Would you let Twittad pimp your Twitter profile for cash?

Twittad is a new service that, as described on their website "gives Twitter users and advertisers the opportunity to meet for product placement & website promotion on a Twitter user profile."

Sounds warm and fuzzy, doesn't it?

Then you go to the "How Twittad Works" page and the first thing you read is "Post Twitter account for advertisers to purchase." Huh? Purchase your profile as in own it?

Apparently the marketing geniuses at TwittAd aren't familiar with the concept of personal branding; if they were surely they would realize that, for some, the idea of selling their Twitter profile is probably tantamount to selling one of their kidneys. These days, a person's Twitter profile can be--and probably is--an integral part of their personal and, therefore, professional brand. Would anyone consider "selling" their LinkedIn profile? After all, if you sell something to someone, isn't it then theirs to do whatever they wish with? Are people going to be ok logging on to Twitter to find that their personal brand is now porn or something?

Ok, then--say you are willing to sell your profile to the highest bidder--what kind of money are we talking? Take a look at the current listings of profiles up for sale. The highest prices is $20; most are $5 or $10. Is that price per "hour you serve the ad"--whatever that means--or is it what advertisers pay to take ownership of your profile, then you rake in revenue similar to what you'd earn with AdSense; e.g. $0?

I'm just baffled by the whole TwittAd website--I have no idea what "hours serving the ad" means and, as far as I can tell, they give no explanation. I suppose one way to find out would be to put my profile up for bid and see what kind of money it actually brings in--that seems to be about the only way to find out based on the lack of detail provided by their website.

Buh-Bye Business Cards--Hello Dropcard

I read this post about the importance of remembering to bring business cards to business and social functions and was surprised neither the author nor any of the commenters knew about Dropcard.

I may not be the most eco-friendly person on the planet, but I do hate paper and try to have as little of it as possible in my life. (Would you believe I used to be the program manager for printing and writing papers at the American Forest & Paper Association?) This includes bills, bank statements, medical claims, appointments and, of course, business cards.

(Aside: I know I'm jinxing myself by saying this but, despite the fact that when I hold my Treo I literally hold my life in my hand by virtue of the fact that it is the sole container of my calendar and my address book, I have never synched it and if it dies or I lose it, there goes every contact and calendar appointment forever. I need to remedy this before the worst actually happens and I have to slit my throat over the loss of all my vital information.)

At any rate, with Dropcard, you create a virtual business card that you can email to anyone right from your phone. You just send a text with the intended recipient's email address to a number specified by Dropcard and your business card is magically sent to them. The dropcard is formatted to look like a real business card, and can include not only your traditional contact information, but your social networking details as well (LinkedIn, Twitter, etc). You can also create a personal card if you want to include different information for social purposes, such as your home address, phone number, email, etc.

And don't forget--if you ask someone for their card and they say they'll send you a dropcard, don't forget to do the white thing and say "Hey, thanks. Sincerely, The Earth."