Can you imagine how much more than $250 million Twitter would be worth if it ever figures out a revenue model?
I suspect the micro-blogging service must have something up its sleeve, otherwise why would a venture capital firm reportedly dump $20 million into the company-giving it the $250M valuation?
Personally, I hope Twitter can find a way to support itself, before the money runs out. It's no coincidence the company is seeing incredible growth, the service is becoming an invaluable tool for communication. Heck, some people are even suggesting that it's becoming an alternative channel for bloggers.
Just the other day, I considered how I communicated with friends and peers before the advent of Twitter. For me, Twitter has become a valuable tool for three reasons:
- It's a communication channel. It's faster than sending an email and allows me to reach a wider audience than instant messenger.
- It's a networking channel. I'd estimate that over the course of a year, I'd attend a dozen conferences and maybe network with, at most, 30 people at each event. With Twitter that number is in the thousands-all from the comfort of my desk!
- It's a marketing channel. Whether I'm marketing my own personal brand, this blog, Trackur, SEM Vendor, I won't lie: Twitter is a valuable source of eyeballs.
Now, here's the key. I probably represent a small minority of folks that use Twitter for the above 3 reasons-most people use Twitter for non-business "chats." But, perhaps Twitter needs to look at a business model that doesn't try to earn revenue from each of the 6 million users. Instead, look at how users like me are using Twitter and figure out how to generate revenue from our business use of the service.
What ideas do you have for how Twitter can monetize its service?
Link to original post