Exclusive: When it comes to having influence on Twitter the secret to success for athletes is being awesome at a really cool sport (like skateboarder Ryan Sheckler) or being married to a Kardashian (Los Angeles Laker Lamar Odom). We're not sure which one is easier.

Ad.ly, the company that pays celebrities to tweet on behalf of brands, is releasing their list of the most influential athletes on the social media platform today. The list is skewed by the fact that it contains only the athletes in the Ad.ly endorsement network, but it still gives a good snapshot of which athletes are really good at selling stuff through their Twitter feeds.

Ranking is decided by which athletes were able to drive the most visits to brands' sites, videos and applications. Ad.ly pays on a sliding scale based on performance by their stable of their famous tweeters. The celebrities whose fans will click on their messages stand to make a lot more money than those who can't drive action. In this case fan loyalty actually translates into a viable monthly revenue stream for these celebrities.