A couple weeks ago I signed up with Sponsored Tweets, a new program available through Izea. The concept of Sponsored Tweets is simply… get paid to send out tweets through Twitter. Since joining, I’ve had several opportunities come through, and have already made several hundreds of dollars. Here’s a bit more on the site and how you can make money too. View Sponsored Tweets

How does Sponsored Tweets work?
Everything about Sponsored Tweets is very simple and easy to setup. You create your account, and login with your same Twitter account info (through Twitter). Once your account is created, you just need to set how much you want to be paid per tweet, and then you wait for a new opportunity to come in. When you receive a new opportunity, you just need to approve or deny the tweet. Some advertisers write what they want you to say, but many leave that up to the tweeter. You submit the “tweet” for approved, and once approved, the money is deposit into your account.

Is this allowed by Twitter, and Ethical?
To answer the most important question, YES! This is allowed by Twitter! and Sponsored Tweets mentions this several times on their web site, as they have worked with Twitter through the process of making the site. As for being “ethical”, there is full disclosure. When a tweet is sent through Sponsored Tweets, it is seen on twitter as “sponsored by…“, “Ad“, or “brought to you by..“. It’s this full disclosure that keeps the tweeter, the advertiser and the reader all legit.

What does a “sponsored tweet” look like?
Depending on whether or not your advertisers provides an ad copy, your tweet can look like anything. Whatever you submit will be sent over to Sponsored Tweets for approval. Other than that, it will look like a regular tweet going out through your account. The only difference is that the url is through bit.ly and instead of being posted from “web” or “tweetdeck”, it says “from Sponsored Tweets“… as it should for full disclosure.

Is anyone making Money with Sponsored Tweets?
As mentioned, in just my first couple of weeks, I’ve made an extra few hundred bucks just for a few minutes of my time approving ads, and I have a fairly small twitter following. ShoeMoney also posted about how he has earned thousands from tweeting advertiser links independently and through Sponsored Tweets.

Who else is partnered with Sponsored Tweets?
There are actually a decent amount of big name tweeters already signed on with Sponsored Tweets. I haven’t seen a way to signup online (have to call) as an Advertiser to access a full list of tweeters available, but they do have the following “featured tweeters” listed in the login area. Some of these accounts (like Kim Kardashian) have over 2 million followers.

That’s a quick summary of what Sponsored Tweets is all about, and how it’s making money and driving leads through Twitter. It’s fairly new, and always great to get into a new revenue source on the bottom floor.

I forgot all about my secret stash of lollipops that I picked up on the way home from Orlando this past weekend.

That was fun for like 5 sticky minutes.

As for the rest of the day.
Well, the power eventually came back on.
I think I may now need to spackle the walls.
They were bouncin’ off them BIG TIME.

We are still in flight from Orlando to Atlantic City as I write this, so hopefully we’ll arrive and make it to pick up the kids by 4 pm.  Miss those little nuggets so much.

Big Thank You again to Laurie and Corrin for hooking me up with my Izeafest ticket – they are two really great ladies – wish we were able to chat more. 

Also great to meet Toni, Heather, Elizabeth, Ashley, Joe, Kelly, and many MANY more!!!  This was my first conference I’ve attended since I started blogging back in March, so I didn’t really know what to expect.  Ted Murphy the CEO of IZEA is quite an exciting person who’s companies have provided me as a blogger with some great opportunities through Social Spark, Sponsored Tweets, and hopefully through their just-unveiled Sponzai application.

[TY to froggybluesock for the photo of Ted Murphy's keynote]

I think it’s great that I can blog about my life with the iTwins and also share some great opportunities, products and services with you via Izea-facilitated programs.

As for Izeafest itself, it was filled with informative speakers and some fun events. We attended the ICEBAR and SeaWorld compliments of the Fest.

I was a little disappointed that there was so much actual social media “drama” surrounding some of the speakers.  They were all there to contribute their little piece of the social media world and many were not taken seriously.  However it was awesome to see the years-ahead-of-his-time wisdom of Tommy during his “5 minutes of fame”…he WAS taken very seriously, and was very impressive. 

All of the speakers had some great insight into social media and blogging – and I was able to grab bits and pieces from them all.  Most importantly, I think I figured out the direction I want to take my “mommy blog” through everyone who spoke here.  You’ll have to stay tuned to see more…

Also loved the new logo and identity Ben Spark was given by Ted.  Everyone wants one now!

Woah turbulence.

Also a fun treat was getting our Crocs! Wanted to meet the man responsible for that – George, but only realized we were sitting next to him after we left the restaurant last night – bummer.  My glasses of wine were making me second-guess if it was actually him.

Darn, more turbulence.

We had so much fun…we didn’t get a ton of photos, but there are plenty here on flickr – you get the idea!

