I get asked all the time, “What is your schedule for checking in with social media?” I guess if enough of you are interested, it’s worth me writing about.
My typical day looks something like this:
1. Wake up and pummel brain into activity with reading light fiction (works better for me than coffee)
2. Read blogs in Google Reader and check Twitter (if I have time)
3. Write blog post for the day (and maybe tomorrow if the next day looks particularly crowded). I check my @1to1Discovery mentions at this time and respond if needed. Some days, this is my only Twitter check-in.
4. Head off to a meeting (client or one to one)
5. Eat lunch (preferably at home) and catch up on Twitter or blogs
6. Race off to afternoon meetings.
7. Exercise after meetings and before any evening networking events
8. If there’s no evening event, touch social media again, this time mostly fun stuff. It’s important to catch up on the latest Doctor Who news and fanfiction.
I do try to get to meetings early and check Twitter on my iPhone. In 15 minutes, I can catch up on the important stuff.
Since social media is part of what I do for a living, I probably spend more time on it than many. And even I’m not on it all day.
By the way, you’ll notice I didn’t mention Facebook. I do check Facebook, but it comes in through Tweetdeck with my Twitter stream, so I don’t always think of them as separate.
I do try to space out my social media activity, but if you follow me on Twitter, you’ve probably noticed I tend to tweet in bursts. That’s because I’m on in bursts. I’ve started to use Hootsuite to schedule some of my tweets, especially ones that aren’t time sensitive. But I never delay retweets. Those go out as I see ‘em.
One thing that helps me from spending too much time is to check social media between other appointments. If I know I have only 15 minutes, I’m a lot more efficient than if I have two hours in front of me.
I hope this was helpful. Social media is an effective way to grow your business. And you can engage in the media without it becoming a second life.
Anyone else have good tips to share?
Tags: blogging, iPhone, social media, task management, time management
Great post Juli,
I use hootsuite to help with some of my social media scheduling as well. There is also a new player on the block, Converse by Socialize Your Cause. http://bit.ly/smconverse
It allows me to schedule out posts, just like hootsuite, but it offers a lot more services than hootsuite and the ability to schedule out emails.
I use both on a daily basis and it helps me get a handle on my social media activities! =)
-David
David, I hadn’t heard about Converse. I will definitely check them out. Thanks for your comment!
No problem!
It is a life saver when it comes to scheduling out social media campaigns!