By Alyssa Udall (@udallyss)

Just like any emerging online trend, Twitter has been infiltrated by spammers, many of them making claims like the one you see below:  “Make money with Twitter!”, etc.  While the spammers themselves are incredibly annoying (and their claims  baseless) there is some truth to that statement: Make money with Twitter.  Obviously, this is not to be done the way the bots are suggesting you do it.  Rather, Twitter can be a great tool for e-commerce businesses looking to gain exposure.

The great thing about e-commerce businesses is that they all have the common ability of being social.  That is, social media strategies can be implemented into their business structure.  Having trouble seeing this?  Here are some ideas to making your business more social and using that connection to generate interest, traffic and, ultimately, profits:

1. Publish new items to your Twitter account
2. Announce new blog posts
3. Connect with other professionals
4. Create “Twitter Specials”: coupons that can be used on your site
5. Generate interest with contests and competitions
6. Connect with customers to build a great customer support reputation
7. Announce sales, promotions, holiday specials, etc.
8. Give away free samples
9. Get more first-time buyers and keep them with Twitter support
10. Have exclusive one-day sales

This list of Twitter ideas is purposefully vague.  No matter what category or niche your online business is in, you can apply some or all of these ideas to fit you specifically.

If you’re still having trouble coming up with ways you can apply this to your business, try searching for companies in your niche.  See how they are using Twitter to generate traffic and leads.  This could be a great way to come up with affective social media tactics for your online business!  Remember, the worst mistake you can make here is to do nothing.  No matter what you’re selling, Twitter can work for you!