My monetization Twitter

One of the most relevant “near-tweet” themes is the monetization of this rapidly developing service. Someone is trying to promote their online stores, arrange actions and flash mobs, there are exchanges of "retweets", there are facts of selling accounts ( @cnnbrk for example). And Twitter itself in the near future will start paid “commercial” accounts. And I (on Twitter know me as @ukrtaxist ), I want to talk about my experience of monetization, about how to successfully and profitably combine this service and the work of a taxi driver.


It all started quite standard for our “troubled” times. The department, which I managed in one of the largest banks in Ukraine, came under reduction. There are very few vacancies that would interest me in the labor market, therefore, in order not to sit at home and wait for job offers, I decided to indulge. The car is good - Suzuki Grand Vitara, but credit, so it should work out.

Having traveled for a couple of months and having figured out what's what, I decided to bring my blog, in which to tell about the "pitfalls" of working in a taxi to the same novice taxi drivers like me. But I didn’t master “many letters” in a full-fledged blog, but the Twitter format suited me. I registered an account - @ukrtaxist and write to it from my mobile, immediately add a photo, inform about situations on the roads of Kiev (using the hashtag #kyiv_traffic)
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But closer to the money. A month ago, I decided that there should also be some commercial benefit from Twitter. Therefore, on the advice of one of the followers, I decided to conduct one experiment, the essence of which is as follows - if I stand in a certain area, I give a special price for 15 minutes, according to which I will call to take to the center. The experiment did not bring a direct return, all the same, Twitter is not a means of instant information exchange (such as ICQ, Jabber, etc.), but it aroused people's interest in my services. In addition, I have an answering machine for those who subscribe to my Twi-tape, which indicates discounts for tweeter. I also work with Google Latitude, where I specify my location and users, if I'm nearby, can use my services.

Tviply began to actively order, take a mobile number for the future and today more than 50% of orders already come from the Internet. For the month of active work with Twitter, I received orders for the amount of about 8.5 thousand hryvnias (1100 USD) , which is very good for a taxi.

For further active work I plan to launch a small service with the ability to order a taxi directly from Twitter (and instant response to the application). This service will be launched with the help of friends whom I met, by the way, also on Twitter.

The Twi community was very positive about my thoughts about launching my own taxi service, focused on orders made via the Internet. We chose the name for this service together with the help of the survey “Taxi 2.0.” Moreover, the name fully reflects the essence - all innovations are offered by users. Traditional media also became interested in my idea - just the other day a small story with my participation came out on one of the TV companies (see the video on youtube ). Some computer and telecommunication companies received offers to use Taxi 2.0 for promotional purposes and provide their services in my taxi. And besides, he offered the organizers of MediaCamp Kiev their own little assistance in organizing transport services for this event.

So for me the commercial exploitation of Twitter began successfully! Therefore, if you need a taxi in Kiev - follow @ukrtaxist , call, take it!