Learn about social media and Twitpay in an upcoming TAG Webinar

The Technology Association of Georgia (TAG) is hosting a webinar on social media Tuesday (February 22) at 11:00 AM EST.  They will be talking about how to use social media for company / product PR and advertising. The presentation will focus on real life social media case studies from real life companies like Twitpay.

Follow this link for more information: http://www.tagonline.org/webinars.php

Register here: http://www.learnitlive.com/beta/class/729/Social-Media-Strategies-Technologies

Brought to you by our friends at –

 

Career Opportunity at Twitpay: Marketing Manager

We are currently seeking an experienced Marketing Manager. Please submit resume and cover letter to John Beisner at john@twitpay.com.

JOB TITLE: Marketing Manager
DATE CREATED: February, 2011
TIME FRAME: Immediate
REPORTS TO: EVP of Client Services. Contact john@twitpay.com

OVERALL RESPONSIBILITY/JOB PURPOSE:

• Marketing, Communications, Sales support, Customer relations, Public relations
• Marketing Strategy
• Product direction

KEY RESPONSIBILITY AREAS:

• Lead Twitpay marketing initiatives
• Develop sales tools, strategies and collateral
• Assist clients with initial training
• Work with clients to develop and document Socialbest practices.
• Generate market opportunities and target markets

KNOWLEDGE:

• Marketing & communications expertise
• On-line marketing expertise
• Social networks (Twitter, Facebook, Youtube)
• Experience with E-Commerce

SKILLS:

• Project Management
• Strong communication skills
• Basic design and technical skills

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Highly motivated and goal driven
• Bachelor’s Degree (marketing)
• MBA preferred
• Social Media knowledge
• Technical skills a must have

EXPERIENCE:

• General experience in marketing communications
• Experience in B2B marketing
• Experience with marketing over social networks

PERSONALITY ATTRIBUTES:

• Attention to detail
• Enjoy a fast-paced environment
• Self motivated and energetic
• Great interpersonal skills
• Team player
• Creative

LOCATION

• Atlanta, GA

About Twitpay: Twitpay is the leading provider of payment systems solutions for social medianetworks. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, its patent pending technologies and breakthroughapplications allow organizations to turn their social networking investment into measurableresults. For more information, visit http://www.twitpay.com or follow @twitpay on Twitter.

TomorrowVentures & CompuCredit Holdings Corporation Invest in Social Payments Leader Twitpay

TomorrowVentures and CompuCredit Recognize Twitpay as a Change Agent with the Power to Advance the Way People Live, Interact, and Thrive

ATLANTA, Feb. 3, 2011 – Atlanta-based Twitpay, the leading provider of social media payment technology, has secured growth funding from TomorrowVentures and CompuCredit Holdings Corporation.  Twitpay was founded in 2008 and offers a platform-as-a-service into three core markets: nonprofit organizations looking to raise funds directly over Twitter, social gaming developers offering virtual currency, and retailers facilitating social commerce. This new round of funding will be used to expand its existing service offerings.

“We are very excited about our investment in Twitpay.  The convergence of social media and mobile payments will drive tremendous opportunities in the social media value chain.  We believe that Twitpay, with its sophisticated payments platform and mobile wallet technology, is positioned to be the dominant player in this segment,” says Court Coursey, Managing Partner, TomorrowVentures.

David Hanna, CEO of CompuCredit Holdings Corporation adds, “Combining social media with an alternate payment channel opens up enormous marketing opportunities for Twitpay partners. We are very impressed with the breadth and flexibility of Twitpay’s technology platform and management’s ability to identify a need in the marketplace and quickly build and market a solution to fit that need.”

“We are looking forward to leveraging the knowledge, relationships and skill sets of our new investors.  Both TomorrowVentures and CompuCredit fully grasp the power of monetizing social media and how our platform can make that a reality,” says Kenny Douglas, Executive Vice President of Twitpay.  “Each of our new investors has a long track record of identifying and nurturing leading technology innovators, and their expertise will be a tremendous asset for our company,” adds John Beisner, Executive Vice President.

