The idea behind Twitterep
Twitterep is founded on the principle that word-of-mouth is possibly the most effective method of advertising. People trust other people they know more than strangers or corporations. Some people though, are enthusiastic supporters of certain companies that bring value to their lives. Twitterep strives to bridge the gap between these groups: companies, enthusiasts of those companies, and the general public.
As the name suggests, the idea is to use Twitter as the platform for doing this. To illustrate how Twitterep can accomplish this task let’s consider a fictional company, Acme Inc. This company has several successful lines of widgets that they sell. They want to inform the public when improvements to these widgets are available and when new widgets are created. They sign up for an account with Twitterep, and send it a tweet when they want to get the word out, including a link they want to direct people to.
Since Acme Inc. has a successful product line, there are consumers out on the market who like their products and will want to know whenever that company has news or new products. In addition to that, they would like to own its products. These users can sign up to be a Twitterep for Acme Inc. When Acme sends their tweet, these users receive it; except that each of their links contains embedded information identifying them as the Twitterep meaning that it is possible to track from which Twitterep a link was followed.
At this point, the Twitterep can make a few decisions: They can ignore the tweet or they can read it and/or follow the link. If they feel that their own friends and Twitter followers would like such a product, they can "retweet" that original tweet. Remember that they will have a link that identifies them, so they can receive credit for all clicks (and possibly conversions) that materialize from their tweet. In this way, a friend of a Twitterep hears about the new Acme Inc. product not from the company itself but from a trusted friend or Twitter user they follow.
To incentivize Twittereps, companies can offer prizes for a certain number of clicks or conversions. While it might be tempting for the Twitterep to abuse the system in order to receive these prizes, they really shouldn’t be able to in reality. Because, if a Twitterep signed up for all companies on the service and retweeted all incoming tweets from companies, that rep would lose all credibility. Remember that the value of the rep is to serve as a filter. If they "spammed" the system in this way, they would no longer have any value and therefore very few, if any, followers. The companies themselves can define how many clicks or conversions are needed to award different prizes.
The business model for Twitterep is a pay-per-click and pay-per-retweet system. That is, Acme Inc. will pay Twitterep every time a link is clicked on and when it is retweeted. Additionally, they can tag their site with JavaScript in a way where "conversions" can be measured. For example, if they are advertising a new widget, sales for that widget generated by Twitterep can be measured.
Twitterep is not meant to replace any existing channels of advertising, but will offer companies an additional channel. While the service might not be the best fit for all companies (established, well known companies will benefit from it more than unknown ones), it has the potential to be an extremely potent channel for those that it does work for.
The primary reason the service can be so effective is that a company can reach new consumers via word-of-mouth. Hearing about a product or service from a friend or even a favorite celebrity directly will hold much more sway than from the company itself. The people who act as Twittereps will have incentive to only share those products and services that they themselves believe in, otherwise their credibility is tarnished and followers will stop listening to them. Getting the latest news and winning prizes can keep them motivated to stay active on the system. General Twitter users get value out of the system by being exposed to new products that they might really enjoy and would not have otherwise had exposure to. Having the human layer of Twittereps in between the companies and consumers will act as a filter to ensure that only products and services of real value reach consumers.
Because companies won't have to pay any money if their links are not clicked, the service has additional value to them. If the links get many clicks and conversions, that is great- but even if they don’t the company has instant feedback from the marketplace. Getting few or no hits won’t cost them a penny, but can help them identify potential problems with their offerings much faster than with other channels of advertising.