louisgray.com - Latest Comments in louisgray.com: Scoble Starts His FriendFeed/Twitter Monetization Strategy

Re: louisgray.com: Scoble Starts His FriendFeed/Twitter Monetization Strategy

Craig — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 15:24:45 -0000

Maybe this is going to be the new trend. You will probably be next, and nothing wrong with that if you are. Why not try to make a little side income from your power of influence with affiliate sales. If I can make a little bit extra money by referring a product to my Twitter friends, I would to.

Re: louisgray.com: Scoble Starts His FriendFeed/Twitter Monetization Strategy

Louis Gray — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 13:20:54 -0000

Dave, I like your take on it. I think there is an opportunity for bigger names to leverage their efforts thus far, and this is a pretty direct way to do it. Many have been frustrated by the approach, but I'd rather buy from a Scoble affiliate link than give Amazon all the money. That said, I don't think I'd make much even if I started posting links everywhere. Simply put, if people don't already have their wallets out, my posting a link won't change things.

Re: louisgray.com: Scoble Starts His FriendFeed/Twitter Monetization Strategy

dave — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 10:51:49 -0000

Pretty cool news as far as I'm concerned. Having run into some serious opposition to doing this in the distant & recent past, I'm happy to see Scoble make the move (and take the heat) so that this is not considered spamming. For those that share information freely with their followers offering a link that might make them a small income seems extremly fair and should not be viewed as anti-Social Networking. Good for him and everyone else.

Re: louisgray.com: Scoble Starts His FriendFeed/Twitter Monetization Strategy

David Risley — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 20:18:59 -0000

Well, if this is part of a larger strategy by Robert, its about time. With the kind of influence he has in this space, if he isn't making a good living at this, he is really under-utilizing his brand.

Re: louisgray.com: Scoble Starts His FriendFeed/Twitter Monetization Strategy

David Risley — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 19:54:21 -0000

Catching up on my Reader and saw this post just now. Funny how such a thing would garner so much attention just because its Scoble. I think that putting an affiliate link into Twitter is perfectly fine. As long as it is relevant. To me, there is no difference between an affiliate link and a non-affiliate link if it leads to the same place either way. As for disclosure, that isn't a big deal to me either. Again, relevancy is the test. If you recommend crap, people will be all over you and your credibility is lost. That's how social media works.

Re: louisgray.com: Scoble Starts His FriendFeed/Twitter Monetization Strategy

Louis Gray — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 19:04:18 -0000

David, I would tend to agree with you - it's all pretty much the same.
The interesting part about all of it for me was pretty simple.
Scoble's been charged with wasting his time and not having a revenue
strategy for social media. This looked like the first step and was why
I covered it. The excitement about disclosure ended up being more than
I had anticipated.

Re: louisgray.com: Scoble Starts His FriendFeed/Twitter Monetization Strategy

Charnita Fance — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 12:45:47 -0000

Who gives a *** People promote affiliate links everyday. If that's what he wants to do, so be it. I'd probably do the same thing if I had that many followers.

Re: louisgray.com: Scoble Starts His FriendFeed/Twitter Monetization Strategy

Thomas Hawk — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 09:19:00 -0000

oh, and I also sell adds on my blog through Federated Media. Don't see a problem with that either.

Re: louisgray.com: Scoble Starts His FriendFeed/Twitter Monetization Strategy

Thomas Hawk — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 09:18:00 -0000

I don't see anything wrong with linking to amazon or affiliate links. I've got an amazon affiliate account. If I find a book that I like and am going to blog about it do I include my affiliate link. Sure. Why the heck not? If I talk about my Canon 5D M2, or drobo, or whatever, will I put one in? Sure. I've never seen anything wrong with any of that.

Re: louisgray.com: Scoble Starts His FriendFeed/Twitter Monetization Strategy

Phil Boiarski — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 08:17:00 -0000

Possessed? Demonetize the need demon. Focus on giving gifts of value and beauty without expecting gold. Value what cannot be bought or sold.

Re: louisgray.com: Scoble Starts His FriendFeed/Twitter Monetization Strategy

Zack Brandit — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 07:20:00 -0000

All I can say is congratulations Robert for this important initiative! This is an excellent approach to start a discussion about monetization on Twitter, FF and others (One I support). We used to have the same reaction when advertising and affiliation came to blogs, those have now many supporters. There are many questions such as: should we find a standard (disclosure)? What about the platform own future monetization model? etc.

