Keeping Up With Social Media

Well, I just had to write this one as I've clearly fallen behind keeping up my once a week blog here. I commented to my colleague today that "gee I wish someone would come up with an idea for a company where they keep all your social media updated for you in a very clever way" (uh, that's what my company does... apparently I need to hire us to keep my own social media tools current!).

But seriously, that's why I started my company because so many people told me the same thing. We want to do this stuff, but we don't have time! Well, apparently neither do I :).

So all that to say I thought I'd write some tips on how to better work the social media tools you've decided to engage into your already busy life.

1) Selectively choose which tools you'll use. Research them, decide which best meets your goals and limit yourself to 3 tops to try to regularly stay on top of. Much better to do 1, 2 or 3 really well, than a bunch terribly.
2) Allot short amounts of time toward engaging these tools. Writing a blog post shouldn't take more than an hour a week tops (about half that if you already have an idea) and schedule Twitter and Facebook time for 10-15 minutes twice a day (morning and evening). When you're time's up, move on to something else. Don't get sucked in!
3) Make social media items high priority tasks in your to do list. What tends to happen to most people is that social media isn't screaming at you like everything else. The world won't end if you don't write your blog or tweet, but guaranteed your marketing will suffer over time. Consistency is key in social media.
4) If they have to get dropped, let that happen end of week. I just read a study where Sunday-Tuesday are the most impactful days on Facebook, at least. I'm guessing that holds true for other outlets, as well.
5) Don't get overwhelmed. Some people look at their weekly blog post as a monster hanging over them, as they don't know what to write about. Don't force it. Write what comes naturally. Note ideas in a notebook or on Evernote as you come across them in your daily work. If you're stuck, move on and come back later.

I hope these tips help you make social media a happy part of your life and not one more to do that you're dreading. And if you just can't get it to work, well, call my company and we'll help you out. :)

About Lyn Mettler
Lyn is the mother of two young boys, a social media nerd and the president of Step Ahead Inc., a company which combines the best of traditional public relations with social media campaigns to maximize visibility for clients both online and off. She is the social media featured blogger for TwitterMoms.com and also blogs regularly on her company Web site. Follow her on Twitter at @webprgirl.