So I’m looking forward to landing safely and seeing our children and family.  We picked up some fun souvenirs for the iTwins from SeaWorld…shopping for them was so fun! Cant wait to bring them down to Disney and Seaworld in a few years from now.

Heard from my Mom that both kids were up by 6am each morning! Yikes… they sleep until at least 8am for me – they must have been excited to see my family and to go play.

Both hubby and I had a great time away though.  We picked up some useful social media information and enjoyed NOT changing diapers for over 72 hours.  Lots of great food and drinks as you’ve read about.  Back to sober cooking for myself and family – it was fun while it lasted.

Soooo happy to be back home with my tots…they are my world!

We had the tickets for the blogging event in SeaWorld for tomorrow, but won’t be able to swing it with our schedule, so hopped over to see the big fishies this afternoon instead.

This was at the “Believe” show at Shamu Stadium.

We ate at “Sharks” which was a favorite restaurant in the park, last time we visited.  Again, the food and atmosphere was fabulous.

Last night we went to the IZEAFest event at ICEBAR in Orlando.

It’s an entire frozen room (where they shut the door behind you like a meat locker!) where you get cozy gloves and a warm hooded cape.  They serve your drinks in frozen carved-out blocks of pure ice!  It was pretty cool…

Now, just trying to decide where to go to dinner tonight…hmmmm???

So much to do & so little time.

Last time I was on a plane I was 5 months pregnant with my son – that was 2½ years ago.  My hubby and I went on our “babymoon” down to Tampa, Florida to relax for a week.  I was a huge swollen mess, couldn’t enjoy Coronas like everyone else, and did I mention how swollen I was?

Can you say KANKLES?!

That. was. fun.

But, I didn’t leave anything behind that time…my baby was in my belly and my hubby was by my side.

Tomorrow, even though I will be traveling with my dear husband again, it’s different – we’re leaving “our whole world”, our children, behind.  He does it all the time when he’s away for business – for me, this will be a first. (Other than leaving the 2 nights when was born)

Even as a Stay At Home Mom, I don’t get out much (hence my plethora of tweets).  The toddlers are more-than-a-handful for one person to possibly take anywhere other than out for walks in their double-stroller.  So this comes as a welcomed and much-needed get-away.

But…

…I will MISS these little faces so much!

They are going to be in AWESOME hands…see…

… adores my father…

… always clings to my mother…

…they love my sister…

…and my other sister too…

…they just adore my parents and sisters, so I’m not worried about that — it’s just the physical separation that is probably going to kill me.

All I can say is Thank Heaven the iPhone can now send/receive MMS/picture messages because I’m counting on my sisters to send photos of the iTwins to us like once every minute :)

Speaking of sending photos…I’m going to move up the little twitpic sidebar over there —> to the top of the page so that you can see the current photos I’ll be snapping along the way and tweeting about too.  My latest twitter updates will also be at the top of this page, as always.

Well…off to finish packing…

IZEAFest (and Shamu) – here we come!

I’m not gonna cry. I’m not gonna cry. I’m not gonna cry.

My iRISH Twins, the blog, was born back in March of this year.  Like many other Moms out there, I started this as a way to connect with other parents and share my “Mommyhood” with others via the web. 

From writing personal stories or posting photos about life with my husband and children (the iTwins), or sharing great products I’ve used/love and offering giveaways – this blog has become my outlet, my favorite hobby and my portal into the online social world.  If you haven’t heard, this “Internet thing” is kindof a BIG DEAL and I’m kindof a geek, so it works for me.

I was already using and enjoying Facebook and Twitter when I started this blog, but social media (blogging included), as a whole, had (and has) yet to be fully understood by me.  I soon found other social outlets and Mommy networks like, Mom Blogger Club and Everything Mom where forums and groups were limitless.

So great, now I’m making tons of new friends and getting traffic to my site…where do I go from here to turn a Mommy-hobby into something more beneficial to both my readers and myself.

I found IZEA.

IZEA is a company that connects bloggers (Mommy bloggers too!) with advertisers through “sponsored conversations”. 

Wait…what…how does ME advertising HELP YOU? 

Well, through IZEA and their Social Spark network I’ve been able to find companies that I share a common interest with and in turn share their value with YOU!  They may be companies that I’ve never heard of and like you, are learning about for the first time…or they may be long-time favorites of mine, that I’m able to gather up information in one place and again, pass along to you.

100% of what I write about is true to my hands-on-experience as a Mom, and most of my blog posts are sponsor-free but through Social Spark, I’m able to give you THAT much MORE specific information on a product as compared to simply my user-experience alone.

IZEA is bringing together the BEST of both worlds.  Blogging at it’s core and advertising in it’s cleanest form.  IZEA prides themselves on disclosure…as to NOT be sneaky advertisers.  That is the main reason I trust IZEA to work with and faithfully share my involvement with you.

