ROCKS DIGITAL  BLOG

Tanya Smith

How to Avoid the Social Networking Time Suck

 

Social Media Networking Time Management
Image Credit – niroworld/shutterstock.com

Social networking has become one of the most important ways to complement business communication, but it’s also one of the biggest sources of distraction and time suck for otherwise productive entrepreneurs.

Tips for Managing Your Time on Social Networking

Learning to manage your own social networking time will help you leverage all the great benefits while avoiding the unwanted side effects of lost time and productivity.

Here are just a few tips to get you going …

Set Clear Social Networking Goals

Before committing to participation on another social network, make sure you have a very clear idea of what you want to accomplish. How does your time spent on that network contribute back to your business, marketing, and sales goals?

Think about it – if you were going on a trip by car, you’d need to have some idea of a destination, where to start, and what roads you’re going to take to get there. This kind of planning is even more important on social media because it’s just too easy to get distracted.

It’s important to know what you want to get out of your networking efforts. Whether it’s the ever-changing political climate that gets you all fired up or a funny meme of a cat saying something hilarious, we’ve all been distracted online.

Take time to identify your goals over the long term (expand your reach, get more loyalty from your audience, etc.) and what you intend to do on a short term, daily basis (respond to comments, post a new video). Whether you use paper and pen, mind mapping software, or voice memos to yourself to plan this out, record your ideas somewhere so you have a rock solid plan for what you hope to do.

I like using Trello to help organize themes and expected outcomes for each network where I spend time.

Trello Image

 

Limit the Networks You’re Involved In

Too many business owners try to be everywhere at once. This is a recipe for burnout and it isn’t likely to grow your business because you won’t have time to work on your actual business. It’s important to select only a handful of key social networks and if you’re just getting started, simply begin with one network and expand from there.

Of course, finding out what works best for your business will take some experimentation. Just don’t rush to do everything at once because you need to dedicate the appropriate time and effort to seeing what produces the most benefit. Your time is money, and it’s important to focus more on those activities that directly generate income wherever you can, which brings me to the next tip.

Prioritize Other Tasks First Before Social Networking

On a daily basis, work on your core business tasks first and then try saving social networking for the latter part of the day. That way, you can ensure everything that needs to get done gets taken care of. Carving out time at the end of your day will allow you a chance to do more exploration, and you can use that time to find new people to follow, interesting articles to share and more.

Speaking of prioritizing, decide how much time you are going to spend and what you’re going to do once you log into your social networking accounts. And always remember, when you log in … serve your fans first – reply to comments, likes and shares.

Define Your Notification Strategy

There’s nothing more detrimental to productivity than being interrupted all day long with emails telling you about new retweets, likes and comments. You can limit these interruptions in a few ways:

  • Turn notifications off completely. Rarely is there a social media emergency, and if you’re already checking in regularly, you don’t really need to get an email notification for everything.
  • Some networks, like Pinterest, allow you to get a daily digest of notifications instead of receiving an individual notification of each update.
  • Don’t send the notifications to your main email address. Choose an address you check less frequently, so you aren’t constantly distracted by the new updates. OR, try creating a filter that sends all your social media notifications to a single folder you can check at once.
Notification Image

Get Help with Your Social Networking

There’s no reason you have to do all your social networking by yourself. Even if you’re a solo entrepreneur, you can hire a team or have an assistant alongside to help you. If you do bring in help, there are several common tasks they might assist with.

  • Posting updates
  • Scheduling updates you’ve prewritten
  • Creating and collecting images and other useful content you’d like to share

Building a team that represents your brand pulls a lot of pressure away from you and allows you to focus more on strategy and business building.

Don’t let social networking overwhelm or consume you, or become a time suck. As long as you define your goals, create space in your calendar, and incorporate systems that work for you, social networking can be a huge advantage for your business!

How do you manage the time you spend on social networking? Share with us in the comments below!

Tanya Smith

Tanya Smith is among the top rising professionals in social media marketing. A creative content strategist, Tanya coaches service providers to leverage snack-size content for maximum visibility.

More Posts

Download Our SEO Guide

Created in a joint partnership with Advice Local, this guide — What You Need to Know About SEO — provides an introduction to SEO concepts, strategies and best practices for optimizing a website. Complete the form below and get instant access.

