Are you conscientious the amount of time that you use for social networking? Everywhere I go I hear about how social networking is great, but it is too time consuming. Well, the great thing is that there are a number of ways to combat the time drain of social networking.
5 Ways To Be Conscientious Of Your Social Networking Time
- Monitor your time. If you do not know how much time you have spent on social networking then you probably got off topic. Most days I am in and out of the majority of my social networks within 20 minutes. The bulk of my time in social networking today is spent here on my blog, because my posts go everywhere and writing quality content takes time.
- Automate when possible. Automation has become a point of debate lately. There are a number of people who say that you should not automate, because then you lose the authentic connection with your network. I spend about an hour or two on my blog every day. This post will then automatically go out to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and about 30 other social networks and blogs. The fact is that it is authentic when you spend your time creating something of value for your network. That goes for for facts and news updates about your industry as well as blog posts. Spend your time communicating with your current network, not creating motion. So what if you do not manually follow every person on Twitter? The world will never know, as you create amazing ideas to help your network.
- Figure out what is the most important place for you to be today in social networking. If you have no clue what is important then you will end up going everywhere and wasting your time. Henceforth you would not be very conscientious of your time in this case.
- Have a plan Stan! Thought I would rhyme, so you would understand how to use your time! Oh Yeah! Being conscientious of your time is about devising a plan that will help you get the most out of your social networking in the shortest time possible. Take a few minutes, or better yet a few days if necessary before you start devising a plan. Then do something amazing with that plan: stick to it.
- Outsource some of the work to others. My job as a social networking schmoozer is to release the all-intensive pain of having to use social networking everyday. My team and I do the work for you, so you can do what you do best! Feel free to schedule a free 30 minute consultation about how to best use your social networking for your business. You can do this either by booking an appointment in the box next to this post or by going to www.fieldtrax.smartatthestart.com.
Let us know how we can help we you become more conscientious of your time using social networking?
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Hey Andy,
Thanks for sharing these great tips to help us manage our time better on the Social Networks.
If you don’t monitor your time, you absolutely can fritter away hours of your productive time during the day and not realize where the time went and wonder how you spent an entire day and got nothing on your ‘To Do” list accomplished.
Social Media is an awesome tool to build your brand and to cultivate relationships if you use your time wisely.
So, just like any other task or goal, you must have a plan, take DAILY action and stick to your plan.
To your continued Schmoozing,
Marc
Marc,
Thanks! Believe me I have had those days where I finish my social networking an d say what happened to the last 4 hours. A plan is definitely necessary.
Andy
Andy, I am definitely in the camp that votes AGAINST automation; however, that being said, I have no problem automatically sending one’s original content [e.g. your blog] out to many different audiences.
I send my posts to many of my LinkedIn groups. That, however, is “semi” automatic as I have to list each one.
Shari,
Everyone develops their own style. I just feel that automating my own content out to different sites is a more effective use of my time. That is the challenge with LinkedIn. When you are a member of a number of different groups you have to post to each individually.
Andy
Hello Andy
Great information. I am guilty of getting off track and spending more time than necessary. I agree with what you write about automation and spending more time on contacts and content. After reading your article I can remember have a Plan Stan.
Thanks
Perry A Davis Jr
Music City
Perry,
It is so important to stay on track with social networking. Glad you can enjoy have a Plan Stan!
Andy
Hi Andy – You’ve summed up the tips to make social media usage more manageable beautifully! Having a plan – and checklists! really works for me – things go fast when you look them up on the checklist – do them – then check them off! It’s a great way to maintain focus 🙂
Great job!
Lori
Lori,
That is what it is about focus! Focusing long enough on an issue that you can make something positive happen!
Thanks!
Andy
A couple of great tips to manage time. All of them play a degree in time management something I need to work on in general. I can see how some people frown upon automation in regards to social media, but blasting out a blog post to that many networks would take a ton of time so it makes sense. So if automation makes them feel funny they can look at as syndication because thats really what it is.
With that many networks you blast on your post to, you must see some substantial traffic.
CJ,
That is a good point with the syndication versus automation point!
Andy