There’s a lot of talk about disclosing about paid links and  getting payment for blogging, tweeting, or otherwise making cash from social media. First, there is no way to disclose all of this.

This issue gets really messy (read this post about conflicts of interest by Penelope Trunk, warning: the post has some overshare that can be offensive to some readers, but otherwise does a good job at illustrating the point).

For example: how do you disclose that your link on twitter is an affiliate link - in 140 characters or less? Does it really matter? Do I care if someone makes money recommending someone if it’s a recommendation from someone I trust? NO. If they’re like me they won’t recommend something just to make money or their reputation will be shot.

However, there are some accounts that the only purpose is to make money and they use affiliate links to do that. I’m surprised again and again just how much MLMers are using Twitter and how much they advertise but people still subscribe.

Same with Guy Kawasaki who I recently called out for marketing a car on his blog. Do you really think he would’ve taken the time to write a post this involved on his own? And how exactly does it change the world? Thankfully he has Prius ads on his blog to redeem himself to environmentalists. He’s quite open about marketing and we still follow him (Alltop is a great resource I recommend to find places to guest post or find bloggers to involve in your social marketing strategy). He just markets well.

I just talked to a group of affiliate marketers yesterday about techniques affiliates are using to make sales from Twitter.

I’m already promoting PRWeb and now that I’m an affiliate I can make money doing it. That’s fair. It motivates me to find time to seek out and answer questions people have about PRWeb which I would do anyway. (disclosure: the PRWeb link is an affiliate link, so is this one for my most coveted gift: an Amazon Kindle - and if you buy one using this link I’ll make $35).

Here’s an excerpt from Jeremiah Owyang who has been posting on this topic.

How to make affiliate links work on Twitter

• Make sure it lines up editorially with your personal brand, promoting a product that people don’t associate you with will raise eyebrows.
• Disclose it’s an affiliate link, perhaps with a hashtag #affilliatelink.
• Be sincere about your recommendation. If you truly love that product you’re promoting, perhaps write a review on a blog first, explaining why.
• Be fully transparent before people follow you: Create a link from your Twitter profile page that is up front about how you use Twitter, and explain your intentions when it comes to product recommendations and affiliate links.

What if you send links directly to the merchant and don’t have room for a long hashtag like #affiliatelink? What if you have no personal brand (like most affiliates I know)?

Twitter is a blog post so it shouldn’t be any different when it comes to disclosure. When I’m flat out paid for a sponsored post - I state that. I obviously got some swag for blogging about a local jeweler. I have affiliate links on my blog and they are the same as my ads.

Jeremiah’s post goes into the legal issues and you should read all of it.

Oh, and the next time you talk to me and I recommend that you attend Smart Media 2009 - remind me to disclose that I have a financial stake in the conference. I’ll be there. I’ll present with my friend Nate Moller about how to use Twitter for marketing. I hope you’ll be there.

A Bountiful, Utah steak restaurant called Mo’ Bettah Steaks has a simple web page but it has a lot of personality. Their web site is not fancy and it’s not search engine optimized. But front and center they invite you to become their friend on Facebook. And they encourage it at the restaurant too. This has paid off at a time when a lot of restaurants are hurting. They attribute 20-30% of their business to their Facebook presence. They’re planning to expand soon.

They have over 1,300 friends on Facebook which for a local business is great. They held a photo contest and gave away free food to the winners. That gave them a lot of photos to post. They also have two videos.

Another local restaurant Blue Lemon in Alpine made a group (don’t like the look as much) that has over 100 members. Local restaurants are natural fits for social media. Guru’s Cafe is on Twitter and Facebook but they don’t promote either on the home page of their web site. I haven’t been in for a while but it wasn’t mentioned at their restaurant that I could see.

When you do social media you need to integrate it into all of your marketing - and inside your store. The most successful marketing often is blending of many online and offline resources. There are so many tools (email, Twitter, Facebook, web site, blog, events, press releases, etc) to get the word out.

If you want to learn more about this, I’m part of Smart Media 2009 conference June 18-19 in Lindon, Utah. We’re looking for a Utah restaurant who wants to sponsor lunch for about 100 people. In return we’ll weave your restaurant into the training. That means we’ll create a Facebook Page for you (or a Twitter account) and show you how to market it. Contact me at grocerybike@gmail.com or the contact form on this blog if you’re interested.

Since I got into Internet marketing and fell in love with it the holy grail was a work-from-home job. I thought now I’m free! I can make money anywhere. I thought to truly arrive you had to work at home for yourself. That’s what I wanted. Then I got it, mostly.

At first working for myself was an adventure. I exercised most days, I met and talked to friends during the day and worked until late at night. I had flexibility. I worked in my pjs or sometimes in a towel (I don’t recommend you do that very often).

Then it started to wear off. I missed working with a group of people. I had some big disruptions with one of the companies I worked for and suddenly what I’d spent months building started to fall apart. In just a few months I lost over half my income, crashed my car, and had a rough go of it. You can probably tell from the tone of this post about getting a job.

I chose two places to apply. I’m not in a position to move or I’d be in the hipper Sugarhouse area of Salt Lake. But being environmentally and family - conscious I didn’t want a long commute. For a few reasons, I also had lingering trauma over having a regular job. I knew I wanted to work for a place where I wasn’t fighting for Internet marketing by myself. I wanted a team and a friendly or at least not hostile IT department.

I thought of not blogging about this but I notice a trend that even big time execs blog about departing or starting new jobs. It’s fashionable and in the dynamic industry I’m in, the average time at a job tends to be about 18 months. Then note that I live in an extremely entrepreneurial place. Most startups I’ve worked for over the years are out of business. Or they have VC funding that can mean quick unexpected layoffs.

Besides, Andy Beal outed the news on Twitter. I have built a bit of a following there, thanks in a large part to him. So I drank the Orange soda and rode the beach cruiser around the office. I’ve joined a few fellow Utah bloggers and others doing SEO for businesses at a company called OrangeSoda.

A thank you for inspiring this change goes to Penelope Trunk. I talked about how over time Internet marketing went from being my obsession to being a job I love. That means more balance and better separation between work and home life.

Orange Soda has grown quickly as agencies outsource their Internet marketing services to them. When someone says “free food” people here stampede. It’s young, hip, and still hungry like the beginning days of the web. Plus I love the noise.