Twitpay offers its clients both a comprehensive social management platform as well as a mobile payments tool utilizing Twitter’s prevalence as a mobile network.  Expansion into the for-profit world is producing a variety of promotional opportunities for merchants, with offers delivered immediately both online and through mobile and tablet applications.  Consumers will be able to transact immediately within their preferred social environment.

Twitpay recently announced a partnership with Incomm, another Atlanta-based corporation, to offer social gaming publishers access to a customized promotion and lead generation platform designed specifically around the social gaming model.  The first social gaming campaign is due out in early 2011.

Morgan Keegan acted as exclusive financial advisor to Twitpay on this transaction.

About Twitpay:

Twitpay is the leading provider of payment systems solutions for social media networks. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, its patent pending technologies and breakthrough applications allow organizations to turn their social networking investment into measurable results. For more information, visit www.twitpay.com or follow @twitpay on Twitter.

About TomorrowVentures:

TomorrowVentures is an opportunistic investment firm with a focus toward seed and early-stage venture capital investments that develop innovative ideas that have the power to change the way people live, interact, and thrive. Founded in 2009 with a unique approach to venture capital and an extensive, diverse base of experience and expertise, TomorrowVentures adds value far beyond capital. Its goal is to grow companies capable of transforming technology, lifestyle and philanthropy.  For more information about TomorrowVentures, visit www.tomorrowvc.com.

About CompuCredit:

CompuCredit Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ “CCRT”) is a specialty finance company and marketer of branded credit cards and related financial services. CompuCredit provides these services to consumers who are underserved by traditional financial institutions. Through corporate and affinity contributions focused on the underserved and un-banked communities, CompuCredit also uses its financial resources and volunteer efforts to address the numerous challenges affecting its customers. For more information about CompuCredit, visit www.CompuCredit.com.

 

Media Contact:

Twitpay

John Beisner

john@twitpay.com

(678) 809-1718

 

Source: Twitpay, Inc.

# # #

 

Twitpay Names Kenneth Douglas General Manager and EVP, Social Gaming & Commerce Division

Mr. Kenneth Douglas has officially joined the Twitpay team, leading innovation in the social gaming and social commerce spaces.  He is an experienced technology and payments executive with a background in systems and integration. He spent the last four years building the RevolutionCard Network for Revolution Money, which was acquired by American Express in January 2010.  Douglas was General Manager and Vice President Merchant Services and responsible for negotiating, integrating and launching the RevolutionCard Network into the top merchant acquirers/processors, gateways and network switches.  Prior to Revolution Money, he spent a majority of his career in executive positions with technology and system integration firms and sits on the advisory board of a number of early stage technology companies.  Kenny received his BS/BA in DPQA (Data Processing Quantitative Analysis) from the University of Arkansas.

 

About Twitpay

Twitpay is the leading provider of payment and lead generation systems solutions for social media networks.  Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, its patented technologies and breakthrough applications allow organizations to turn their social networking investment into measurable revenue results. For more information, visit http://www.twitpay.com or follow @twitpay on Twitter.

 

#SMATL – Keeping Atlanta HOT in Social Media!

Thanks to a lot of hard work by a LOT of great people, Social Media Atlanta was a HUGE success! Bert Dumars (Newell Rubbermaid) and Stephanie Frost (Zero-G Creative) did an incredible job planning, organizing, and leading this event. Speaking for the entire Atlanta social media crowd – THANK YOU!!!

We may not be New York or San Francisco, but Atlanta is a booming social media hub. We have some incredible thought leaders and a lot of fantastic companies on the cutting edge of the social space. With a total of 38 sessions over 6 days, this event was not one to be easily matched. Keynotes, panels, workshops, and meetups covered everything from Human Resources to Event Planning to Tourism, and everything in between, all from a social media perspective. Resources and discussion were available for the most timid beginner all the way up to the most innovative social aficionado. No one could possibly have attended and left without learning something new and feeling challenged, both by the presenters and attendees alike.