    ROCKING DIGITAL SERVICES

    Web Design & Development

    Your website needs to be aesthetically pleasing and functional. We build websites for desktop and mobile that are both.

    LOCAL SEARCH & SEO

    Your website needs to attract search engines and consumers. We are experts in local search and SEO, and can make that happen.

    CONTENT CREATION & MARKETING

    Anybody can write words on a page, but can they write content that integrates SEO best practices and converts? We can.

    PPC & Paid Search

    PPC & Paid Search

    Need more customers? We create paid campaigns to reach your target audience and increase sales.

    Tracking & Optimization

    You need a solid foundation for success online, and our tracking & optimization services get it done.

    Graphic Design Services

    Graphic Design Services

    From logo design to your business card, brochures – and everything in-between for print & web – we can help!

    Here’s What Our Client's Have to Say

    Their Local Business Websites Rock

    ★★★★★
    Rocks Digital knows how to build local business websites that convert prospects to customers. Not only do I recommend them to work on my reputation management client’s websites, but they work on the Reputation Sensei brand, too.
    - Chris Snellgrove

    They Customize Their Solutions

    ★★★★★
    Rocks Digital customizes to meet their client’s needs. We needed our existing website optimized for search. We are now placing for more industry keywords and continue to improve. They consult with our in-house team on content optimization, manage our GMB listing & more.
    - Greta Valenti

    Highly Recommend

    ★★★★★
    Rocks Digital manages not only the Association of Directory Publishers website, but our Trusted Local Directory. From helping us get our event information on the website to producing guides, blogs and new content, they have what it takes.
    - Cindi Aldrich

    Rocks Digital Is the Best Choice

    ★★★★★
    As a long-term client, when it was time to change the primary focus of my real estate business, and my website, I knew Rocks Digital was the way to go. They took my existing website, gave it a complete new look, and still managed to keep my existing content.
    - David Dorum

    Brought My Ideas to Fruition

    ★★★★★
    Rocks Digital came highly recommended. Once I started working with them I knew why. They took my ideas for a beautiful website and brought them to the screen. From the design phase to content creation, each component was thoughtfully considered and addressed.
    - Clay Adams

    Conversions Are on the Rise

    ★★★★★
    Rocks Digital manages two of my websites. They produce our blogs, our service pages and manage our paid search campaigns. Conversions are up and new patients are coming in the door. I highly recommend their digital marketing services.
    - Dr. Thomas Chacko

    Agency Services Are Top Notch

    ★★★★★
    We shifted to Rocks Digital agency services earlier in the year. We are so glad we did. Our website sessions are up, page views are up, and bounce rate is down. Now we can easily see how many form fills we have had at any given time through their real-time reporting.
    - Kristin Schafer

    Their Local Business Websites Rock

    ★★★★★
    Rocks Digital knows how to build local business websites that convert prospects to customers. Not only do I recommend them to work on my reputation management client’s websites, but they work on the Reputation Sensei brand, too.
    - Chris Snellgrove

    They Customize Their Solutions

    ★★★★★
    Rocks Digital customizes to meet their client’s needs. We needed our existing website optimized for search. We are now placing for more industry keywords and continue to improve. They consult with our in-house team on content optimization, manage our GMB listing & more.
    - Greta Valenti

    Highly Recommend

    ★★★★★
    Rocks Digital manages not only the Association of Directory Publishers website, but our Trusted Local Directory. From helping us get our event information on the website to producing guides, blogs and new content, they have what it takes.
    - Cindi Aldrich
    Name
    Email
    Review Title
    Rating
    Review Content

    LATEST BLOG POSTS

    Local SEO company strategies.

    What Does a Local SEO Company Do?

    Local SEO is a digital marketing strategy focused on boosting a business’ local search visibility within a particular area. With the successful implementation of proven

    Hire a digital marketing agency.

    Why Hire a Digital Marketing Agency

    Staying ahead of search engine updates and marketing trends is a constant challenge, so it’s no surprise that businesses frequently turn to digital marketing agencies.

    LOCAL VISIBILITY REPORT

    Is your Google My Business listing helping or hurting you? Is bad data causing consumers and search engines to lose trust in your business? This is information you simply must know.

    To get these answers right now, just enter your business name below to run our FREE
    visibility report.


    Need a facelift
    for your website? More search traffic? Need to blog, but don’t have time?

    Our Digital Services Could Be For You
    Get a Free Local Visibility Report Now