Real Estate, Marketing, Software

So you’ve got a double personality.  It’s alright; you’re not the only one.  I do too!

I’m not talking crazy talk – a lot of us do have multiple online presences.  For instance, I have my Myspace …which, admittedly is now stale and probably still says: “Tanis is excited for a resort getaway”…that was in 2008. I have my Facebook account that is mainly for keeping up with my friends and family, my personal website, and I have multiple Twitter accounts, one for work purposes, and one to network with those in my music related hobbies outside of work.  And, on top of it, I have multiple accounts & websites that I maintain for others.

I’ve said this before, but I’m somewhat of a technology stalwart.  Really!  I still own, and even use a VCR!  Truthfully, it’s taken me a while to embrace the whole ‘online’ thing.  I’m not saying that I am opposed to technology.  After all, I do happen to work for a technology company – it is kind of a prerequisite.

However, if I am going to be online, I like to keep things simple.   The less time it takes to complete a task the better!   If you are like me and enjoy minimizing some of the confusion and time it takes logging in to multiple sites, you might enjoy some of these neat tools.  Here’s a peek at my top 3 apps:

Hootsuite

If you haven’t heard of Hootsuite, I’ll begin by saying that it’s one of the ultimate time savers.  Hootsuite allows you to amalgamate multiple social networks including Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn all through one location. 

Some of the sweetest features?  The ability to save draft messages that you use often.  I have a habit of often typing out the same thing over and over, so this helps me out a lot.  And even cooler, you can even schedule your tweets.  Do your clients follow you on Twitter?  Pre-schedule a tweet and thank them for the service when they will be around to actually see it.   Pretty nifty, hey? 

And if you really want to know how your Social Media efforts fare – you can also track your link statistics within Hootsuite.  Just think of it like the analytics you have for your real estate website, but applied to all your social media accounts.

Tweetdeck

Tweetdeck is another one of those convenient one-stop-shops for managing your social profiles.  However, there is more to meets the eye with Tweetdeck.  If you’re anything like me, and lead a double life (the marketing coordinator and the music junkie), you will appreciate the ability to manage multiple accounts.  I can make tweets from any account I want (or even multiple accounts at the same time), update my Facebook, and yes, even my defunct Myspace page – all from one location.   Have a great listing photo?  Drag and drop your photos directly into Tweetdeck and post it to any or all of your accounts.  Have an iPhone or even a fancy new iPad?  You guessed it – there’s an app for that.

Netvibes

As the header on Netvibes site says when you first visit, you can think of this service as “your personal dashboard”.  Not content with merely offering you a means to manage all of your accounts, Netvibes lets you keep an eye on entire subjects you are interested in.  For example, let’s say you really love home decorating… you can create a personal dashboard to keep up with what is new and exciting in the field from all over the web.

Unlike Hootsuite and Tweetdeck, you can also customize the look and feel of your Netvibes dashboards and take advantage of their expansive widget bank should you want to add additional functionality – such as local information or weather.  Oh yeah, and the whole thing is drop n’ drop – so don’t worry about being overwhelmed – it is as simple as using your VCR

Those are just a few of my personal favorites.  There are plenty of great programs out there to help save you time and prevent social media burn out, depending on your unique needs.  

Have some favorites of your own?  Feel free to share them here – I’m sure I’m not the only one looking to save some time!  Especially now that it’s finally summer here in Saskatchewan…the less time on the computer and the more time outside, the better!

2 Responses to “Handy Tools to Help You Lead the Ultimate Double Life…Online, That Is”

1. Joe Park says:

   June 2, 2010 at 4:48 pm

   Would you tell me more about this?
2. Tanis says:

   June 3, 2010 at 3:22 pm

   Hi Joe,
   If you can provide specifics as to what you would like to know, I can do my best to get you additional information