I use several social networks on a consistent basis. My main aim with this is to use them to draw traffic to my various websites and blogs. I'm also trying out different tactics on them so that I know for certain what works and what doesn't. I teach locals here in Perth how to use these sites so I want to be completely sure I'm giving them good information.

Having these various goals, until recently I haven't really thought much about how to monetize these sites directly. But I've been trying a few things lately.

A good option seems to be to promote Amazon Associates products. There are just so many of them to choose from, and they are very easy to share on Twitter and Facebook in particular. That's because when you're logged in and have found something you want to promote, you can just click one of the little share buttons at the top of the screen and an update is created instantly for you. 

I've been using this facility on Twitter quite a lot lately and the sales come trickling in. (I don't have many followers on Facebook yet, so I haven't tried it there yet.) 

I think Amazon Associates goes particularly well on Twitter because there your network will tend be focused on a particular interest. So you can find ebooks and other products that they're quite likely to enjoy. (Facebook is less interest focused. It's more social in the truest sense of the word.)

I've only been promoting books so far. Maybe other kinds of products go well, too. I'll find that out in time ... 

In any case, books are ideal. Firstly you can find really good quality ones for next to nothing. And they can often be downloaded instantly as Kindle versions. The low cost, immediate availability, and specificity of subject matter combine to ensure a good conversion rate. 

Also, so many of the books have titles that can easily be converted to popular hashtags, increasing the likelihood of potential buyers finding them on Twitter. (If you are going to promote products this way, keep an eye out for this aspect.)

The other reason they go so well is that the book cover image appears automatically in your tweet. If it's appealing and eye-catching, it can brighten up your stream and increase the odds that your followers will click on the link. 

Having blogs and Twitter accounts in different niches, I've seen some general differences in the way people engage with each other in each of them. But these were just hunches more than anything because I didn't do any strictly run trials or experiments. I just got a general sense of these distinctions from years of constant use. 

One thing that really stood out for me was how engaged people were in the politics and current affiars niche as opposed to online marketing. My blogs would usually get some comments, and would often be shared on social media without much effort on my part. But it's always been a bit of struggle to get the same kind of engagement around blogs like this one.

On Twitter in particular this trend was very clear. My politically oriented account would get heaps of retweets and mentions compared to my marketing ones. And now that I have access to Twitter analytics data this observation has been well and truly confirmed. The engagement levels in my marketing related account are less than half those in my politics account. It's quite remarkable. 

But the interesting thing is that even though they're both the same age, with similar numbers of tweets from me, it's much easier to get followers to my marketing themed account. But they also unfollow me at a much greater rate.

These clear trends make perfect sense of course. People in the online marketing niche are primarily on social media to promote and sell things. So if they follow you, it's in the hope that you'll follow back. And if they mention and reply to you, it's because they want you to share their stuff. I'm not saying that they're entirely selfish, of course. It's just that self-promotion is much more of a factor in their online activities.

And there are exceptions to this rule. If you look at some of the more influential online marketing and problogging tweeps you'll see a lot of engagement form them. But again, the main reason they do this is because they know it helps build their profiles and ultimately make them more money in the long run. 

On the other hand, in a non-commercial niche like politics, for instance, people are keen to express their thoughts and feelings. They need to rant, growl and get things off their chests. They're engaging for the sheer release of it. They are passionate amateurs, so to speak. Which is why they are so much more engaged.