http://bit.ly/ provides a free URL shortening service, you don’t even need to set up an account, simply paste in the URL and hit “Shorten”

As I said you don’t need an account however if you do there are some really cool features. For example, you can track the number of clicks per link, not only this but you can trace which methods are most popular, for example it will indicate how many clicks are from say Twitter or Facebook. This is useful in that you can track which methods of promotion or recommendation are the most successful.

A practical application of this is to use shortened Amazon Associate links to make money via referrals. This is really simple and heres how I do it;

Step 1 – Set up an Amazon Associates account at:

Amazon Associates pays a percentage of the sale price of items you recommend via product links. The starting rate is 5%, although this does improve with more sales. For example if you link to a £300 PS3 that sells you earn £15!! Once you account is set up you can follow the step-by-step guide on how to obtain a product link, I find it easier to get the link by selecting a picture a link and simply copy the URL Amazon provides. Now, this will not fit in your Tweets, this is where bit.ly comes in . . .

Step 2 – Visit http://bit.ly/

Bit.ly is a simple URL shortner it can be use to abbreviate the lengthy product URL provided when you link to an item on Amazon, you don’t even need to set up an account. Simply paste in the long Amazon link and hit “Shorten”, this will give you a short URL which will fit in your Tweets . . . .

Step 3 – Link to items on Twitter

If you don’t already have an account visit http://twitter.com to set one up now and get yourself some followers. Now, to get the most clicks, and therefore sales, as possible it is important to keep your Tweets catchy to encourage a click, some examples that have worked for me are “Check out this beast!” or “This is awesome!!”

Let me know if you have any trouble with the process or any questions. Good luck!