Re: louisgray.com: Scoble Starts His FriendFeed/Twitter Monetization Strategy

Pankaj — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 05:48:00 -0000

Just another example of political correctness gone to an extreme. Save the bandwidth and end this discussion. There's nothing wrong with affiliate links and people clamoring for disclosure should just be smart enough to move on with their lives.

Re: louisgray.com: Scoble Starts His FriendFeed/Twitter Monetization Strategy

Peter — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 05:22:00 -0000

I think the link is disclosure enough and Robert is worth some extra money..

Re: louisgray.com: Scoble Starts His FriendFeed/Twitter Monetization Strategy

ScottBourne — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 03:58:00 -0000

I personally get pretty tired of the faux outrage of people. The folks complaining about "disclosure" act like they have some rights here. They don't - other than to follow or not. That's it. And what's particularly funny to me is that everyone who WOULD be following Robert here would probably be smart enough on their own to figure out Robert had a chance to make a buck from the Kindle link. I tell you this not healthy. Save your complaints for something that's a real affront.

Re: louisgray.com: Scoble Starts His FriendFeed/Twitter Monetization Strategy

Robert Scoble — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 03:36:00 -0000

Wow, Adam, it has been way too long since I have seen you. Nice to see you here on friendfeed.

Re: louisgray.com: Scoble Starts His FriendFeed/Twitter Monetization Strategy

Ron Harwood-micronet — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 03:06:00 -0000

I don't see the big deal, If you like the "product" and buy the product, the price is the price affiliate link or not.

Re: louisgray.com: Scoble Starts His FriendFeed/Twitter Monetization Strategy

Jim — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 03:05:37 -0000

Who cares if he made a buck off it? I could care less. He built up his audience, so let him profit.

Re: louisgray.com: Scoble Starts His FriendFeed/Twitter Monetization Strategy

Adam Curry — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 02:07:00 -0000

I don't get what the big deal is.... you guys are crazy. Hope ya got some bling, Robert. :)

Re: louisgray.com: Scoble Starts His FriendFeed/Twitter Monetization Strategy

Laura Norvig — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 02:04:32 -0000

Personally, I think this is a non-issue, but I am curious as to one thing. Scoble is suggesting people order it so they can be the first to get a v2., and if they don't get a 2 just return it. So if a sale is made, does he get his affiliate cut even if the person returns it? If so, then this is a scam that could be milked ad infinitum. But it can't be that way - I think I just answered my own question.

Re: louisgray.com: Scoble Starts His FriendFeed/Twitter Monetization Strategy

Television Spy — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 01:54:34 -0000

This kind of thing happens so often amongst A-list bloggers, people may not realize it but it's a very common practice (not something I agree with, but still common).

Re: louisgray.com: Scoble Starts His FriendFeed/Twitter Monetization Strategy

victorseo — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 00:30:59 -0000

All commentators are “sellers”. We are selling our brand, our image, our perspective etc. Do people generally like to be sold? People generally like to buy. And if we help them make a buying choice, are they being sold? I think not. Is disclosure required here? If you consider that Scobleizer is a trusted “brand” it is unlikely that he would risk his brand for a few affiliate dollars. Promoting a product misleadingly is an unforgiveable offense and would quickly ruin the “brand”. Profiting from an honest opinion is fair, and frankly, it is a given, that if we can, we will. If Magic Johnson says I should wear NIKE shoes, I sort of know he is going to profit, somehow. What’s the difference here? As soon as anyone hypes a crappy product, there will soon be a vacancy in the blogosphere that needs filling.

Re: louisgray.com: Scoble Starts His FriendFeed/Twitter Monetization Strategy

coldbrew — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 00:12:55 -0000

I agree about Scoble. But, he is the exception, not the rule. Twitter had to make some adjustments to nofollow and Google has adjusted their algo specifically (or so it seems) for dealing with the use of Twitter for SEO purposes.

Re: louisgray.com: Scoble Starts His FriendFeed/Twitter Monetization Strategy

victorseo — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 00:08:22 -0000

Louis,
Probably sooner than you think. :)

Re: louisgray.com: Scoble Starts His FriendFeed/Twitter Monetization Strategy

sofarsoshawn — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 20:21:24 -0000

I dare someone to get him a Kindle for his birthday...

Re: louisgray.com: Scoble Starts His FriendFeed/Twitter Monetization Strategy

ontarioemperor — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 20:16:23 -0000

Mike, I was just reading a Steven Hodson Inquisitr post that tangentially wondered if you can really disclose within the limitations of a tweet. Your "[AD]" idea certainly allows a way to do that. Personally I prefer the hashtag #sponsored (although I guess the hashtag #ad has the benefit of being shorter).