Twitter now has some competition on its hands. There is a new micro-blogging website called Tipdrop.com that was created by John Ledger earlier this year. Tipdrop is very similar to Twitter, but Tipdrop allows you to use 255 characters with each message you post, rather than 140 as with Twitter.

The layout for both blogging platforms is very similar. They both utilize a two column layout with messages appearing in the wider left-hand column, and the user’s information appearing in the narrower right-hand column. However, Tipdrop allows you to include up to ten URL links as part of your profile. Those links appear in the right-hand column of your Tipdrop homepage.

Both focus on different questions that appear at the top of the main page. Twitter asks the famous self-centered, “What are you doing?” Tipdrop, on the other hand, doesn’t care what you are doing right now, but wants to know, “What do you know about that?”

Tipdrop is developing a character all of its own by focusing on what you know rather than what you do. This is completely different from the gossipy triviality of Twitter. By sharing knowledge about specific topics, each contribution is focused outward on the topic, rather than inward on the person posting the information.

The tips shared on Tipdrop are then organized into categories, such as Arts & Humanities, Dining Out, Personal Development and so on. When a tip is posted, you are presented with similar threads to assist you in finding the best place to post your tip. If there are no threads that cover your topic, you simply post it as a new thread.

People are able to vote tips up and down. Also, every member of Tipdrop is assigned an initial credibility ranking of 100. The more a member contributes to Tipdrop, and the more votes a member receives for their tips, the higher their credibility ranking. There are links to the User Rankings list with links to user pages of each member in the Site Links section of the home page.

The ability to vote on tips means that the overall quality of Tipdrop is likely to rise over time.

First of all, any marketer who blatantly promotes his or her own business will get punished by other members who will quickly vote down any contribution that is merely self-promotional. This helps ensure the overall quality of contributions made to the site and is a good thing.

However, internet marketers still have plenty of room to build up a reputation and brand themselves on Tipdrop. This can be done simply by offering a regular supply of high-quality tips that other members will appreciate. As you post more tips and your credibility rises, you will enjoy increasing exposure on Tipdrop. More people will check out your own page and click your links. So, by making a positive contribution to Tipdrop, you will also be quietly promoting your own business and yourself as an expert in your particular field.

Another neat feature of Tipdrop is that it comes with an Adsense revenue sharing system. If you have an Adsense account, all you need to do is enter your Adsense publisher ID in the appropriate field on the Settings page. Then, whenever people click on the ads that appear on your pages, Tipdrop will give you 75% of the generated revenue.

Tipdrop.com is easy to join. Just like joining Twitter, it is simply a matter of hitting the Sign Up button on the home page and filling in a short online form with your name, username, password and e-mail address. And, just like Twitter, it is 100% free.

I doubt that Tipdrop will completely replace Twitter, because despite the similarities, they have different intentions behind them. However, what already seems obvious is that Tipdrop is a micro-blogging website that is set to grow and grow and become a leading source of online tips and advice across a wide range of categories.

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Since Twitter is a social network there is much debate on the Internet over whether or not it is appropriate to conduct Affiliate Marketing On Twitter. Some people feel that you should not engage in any marketing beyond promoting your website by offering high quality information that is useful to your followers. Others feel there is nothing wrong with affiliate marketing on Twitter as long as your affiliate site offers high quality content that is relevant to your tweets.

If you feel that is appropriate to recommend affiliate products on Twitter, there are a few rules of etiquette that should be considered to ensure you do not alienate your followers for good.

Be Yourself

Be your genuine self and offer information that is useful to your followers that has no strings attached.

Once you establish yourself then make a casual referral to your affiliate product.

If you want this step to be successful, be sure that your affiliate site is of a high quality and that the product offered is relevant to your area of expertise. Do not make reference to a product if you are just getting started with Affiliate Marketing On Twitter. This way your followers will realize that there is another motive to what looks like free information and this will only alienate them.

Short URLs

Since a large portion of Twitter employs short URLs, it is easy to disguise an affiliate link by using short URL services. If you are going to use this service with an affiliate be certain to let your followers knows that the link is a recommendation for your product.

Link Affiliate Products Indirectly

Create a lot of high quality content on your blog and website with your affiliate link attached to it. Then use Twitter to offer additional information and provide tweets that reference your blog and your website. This will show your followers that you really do care about offering useful information instead of just marketing your business through Twitter.

Make Recommendations in Moderation

In addition to making genuine recommendations for products that are useful and high quality, remember to do so in moderation. One thing you shouldn’t do is promote affiliate products too often, because this will just mean that your followers will start ignoring you and what you have to offer.

Be a Good Listener

Make it a habit of listening to what your followers are thinking so you know the appropriate way to respond. This includes listening to your follower’s thinking with regard to comments about their life. The more you know about them, the easier it will be to respond appropriately. Apart from listening to your followers, it’s also important that you monitor what they say about you by reading their comments.

Given that there is much debate about promoting affiliate products on social media, it would be wise to use some of the indirect methods discussed in this article in order to be successful with

affiliate Marketing on Twitter

.

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Read more great Twitter tips by Martin Sejas on the

Twitter Tips

Central blog.
http://www.twittertipscentral.com/