I ALWAYS let you know if a post is “sponsored” by disclosing that prominently, as I do when I accept children’s products for reviews.

As a Stay-At-Home Mom who blogs as a hobby, if I’m paid a few pennies for being provided with MORE information on a product, I don’t see anything wrong with that.  It’s always YOUR choice to follow me, read my posts and glimpse at my personal life with the iTwins.

Advertising via this Social Media has been getting a lot of controversial “press” lately.  Maybe it’s the celebrities that are making millions off of their fame that give it a bad name, but I’m simply a Mom who blogs (far from the ranks of Dooce) and is making a few dollars off of a post or Tweet or two.

Here is a recent story I was published in, at Time Magazine Online (and in Time Magazine on the newstand TODAY!) about my involvement with Sponsored Tweets – a new platform of Social Media/Twitter Advertising that was launched by IZEA.

The thing I love about Sponsored Tweets is that I can filter sending out tweets that could be considered off-topic for my followers.  For example, I’ll gladly tweet about K-Mart’s patio furniture on sale (that’s something YOU may just want to check out!), but will reject a tweet that is about a no-name phone company wanting you to sign up with them (I too would find that scam-y & spam-y).

You can also read about my take on Sponsored Tweets here in one of my previous posts.

With all that being said…next Thursday, my Hubby & I will be heading down to SeaWorld in Orlando, FL for IZEAFest!  My husband works in the world of Interactive Marketing for some of the world’s leading companies, so social media is quite a go-between for both of us in our own ways. 

We decided (with the help of a ticket-win from the lovely IZEA Insiders and Twitter Pals Corrin & Laurie) to make this both a Mommy/Daddy getaway and bloggy/business event.

I passed up BOTH BlogHer and Type-A Mom conferences (snifle snifle) to budget in IZEAFest this year, so it better be good!  I mean it’s taking place IN SeaWorld, Orlando with opening night being at Bush Gardens for their Howl-O-Scream event…I mean, how fun is that? 

So beyond their sparkly logo…which is quite fun to look at…I’ve been drawn to IZEA Inc. for awhile now and am interested in their take on Social Media, what’s next and what they have to say about their upcoming secret project.

I’m hoping to take my little blog here to the “next level” and learn from the TOP Social Media experts what their secrets are so I can return and share them with YOU.

*This is the first time I will be parting ways with my little ones since they were born.  My parents and sisters are going to be watching the duo while we’re away – for four. whole. days.  Don’t think I’m not a wreck because I am.  I know they are in THE BEST hands, but still…*sigh*…it’s going to be tough.  On the other hand ICEBAR, Orlando – here we come!  Yes please, I’ll have another.

Have a great weekend…we’re off to NJ for Birthday Parties galore!

Happy to share with you that I’m in an article today on Time.com (How to Make Money on Twitter: Do Commercials!) about Sponsored Tweets.

Ok, so you all know I’m “on Twitter” (@mamajoss)…and I have a few followers…and I Tweet.  I tweet about my kids, what we’re serving for dinner, photos from my iPhone when we’re out and about, and articles that relate to parenting or that I just find interesting.

So what’s so wrong with sending out a few tweets for companies I use and find reputable and getting paid a few pennies for it? I’m talking like maybe one tweet every two days or so…and I’m talking literal “pocket change”.

I’m picking out the tweets I think are relative to what my followers want to hear out and denying those that are maybe not as relevant.  Furthermore, you’ll always know that it’s an ad because it will be “hash-tagged” as such (ie. “#ad” or “#sponsored” at the end of it)

It’s ultimately your choice…click, or don’t click.

That’s what Sponsored Tweets has allowed me to do…and I’m not ashamed of it, nor feel like I’m “selling-out”.

You want to “follow me”, you can…you want to “unfollow me”, you can do that too :)

Just wanted to let you know about the article and Sponsored Tweets if you want to get involved.

IZEA is a really hip Social Media company who started it all.

I think the presentation of the company is “fresh” and the people involved, including the CEO Ted Murphy, is “with it”.  They know what is up and coming in Social Media, blogging and Tweeting, and I’m happy to be a part of it.

If you read my blog, you already know it’s both worlds here: Mommy Blogging in the sense of blogging about “our reality” and what we’re up to and also sharing product reviews with you.

I’m happy to add Sponsored Tweets to my repertoire and promise that even though the tweets are few and far between, it’s still just another way to share information with you.  I’m not making “big bucks” people.  It’s a teeny side job of sorts.

If you want to learn more about Sponsored Tweets go check them out.  I’ll also be attending IZEAFest next month with my hubby.  It’s going to be a blast and I hope to learn a thing or two more about IZEA and what they have to offer the Social Media world.

Have a great weekend.