We were lucky enough to actively participate in two events, in addition to attending several others. Twitpay was represented on the Nonprofit 101 panel, and in the Social Innovations session, both on Thursday. We’d love to hear what you thought of our sessions, and of Social Media Atlanta as a whole, so please comment! It was great to see you all there!

If you missed any of the sessions, check out @garrettkuk’s day by day coverage at http://garrettkuk.wordpress.com/category/social-media-atlanta-2010/. See you next year!

Build Your Twitter Following (the right way)

If you’ve been on Twitter for more than about 5 minutes, you’ve probably been solicited by somebody swearing that they can help you build your following – and fast.  And they probably can, by having you follow a ridiculous number of accounts, mostly spammers and bots, just to get them to follow you back.  Does that mean that anybody is going to be listening to you, retweeting you, or recommending you to their followers – not on your life!

Twitter is an information network, which means in order for you to build an engaged following, you’ve got to provide information that they are going to be interested in receiving and sharing.  If you can do that, you’ll be very popular in the twitterverse!

So, that being said, there are two important steps in building an engaged Twitter following:

1. Getting them to listen in the first place and
2. Giving them information that will keep them coming back for more!

Spreading The Word

• Make sure all of your current supporters know that you’re on Twitter.  Utilize every channel that you have: email, Facebook, word of mouth, mailings, advertisements, message boards, etc.  Leave no stone unturned.
• Add your Twitter handle to your email signature and the front page of your website(s).
• Follow and use relevant hashtags.  Definition: A hashtag is a word or phrase preceded by a “#” that is used to link together similar content in Twitter.  They are often used at events, in Twitter chats, or just when there’s a big topic being discussed by a lot of different people.
• While you don’t want to follow random users just to get them to follow you back, you should follow other people who are producing quality content that interests you.  Some will follow you back, some won’t, but all will add to your twitter experience.
• Follow your follower’s followers.

Creating Content That Your Target Audience Will Appreciate

• Ask your audience what they are interested in.  Polls are a great tool and are really easy to setup with services like SurveyMonkey.com.
• Pay close attention to what your followers are already retweeting.
• It’s a two-way street.  Make sure that you are retweeting, complimenting, and giving feedback on your followers’ tweets.
• Cross-post all new content that you create.  If you write a blog post, make sure to publicize it on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.  Likewise, if you send a good tweet, post it to your other profiles and include your Twitter handle.
• Recruit advocates.  Find influential people who share your interests.  Engage them directly, and occasionally ask them to share your content with their audience and/or guest post for you.

As with any community, it can take a while to build, but building your following in an authentic and genuine way will create be much more productive than getting a large number of followers who are just spammers, bots, or users who have no interest in your topic of choice.  Social media is just that, it’s social.  Get out there and communicate and your audience will follow.

Twitpay Brings “Social” to Mobile Giving!

Following the earthquake in Haiti, the world learned the awesome power of mobile fundraising.  The State Department partnered with mGive to allow individuals to quickly donate $10 to The Red Cross just by sending a text message with their mobile phones.  With the help of extensive advertising, pledges totaled upwards of $30 million.  Nonprofits rushed to setup their own mobile fundraising programs.

Unfortunately, for most nonprofit organizations, mobile fundraising can be a costly endeavor.  Monthly fees can range from $400 to $1,500 or more just to maintain the account, plus additional per transaction fees.  And without massive advertising campaigns, the likelihood of success is low.  Also, the turnaround time for the nonprofit to actually receive donated funds is dependent on the mobile billing cycle (usually at 30-90 days).

While this crisis did show that the public is willing and capable of making donations through their cell phones, further research reveals a lot of room for improvement.  That’s where Twitpay can help!

Twitpay’s “RT Keyword” function allows a nonprofit organization to setup a free keyword – similar to a mobile shortcode.  When you ask a supporter to make a donation, they can simply type “RT yourkeyword” in their Twitter stream (on their computer OR their mobile phone – by texting 40404 or within their favorite Twitter app) to make a donation and to spread the word to all of their followers!  While additional advertising and publicity are certainly recommended, the real exposure to your RT Keyword comes from your donors – for free!  Proceeds are deposited in the organization’s bank account within 2-3 days and there is no cost to have and keep an account, just a small per transaction processing fee.

