I was talking with a business acquaintance yesterday about the power of Facebook and Twitter.
We were chatting about how the growing obsession with social media sites has the potential of stealing what little available time we have left.
The addiction to social media and the tremendous amount of information which is available for us to consume can be completely overwhelming if you let it!
If you’re planning on using social media for your business, you can go a long way in controlling this “time stealer” by setting up a clear strategy and process ahead of time.
Think about it …
If you spend a couple hours sitting down and clearly laying out your strategy and create a process of how you’ll spend your time with your social media site of choice, you can magically find an additional few hours you’re currently spending on these sites already.
If you aren’t spending a few hours on Facebook or Twitter or (insert social media site name here) each day, then CONGRATULATIONS!
That is unless you are just too embarrassed to admit it. 🙂
If you are serious about using social media to grow your business, AND YOU SHOULD BE, here are a few tools you can use to streamline your processes and gain back some of that precious time to reallocate to other revenue producing activities.
Facebook and Twitter Users
Do you find yourself treating these two sites like you have two girlfriends and you’re afraid to spend too much time with one while neglecting the other?
Hold on a minute, I’m not saying I advocate anything but monogamous relationships … except with social media. I believe if you’re only using one site you may be limiting your opportunities and no smart business person would want to do that.
If you’d like to tie these two sites together you can update you status on Facebook and “tweet” on Twitter from one central place. You can sign up for an account on Ping.fm. This site will also allow you to update many other social media sites and blogs, but I am only focusing on those of you who are struggling with balancing both Twitter and Facebook. I just began using this service and can tell you I’ve heard nothing but positive things.
This one tactic could help you buy back at least several minutes each day.
If you’re finding it difficult to find time each day to update your “tweets” on Twitter, you can visit a site named Tweet Later. This is an excellent site and, just like Ping.fm, you can sign up for a free account. This site allows you to schedule “tweets” in advance and also schedule recurring “tweets” so your post doesn’t get lost in all the Twitter noise.
If you are having a difficult time sifting through all the Twitter noise you can download yet another free application called Tweet Deck. This is a desktop application which organizes your “tweets” and allows you to update both Twitter and Facebook. You can also conduct searches for “tweets” that contain keywords which are relevant to your interests. This will help you identify fellow “tweeple” to follow, or look for possible opportunities.
For some of you this may seem like way too much to digest, but I can assure you it isn’t as complicated as it sounds. With a little patience you can be a social media rock star in no time flat, but whatever you do, don’t let social media steal you time! Use the incredible tools that are available to help you increase your efficiency and ultimately your revenue!
