We hear all the time that Twitter is a powerful tool. I have to admit that I've gone back and forth on how I feel about this. There have been times where I've used twitter religiously, and times where I said "whatever" and ignored it. It's been a long, hard, road for me. Along the way I've learned some approaches that don't work, and quite a few things that do work! Here's my advice:
1. Don't feel like you have to read every tweet that every person you follow sends out.
While in an idea world you might see everything, the reality is that we are all balancing a variety of important things, and if you have a lot people you follow, seeing every tweet just isn't manageable. So what do you do? Well...
2. If you have unlimited texts - subscribe to mobile texts if you want to see every tweet a person sends out. Just remember that you will be overwhelmed if you do this for more than a few people! Another option is...
3. Make a list of your top 20 people. These are the people that you want to check in on every day! When you log into twitter, use that list to dictate what you read first.
4. Use those lists for other things! Honestly, I don't utilize the power of lists the way I should, but I can see the potential! Feel free to use these lists to organize the people you follow however you want :)
5. Tweet and Retweet other people's work! This is the big one that I do. I may not be on twitter all the time, but when I am on there I try to retweet at least one person's tweet that I like. Ideally - two or three. This has lead to some great conversations and new friends! Also - when I see an item I really like, from a team mate or in a treasury, or just from browsing - I take a minute or so to tweet it! If you have that persons twitter address than include them in the tweet by doing "@their name." If not - send them a short message with a link to the tweet!
There is a lot more that I could say about twitter - but I don't want this to get too long. So I'll just add one more thing. Do you know about hashtags? That's when you end your tweet with things like: #etsy, #artfire, and many, many more! These help people to find your tweets and can be really important. Trends occur when lots of people are using and searching these tags, and I'm trying to start a new trend!
I'm using the hashtag #ArtistsTogether whenever I promote other artists. Why? It comes back to the whole concept of Social Networking Karma. Independent Artists find the best success when they work together. Hence - #ArtistsTogether! I have to admit one of my friends helped me come up with the tag and I can't for the life of me remember which one >_>
My challenge to you is to promote other artists, as well as yourself, on your twitter! I'd love it if you'd join with me and use the #ArtistsTogether tag as well - thanks guys!
One last thing - leave your twitter account in the comments! Mine is: www.twitter.com/rosewksjewelry
