.95 per month, right?
Now if I want the advanced Rosetta Stone, oops, I mean whatever this is called, it is merely an additional $10 per month, correct?
If I act today I can get a free carrying case that is only $45 for shipping? Great!
Seems like this Bill Crosby has everything covered except the annual dues and the monthly meeting. He should take a lesson from professional communications groups. They also have annual meetings like the upcoming one in San Diego that will set you back another couple grand.
Wait, Bill Crosby forgot the awards ceremony where you need to pay to enter and then take all your friends and company bosses and pay to get into the awards banquet. He could have it at both the local and national level, bringing in more $$$.
Gee, I don’t see any scam in any of this.
July 30th, 2009 at 3:25 am
I agree on the snake oil salesman comparison. These guys give the ‘make money on twitter’ niche a bad name and hurt real companies trying to compete in this space. The business model Bill has is to get folks to pay him and then promote his product to make their money. It is MLM marketing without an end product. It is a shame becuase there are some great ways to promote businesses and products on twitter, this just isn’t one of them…
July 30th, 2009 at 7:57 am
Here’s my policy:
First, I get a lot of follow requests every day. And yes, I use a service to auto-follow people back. I held off for a long time, but now see the benefit.
Caveats: Usually once a week, I go through *all* of the new follower email notifications. If I see someone who’s used one of these “get a bazillion followers” tools, I unfollow them. And block them. If they are just a spam bot, I unfollow and block them. If they are pushing out “get rick quick’ links, I unfollow and block them. If they are just pushing out worthless links or self promo stuff, I just unfollow. Blocking is power. Use it.
Also, I unfollow anyone who uses auto-DM to send me a free ebook or offers to show me how to get rich or get new followers. It’s not the auto-DM itself that does it — it’s the content. Heck, I use auto-DMs on two of my accounts. One is for utility, the other for fun.
I’d love to see Twitter take a hard line against those who try and game the system. Until then, I consider it my duty to block ‘em. Just keeping my corner of the interwebs clean!
July 30th, 2009 at 9:15 am
Twitter is about a conversation–listening first (we discussed this in yesterday’s IPRA social media conference) and they really pounded this topic home. If you’re working on getting 20 billion followers, but they are not on-target, helpful connections than the point is lost, as is your $27. Twitter is supposed to be a personalized endeavor-a way to build virtual relationships that are mutually beneficial and interesting–I have a hard time believing the “following” you are buying is worth the investment.
July 30th, 2009 at 11:15 am
Some people care heavily about the amount of followers they have so I’m sure people will buy into these types of services.
As a “regular joe” having a lot of followers isn’t important to me or else I’d use auto services or, well, try to be proactive to get more followers.
I care more about who I follow as I use Twitter as a learning/information tool more than anything, but some people use it as a sales or marketing tool.
July 30th, 2009 at 3:11 pm
I think having that many followers, unless you are a national brand or media outlet is ridiculous, suspicious and quite obviously meant to churn junk out to the masses; contrasted against those who want to engage an audience and have real, meaningful conversation.