I posted this information in the Free Tools forum, but wanted to make sure it wasn't missed - so am posting it here as well....
TWEETDECK
Yes, I am probably very late to the party with this tool. Most of you might already be using it, and have maybe even used it for a long time. I just started using it yesterday with Twitter and I now wish I would have started using it several years ago when I first started Twitter! Wow! It is a very slick tool!
I just created a new Twitter account yesterday for TheDrawingBoard. Now with TweetDeck and I see both my vintage shop Twitter account and my DrawingBoard account on the same screen. It's cool! Even if you don't have multiple Twitter accounts, this tool can still be very helpful. You can have a column of your Twitter feed, another column of your tweets, another column with any mentions, etc.
If you've never seen it before, you might want to check it out.
If you've been using TweetDeck, let me know what you think!
"If it isn't working the way you're doing it, do it a different way."
I just had to share... I have been using Twitter since I opened my Etsy shop in 2011. Having never used Twitter before, I followed all these other vintage shops - mainly shops from Etsy teams I was on. I would occasionally tweet when I added a new listing to my shop, but I have never really been into Twitter as far as engaging with others there. Occasionally I might check Twitter, but not very often. I was pretty much just tweeting, but never checking my Twitter feed.
I recently started using Tweetdeck because I started a second Twitter account. For my new account (TheDrawingBoard), I started following ONLY people whose tweets I really wanted to see.
I've had Tweetdeck now for several days and I see my vintage shop feed and TheDrawingBoard feed. Wow. What an eye opener!!!
I can't wait to check to see what the people I follow on TheDrawingBoard are tweeting, but all I see for my vintage shop feed is other vintage shops posting their items for sale. Something I really am NOT interested in.
So, it occurred to me - unfollow all those vintage shops, and only follow the people I really care to see their tweets. I just unfollowed over 1,000 vintage shops. It feels SO GOOD!!!
My Twitter feed for my vintage shop is now INTERESTING! It has tweets from designers, interior decorators, etc. - stuff I AM interested in.
Man! If only I would have started using Tweetdeck before now!!! This has REALLY changed my focus on Twitter!
I've never wanted other vintage shops as my followers - to what purpose is that? Instead, I always wanted people who needed vintage things for their homes, or would blog about vintage things, or would use vintage things in home designs. Now that I have cleared out all the clutter, I can really focus on QUALITY followers and quality tweets.
This is exciting to me! I feel like I'm off on another new adventure! I hope my plan doesn't backfire on me. :slightly_smiling_face:
Edited to add - I AM still following my friends shops because I do care about their shops and like to see their tweets. Now I'll be able to focus on those and retweet them.
(originally shared on 2/14/18)
"If it isn't working the way you're doing it, do it a different way."
viyoli [Feb 14th at 11:25 AM]
How you working with it? @jaydee I'm a little confused :woman-shrugging: I try to change, but don't know exactly how. On that boot camp, they told us to follow each other, as when someone looking for jewelry it give them the opportunity to see others items.....
"If it isn't working the way you're doing it, do it a different way."
I think everyone has their own strategy when it comes to Twitter.
For me, I followed other vintage shops because I wanted to show support to them. I occasionally thought it was interesting to see the items they are selling and I mean NO disrespect to these other thousands of shops I followed, but seeing their items for sale did NOTHING to improve my own shop. I did follow people I was really interested in, but their posts were BURIED in the thousands and thousands of new listing posts from these other vintage shops. It got to a point that I just quit checking Twitter and rarely engaged there.
It was such an eye opener to me to see both activity feeds at the same time on Tweetdeck. And how INTERESTING I am finding the tweets from TheDrawingBoard feed.
I just checked Tweetdeck again after unfollowing all those vintage shops and INSTANTLY my activity feed is interesting again! It makes me WANT to go there to check!
Like I mentioned - everyone will have their own strategy and you need to do whatever is best for you, of course. If you find inspiration in other jewelry shops and what they are posting, you SHOULD follow them. If, however, you find their posts are just "noise" in your feed that isn't interesting, then I wouldn't follow them. Again - whatever is best for you.
"If it isn't working the way you're doing it, do it a different way."
(originally posted 2/12/18 on Slack)
jaydee [9 months ago]
This is a game-changer for me. I really never engaged much on Twitter before. But now that I can see all this information at one time, it's so much better!
I've been finding lots of great content to share - both for my vintage shop and for the work I am doing with Shopify and social media.
Just a warning.... you might become addicted to Twitter! I certainly have been finding myself checking it more often now.
"If it isn't working the way you're doing it, do it a different way."
2aemporium [9 months ago]
This is really overwhelming. I have a screen full of junk that I don't even know what to do with.
2aemporium [9 months ago]
I just cleared all of my columns. We'll see what happens.
"If it isn't working the way you're doing it, do it a different way."
jaydee [9 months ago]
For what it's worth, I have one column for HOME, the next column for USER, and the third column for NOTIFICATIONS.
The HOME column is your news feed.
The USER column shows YOUR tweets.
The NOTIFICATION column shows when people follow you, like one of your tweets, retweet, or comment on a tweet.
"If it isn't working the way you're doing it, do it a different way."
jaydee [9 months ago]
@viyoli - to move the columns into the position you want them, point in the upper-left corner of the column on the double-vertical line. Your mouse turns to a 4-headed arrow and you can drag the columns to the order you want them.
To choose the columns you want to display, click the blue plus sign + in the left navigation menu, then choose a column from there.
To remove a column, click the icon in the upper-right corner of a column, then click the x Remove link.
Hope that helps!
"If it isn't working the way you're doing it, do it a different way."
@2aemporium - you can only clear an entire column - not just tweets you've read. I, too, wish there were a way to clear individual tweets, but because of the nature of Twitter and how quickly things fly by your activity feed, that isn't an option.
"If it isn't working the way you're doing it, do it a different way."
2aemporium [9 months ago]
@jaydee OK, thanks. I've just been clearing an entire column. BUT...that means I probably miss some things buried in there that might have been good. I've unfollowed some folks, too. I really hope it wasn't someone I wanted to follow. Egad! When I first started Twitter, I was still on Etsy teams where you followed everyone's SM accounts. I'm not sure how I will use Twitter going forward. I had pretty much abandoned it for other SM venues. I have still been posting a few of my things there, but not much.
"If it isn't working the way you're doing it, do it a different way."
jaydee [9 months ago]
If this helps...
My main reason for using Twitter now is to find content that I want to share with my followers on other social media platforms - for example, share on Facebook.
I also want to use Twitter to find other people that I want to connect with - whose content I want to see. Hopefully I can form a few relationships with the "movers and shakers" this way.
I WILL occasionally tweet my own products, and maybe especially any deals or discounts I might be offering, but promoting my products isn't my main focus. I think promoting products on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram will continue to have better results.
jaydee [9 months ago]
And... I find that using Pocket along with Twitter, to save the content I find and want to read in depth later is helpful.
"If it isn't working the way you're doing it, do it a different way."
2aemporium [9 months ago]
@jaydee Wow! This was freeing!! I'm only following 35 people now. I never could figure out why Twitter was important unless you were interested in following the Kardashians or something like that. What is Pocket?
"If it isn't working the way you're doing it, do it a different way."