If you would like more information on setting up an RT Keyword account, or if you’d like to make a donation to your favorite charity, visit us at http://RT2Give.com or give us a call at 1-877-RETWEET!  And, of course, don’t forget to follow us on Twitter @Twitpay!

Sources:

http://american.redcross.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ntld_Haiti_text2help_faqs#Q8

http://www.mgive.com/Pricing.aspx

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34850532/ns/technology_and_science-wireless/

Exactly what is Twitpay?

Hello!  My name is Joyce Scott and I joined the Twitpay team about 2 months ago.  In that time, I’ve been exploring a very deep and important question: exactly what is Twitpay?  Well, after 2 months, I’ve got a pretty good handle on it, and I’d like to share with you what I’ve learned.

1. First of all, let’s start with the basics.  Twitpay is a software protocol that allows individuals and organizations to transfer money directly over Twitter (and soon Facebook!)  We are PCI (Payment Card Industry) compliant, meaning we are just as safe and secure as any payment processing tool on the Internet.  We can process all major credit and debit cards, as well as direct drafts from your bank account.

2. Right now, we work exclusively with nonprofit organizations, helping them to raise money over Twitter. This means that you can give back to your favorite charities, both through your own donation, but also by encouraging your followers to donate too.

3. Bigger plans are in the works. We are already in negotiations with social gaming developers to provide payment processing for your favorite online games!  We are also working on a social commerce model.  So, before long, you will be able to buy gift cards, electronics, books and more directly over Twitter and Facebook! The beauty is, if you register for one of our services, either giving, gaming or commerce, you’ll already be enrolled when you want to try our other services!

4. It’s easy to try Twitpay. Go to http://rt2give.com/register to sign up for your free account.

I hope that gives you a good overview of what Twitpay is and where we’re headed.  If you have any questions, you can email me at joyce@twitpay.com or give us a call at 1-877-RETWEET!  And of course, please follow me on Twitter @jmarie83!  I’ll be posting here regularly from now on, so please send me your thoughts and comments.  Talk to you soon!

Guest post from Aran the intern

We’ve been fortunate to have Aran (@treybahler) join us in the Twitpay office for a few weeks. Before he heads out, we asked him for his thoughts on the experience.

If you contemplate the activities a typical fifteen year old boy does during the summer, spending two weeks as an intern in an office probably does not appear on that list. Or if so, the idea emphasizes misery and an overall vibe of not wanting to be there, or anywhere within a two mile radius of that particular office for that matter.

Not at Twitpay.

I am currently interning for my second week with Twitpay, where I have thus far had a tremendous experience. The current employees of the company have taught me a lot about what Twitpay does, and the technology behind how their product functions. Furthermore, they have given me the understanding and experience of the working life, which I now see in a much brighter light.

It has been far from dull, as well. I’ve sat through two sales calls, where the company marketed their product to different clients, as well as an interview for a potential new salesman. I’ve also explored the gaming side of Twitpay, helping research possible fees of purchases, and gathered contact information for potential clients over Twitter. Now, where else would you be able to do and useful research over Twitter. Additionally, we would occasionally watch portions of World Cup matches, willing in shots and criticizing officials.

Overall, Twitpay has provided me with a taste of adulthood, offering me a glimpse into the daily lives of an office environment. Although I only had a limited stint of time with the company, it provided a tremendous start of preparation for my forthcoming future should I later decide to study this field.

Thank you, Twitpay.

Thank you, Aran! We’re glad you could join us!

RT2Give now supports credit cards

Today we’re happy to announce the availability of credit card payment options for our RT2Give™ (Retweet To Give) donation service. RT2Give allows socially conscious giving over the Twitter network. Now you have a choice between credit card or checking account for payment options.

While we encourage you to continue to use electronic checks, we’re happy to be able to expand the options available. Adding cards was one of the most common requests we heard from you, and we’re glad we could add it so quickly.