For anyone who has been following betweeted for any amount of time, you've probably heard us say that we're anti-spam. We believe that Twitter advertising can be done tastefully, in a not-so-spammy way, and in a way that we call "socially responsible." This morning, I have had it up to here [puts hand near forehead] with people who even abuse our system to facilitate spam.

So, just to let you know we're serious... no, I mean really serious. You're going to start seeing a regular #spammer report from us. You guessed it, this will include our own non-compliant users. No favoritism here. Everyone must play nice on Twitter or its going to be ruined for the rest of us.

Here's the latest spam report.

[should I label this post "sleep-deprived rants"?]

Any time I hit a website that looks like crap on a stick AND it appears to be a bad idea, it's pretty easy for me to dismiss it as a bad idea. When I begin to second-guess myself is when I find a website that looks very professional and well-designed, and yet the concept strikes me as purely absurd. I wonder, is this the worst idea you've ever heard, or am I missing something?

Check out Tweet Traffic Ads. You pay $50. You get one tweet. Your audience is 25k followers who receive nothing in their stream but ads all day long.

What am I missing here?

Or, is it the most genius idea you've ever heard of? After all, their value proposition is incredibly simple. The purchase process is incredibly simple. If they can get mentions in blog posts like this one enough to sell their service, I guess I can't argue with profit. What do you make of it?

I've seen some pretty cool twitter apps in my day... and I've seen some really crummy ones. The API is getting better every day, and yet we're still seeing mainly low-effort stuff coming out. What if someone as innovative as Biz Stone decided to build on the already amazing platform an equally amazing app? It might look something like this:

1. A Twitter-Based Chat Room.
   This would be managed by a unique hashtag, most likely, and in order to join the chat you'd simply start hashtagging your tweets appropriately. However, with an app that reads these hashtags (and likely also generates them) the public convo can become a manageable beast.
   
2. A conversation tracker.
   I'm sick of having to visit my old tweets to figure out what in the world someone is replying to. If I could view ongoing conversations in unique windows, much like AIM, I would love it. I know, someone will say "why not just use AIM." Because, you dolt, I like using Twitter. This is where all my friends are at!
3. Tweet Deck Multi.
   This one's pretty simple, and I can't wait until it's out... I love tweetdeck, but I also have several Twitter accounts to manage. If they'd get on board with multi-account management, it would be the best app ever.
   

Okay all you public relations pro's and marketing mavens out there, are you offering "social media" services yet? Perhaps you're still waiting to see if it's just a fad. Maybe you're unsure how to deliver it as a service model, or maybe you view it as a competitor. Well, Phil Johnson, a blogger over at Advertising Age thinks you're missing the boat -- and I agree!

If you make your living charging any company, large or small, for your advice and/or services in the area of public relations, marketing, sales, or just plain business consulting, then your customers need to hear you say "Twitter." It's not about being trendy. It's about offering best-in-class service.

There are countless services that you could begin to introduce, or perhaps you're already offering and can enhance by using Twitter. Here are a few:

• Thought leadership. Gain a following to build the persona of your client as a thought-leader in any relevant industry topic.
• Lead generation. Yes, it can work. If your client has the right type of business, you can generate leads using Twitter. Good, solid, qualified leads.
• Customer service. Especially for software or computer-related services, Twitter is a great way to have instant dialogue with needy customers.
• Sales & Promotions. Offer a sale, a deal, or a discount using Twitter. This is obviously great because of the ability to track the results very clearly.
• SEO. Yep, it can work. If you can make sure your links are followable by bots, you cannot deny the obvious benefit of links from Twitter.

The list goes on. And, of course, if you're interested in using BeTweeted as part of your services to the client, check out our Affiliate Program to see how we can work together.

Advertising Age published an article over the weekend that offers just the sort of stats that an analytical type might need before jumping on this "trendy" new Twitter bandwagon: Twitter Proves Its Worth as a Killer App for Local Businesses. According to Jeff Leach, co-founder of Naked Pizza in New Orleans, they were able to affirmatively track 15% of their sales as directly resulting from a Twitter-exclusive promotion.

When small businesses pay thousands each year in directory advertising, email marketing, and direct mail -- Twitter's first appealing trait is it's low barrier of entry. It's free to join, and free to build a following. I will freely admit that advertising services like BeTweeted aren't required for success on Twitter, although they sure do help a lot!

The other low barrier of entry described in Advertising Age's article is the simplicity of Twitter. It's not nearly as overwhelming to get started as, say, designing a blog in Wordpress or creating a page on Facebook. With so much to distract and occupy a small business owner's time, Twitter's ease of use is very appealing.

So, if you've been looking for some proof in the pudding before you jump on the Twitter bandwagon, Advertising Age's article is worth the read.