Hundreds of millions of people throughout the world use Twitter on a regular basis. A small percentage of them utilize the platform for business-related purposes, earning incentives for everything from endorsements to direct product sales. Consistently underrated as a social media platform for marketing, Twitter can provide even the most basic users with plenty of marketing potential.

If you already have an established personal presence on Twitter, you may very well already possess the needed ingredients for leveraging that following into a business opportunity. Whether you’re running your own brand or merely want to earn revenue, keep reading to find out how your personal Twitter account can be a goldmine of opportunity.

Organically Promote

Whether you’re providing a product or service – or promoting someone else’s – you can use your organic following to gradually shift its focus from personal to business. Many personal Twitter accounts generate full-time incomes through occasional yet meaningful promotions.

When pinging networks with promotional tweets, it is important above all else to be subtle. There is a good chance that your personal following will likely already align somewhat with your business or brand. However, for those wishing to convert a personal Twitter presence into a new business opportunity, it is essential to find promotional opportunities that align with your audience’s interests; otherwise, it will backfire.

Use Your Authority

If you’ve been working on building a Twitter presence for awhile, then there’s a good chance you have an audience of like-minded people around one or more subjects. Because of this, it is likely that you also have a knowledge of these areas as well. If people trust you to be a source for information on this topic or others, then you have a great chance of converting a personal Twitter into a business-oriented account.

People are more likely to trust promotional tweets and/or testimonials about products and services from those who have experience with the subject in general. If your following has a substantial interest, you can definitely use this to earn sponsorship opportunities, affiliate revenues and even direct sales in the right circumstances.

Use Multimedia

Another huge element in successfully moving beyond personal tweets and into the world of promotional business is to market your tweets well. This requires using multimedia as one way of capturing people’s attention and getting them interested in learning more.

The most popular form of multimedia when promoting products and services on Twitter is a simple image. The image in question should be relevant to the post or product and should also be eye-grabbing at the same time. You don’t want to mislead your audience with photos and ultimately lose that authority that is oh-so-crucial in marketing on personal Twitter accounts.

In addition to that, it may also be worth reconsidering your Twitter profile image and cover image as well. Even with a personal account, you want your profile to exude professionalism.  While this isn’t the proper place for product promotion, it is a great way to personally promote yourself and further exude an authoritative image within your niche(s).

There are many people – from celebrities to small-timers – who use Twitter and their personal followings to generate revenue for both themselves and other businesses. By pinging networks with valuable opinion, you can slowly build a loyal following of individuals who can then be persuaded to consider the products and services you promote as legitimate options for themselves. By using multimedia, avoiding excessive or irrelevant promotion and tapping into niche authority, you’ll be able to slowly grow a following that is both loyal and marketable.