How to Use Twitter to Find Deals and Save Money

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Twitter was officially launched in 2006 as a way to help people "microblog." Unlike other social media networks or blogging platforms, Twitter posts, or "tweets," can only be 140 characters or less. Many people found this quick form of communication to be useful, and in 2011, there were 300 million Twitter accounts. Many of these accounts are businesses who use the platform to communicate with people who reside nearby or have similar interests. In fact, there are a number of ways to save money using Twitter, including finding coupons, getting investment advice and finding the best place to buy gas. Read more to find out how to use Twitter to find deals and save money.

Steps

Sign up for a Twitter account, if you do not have an account. Twitter's services are free and available at twitter.com. Find the place on the home page that says "New to Twitter? Sign up."
- You will need to enter your full name, email and a password. Then, you will be prompted to create a username and upload a profile picture. You should put down your location, so it will be easier to find local deals.
- Along with the 140 characters or less rule, the main ways of communicating through Twitter are through 2 symbols. The "@" symbol allows you to reply to a tweet by placing it directly before the username of another user. The hashtag, "#", allows you to search and post in reference to a certain word or phrase.
Search for and find your favorite companies. For example, if you want to buy a new computer soon, look for Dell, Apple, Best Buy and your favorite local computer stores to see if they offer deals via Twitter. Use the search bar at the top of your homepage to find these stores, click the "Follow" button next to their name and their tweets will appear on your homepage feed.
- Create lists to separate the companies or deals that you are trying to find. Go to the small icon of a person, click on the drop down arrow and go to the "lists" page. Click on the box "Create a List" and add the people you are following who apply to the deals you want to find.
- Twitter accounts based directly from businesses that are known to post twitter-only deals include: Booksamillion, Zappos, Amazon (amazondeals, amazonsteals, amazonmp3) and DellOutlet.
Search using the hashtag. Search for "#coupon," "#bargain" and "#deal" to get started finding deals all over the web. Businesses of all types use these hashtags to advertise their most recent deals.
Follow Twitter users who are dedicated to providing coupons or deals. There are a number of private users or promoters that gather deals or coupons and post the websites on their Twitter pages. Search for users using the terms "coupon" or "bargain" to start following helpful, money-saving users.
- The following users are dedicated to providing coupons on their page: coupontweet, couponjunction, coupongeek, CouponCabin, retailmenot and rollback.
- The following users are dedicated to providing deals on their page: CheapCheapCheap, BearableDeals, Dealyzer, shoppersshop, DealUniversity, dealnews, slickdeals, Dealsplus, CheapTweet, dealsplus and slickdeals.
Use Twitter-based applications to help you save or transfer money. If you have a smart phone and a twitter account, then they can work together to help you save money. Tweetwhatyouspend and FuelFrog are good places to start, as they allow you to direct message the service in order to form a journal of your purchases.
- You can use similar applications to send money via Twitter. These include Twippr or Twitpay, which use PayPal and Amazon Payments respectively to send money. They usually charge a small percentage, so unless a deal is impossible to ignore or you need to pay a friend back as soon as possible, there are cheaper ways to pay for services.
Pick smart investments by following investment-based Twitter accounts. StockTwits gathers investment advice from across Twitter and posts it on their site. It may end up saving or earning you money, but make sure to gather investment advice from a number of sources.
Use direct messaging to negotiate deals with companies. There are many stories of people successfully bargaining with companies by typing a message to a company directly to their company twitter account (@companyname) to ask if they have a better deal. It seems this usually works with hotels, tickets, or services, rather than clothes or other physical products.
- Although you may feel uncomfortable with this at first, the more you do it, the easier it will get. Sometimes other hotels or services will look out for these messages and offer you even better deals.
Follow people who offer good budgeting advice. At the top of this list are SmartyPig, SavingGuide and AlmostFrugal, who offer budgeting advice on a daily basis. Although their daily advice may be hit or miss, 140 characters will take less time to read than a full article.

Tips

If you are new to Twitter, spend an hour navigating the site, learning how to track down friends or celebrities, send messages and make lists before jumping into these savings tips. You will be more apt to save money on Twitter if you use it correctly and consistently.
Make lists of all the people you follow. For example, you can make an investment list, a coupon list, a deal list, an advice list and more. This feature was added to Twitter to help you organize and navigate the site more easily.

Things You'll Need

Twitter account
Smart phone (optional)
Twitter-based applications (optional)

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Sources and Citations

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