Everyone talks about the benefits of social media. You can get Google juice. You can build your reputation. You can position yourself as an expert in your field. But the prospect of producing all that social media content can be daunting to many of us – especially if we already have busy business lives.
How do we get around to doing all that posting, tweeting and status-updating?
One smart solution is to create a social media schedule. This allows you to turn your social media activities into a habit. You slot the tasks into regular blocks in your business life. Here’s how you can do it.
How To Create a Social Media Schedule
First, plan your social media output around frequency. There are certain tasks you’ll do daily, others weekly, some monthly, and maybe a few each year. Daily It’s very important to respond to people in your online social networks. Before you think about putting stuff out there, be sure to acknowledge anyone who’s taken the time to communicate with you. So each day:
- Reply to comments on your blog – I have two blogs (52WeightLossMissions.com and GetOrganizedWizard.com), so I allow a little more time here
- Reply to comments on your Facebook page (here I’m talking about your professional page rather than your personal profile)
- Reply to tweets to your Twitter profile
- Thank people who have retweeted you
- Reply to comments on LinkedIn or other social media sites.
Once you’ve listened and responded to other people, you can think about what you want to say.
How prolific you are on social media sites depends on your network.
I tweet anytime I have something interesting to share because Twitter is about real-time communication. I share links, post observations, reply to other people, retweet interesting stuff, link to my own blogs – anything that might interest or amuse my followers can go into my stream. I post less often on Facebook because it’s less real-time and easier to overwhelm people. I vary the frequency, but typically post three times a week. Aim for a combination of links to your own blog posts, links to other sites that may interest your network, and general comments, ideas or observations. I’ve linked my LinkedIn account to Twitter, so my tweets automatically show up there. I’ve done this because Linked In has been a lower priority network for me so far. If you’re involved in HR, LinkedIn may be a higher priority for you. I allow about an hour each day to do these tasks. Some days I get away with less, other days it’s much more. Next time: How to Create a Social Media Schedule – Part 2
