My number one priority in life is my family. Their safety, well being, financial stability and happiness are more important than anything else.

And that’s why I blog.

I haven’t always been a blogger. Indeed, my story, this confession of sorts, starts with my career as a jazz musician, a career you can read more about here.

When I took over Upstart Blogger at the end of 2007 I did so for many reasons, all of which ultimately centered around financial security. I didn’t start blogging just to become a blogger, I wanted to achieve all of the things that I needed to achieve and I believed, and still believe, that blogging would enable me to do that.

And I was right. Blogging did allow me to do that. It gave me an income, a growing income that would provide a financial platform for all of those things that were important to me.

I have always been suspicious of social media and social networking. I didn’t make any secret of this and once called Twitter a colossal waste of time, refusing to jump on what I thought was a time wasting bandwagon that would eventually wither away and become irrelevant as soon as the next big thing appeared on the internet’s collective radar.

After being persuaded by a number of people, people whose opinions I valued, I gave Twitter a try. And I discovered something that amazed me. Twitter was, and is, a cash machine.

I can hear some people fidgeting uncomfortably at what I’ve just said but it’s true. Social media is a cash machine. But it’s a cash machine with a massive Achilles heal.

Twitter, just like Myspace and Facebook and every other social networking platform is owned by someone else.

And that is why, if you want to be successful online, if you want to make money online, real money that can give you the lifestyle you desire, you need to use Twitter, and other forms of social media, to make as much impact and as much money as you can, as quickly as you can.

Towards the end of September 2009 I wrote an article here at Upstart Blogger that was highly critical of a certain famous pop star. I used my Twitter account to help promote this story. And then, as if by magic, my Twitter account was suspended.

At first I believed that this was because I was selling a product, which at the time possibly infringed Twitter’s trademark because of my use of Twitter in the product title.

I appealed to Twitter but they didn’t listen.

A flame war erupted on my blog with people hurling insults at the pop star and at me for daring to criticize them. I deleted the posts. I don’t blog to make enemies and I certainly don’t want to write something that will then cause me to spend the rest of my life looking over my shoulder for fear of a legal challenge.

I opened another Twitter account and changed the name of my Twitter product. The pop star linked to my new Twitter account and, 24 hours later my new account was suspended. Also, the Twitter account of a band that I play in, a Twitter account that has had absolutely no connection to my Twitter product, was also suspended.

Too much of a coincidence? Was I silenced? Who can tell?

I could, of course, write a blog post claiming that I was silenced, but such a thing could, potentially, attract the attention of the lawyers and, as I have already explained, that is not something that helps me to achieve my goals.

Ironically all of these alleged attempts to silence me are having the opposite effect. Each time my Twitter account gets suspended more and more people shake their heads in confusion, often choosing to write about it themselves, either on their own blogs, Twitter accounts, or whatever social media platform they prefer. The more I get silenced the more my story gets heard.

It’s definitely time for me to get some perspective and to put Twitter in it’s place, with reference to my own views and experience.

Why am I doing this? Because I take pride in the fact that I have made a lot of friends online and my engagement with them, my ongoing relationships with them, are too important to be governed by a system that could pull the digital rug out from under my feet at anytime based on a whim or a complaint from a giant company that I may or may not have upset.

My connections with people are far too valuable to put them at risk. My connections are direct, in person, via personal email or through one of my blogs.

I’ll tell you a secret. Hummingbird makes money easily with a Twitter account, and continues to do so for me and a multitude of other people. And this proves what I have always said is true. Money is easy. Making money online is just a case of following a number of steps. It is simplicity itself.

Human relationships, conversely, are infinitely more valuable, complex and fragile. And that is why it is time to separate those relationships from a tool which I use purely to generate income.

Connect with me here, at upstartblogger.com, at ashleymorgan.com, or via email on ashley@ashleymorgan.com.

But if you want to make money with Twitter using a system that actually works, a software based system that will do everything for you, try Hummingbird.