Every small business owner I talk to asks the same question.  “Where do you find the time for all this?”  My answer:  if you schedule the time, you’ll find the time.  Easy for me to say, right? I do this for a living.  Well, actually, I do several things for a living.   Not only do I have my consulting practice, but I work part-time for a large network of Hospitals as their Ecommerce Coordinator and I am a food writer and editor on my blog Jersey Bites. Oh, and I also own a network of Nanny related websites.  And, most important job of all, I’m a Mom.  So, I do know a thing or two about time issues and there are days when my own presence on Twitter and Facebook is barely a “Hi Everyone.”   But, social media is now part of my daily life, so it isn’t long before I am back at it.  Give your social media campaign the time it needs to grow in the beginning and you will find that your social media engagement will also become a part of your every day life and will actually demand less time down the road.

Before we get started with Time Management tips, I want to discuss strategy.  You do have a social media strategy right?  You have your goals outlined and the appropriate platforms chosen based on where your customers or clients collect, correct?  And, you have determined the value you and your company can provide through knowledge and content?  (are those crickets chirping?)  If a strategy is something your business has yet to consider, please check out Jason Falls great article on Social Media Explorer. Strategy is important.  The days of dabbling are over.

So, assuming your strategy is in place, its time to start making the time.  It’s not finding the time, it’s making the time.  There’s a difference.  The beauty about Social Media is you don’t have to be sitting at your desk or in your office to do it.  Forgo the latest American Idol episode or book before bed and dedicate an hour to building your contacts on whatever platform you are using.  If you’re not a night person, attack your social media “To Do” list with your morning coffee or at lunch hour. Kyle Lacy, author of Twitter Marketing for Dummies,  recommends setting up Social Media meetings by using whatever calendar tool you prefer and actually blocking out time each day for Social Media interaction.   I think this is great advice.  It takes discipline and you might feel a little silly at first calendaring Twitter time.  But, if it will get you focused, do it.

There are tools to help you manage your time while still keeping it real.  For Twitter my favorite tool is Hootsuite.  There are others.  Many enjoy Tweetdeck.  With these tools, you can schedule your tweets over the course of the day.  I like this because you won’t be clogging up your followers’ timelines with one message after the other.  You can also import your Facebook updates from your Facebook page.   Another way to streamline the time you spend on Twitter is to organize your followers into categories using the List feature.  This way you can be sure to place important people into a “don’t miss” category and be sure to check the updates there on a daily basis.  This will help keep you engaged with those prospects, clients, advocates that make your efforts on Twitter valuable.

There are tools to aggregate all of your social media messages like FriendFeed.  I personally just bookmark all of my accounts into the toolbar at the top of my browser and visit each periodically throughout the day.  An RSS reader can be a very handy tool for aggregating all of the industry related news, blogs, podcasts etc. you should be following.  RSS Readers are a great way to collect valuable content in one easy to manage location.

I like Mike Haydon’s tip on using an external timer to stay focused and increase productivity.  I haven’t tried it yet, but it might be an experiment worth exploring.  Here is a link to the full article. http://www.mikehaydon.com/helpful-hints/productivity-tip-set-a-timer/

In the end, the busy business owner may decide that their time is better spent elsewhere.  There are marketing companies setting up social media departments and then there are a lot of recent grads out there looking for work.   Business owners do have other options.  The problem comes when the busy business owner knows so little about social media and how it is done effectively, that they have no idea whether the marketing company or the recent grad is doing a good or bad job.  (I think I’ve just stumbled on a another article to write.)  Bottom line, the business owner who is looking to hire an outside or inside social media professional, should get themselves educated enough in social media to be able to spot quality and quacks.  There are also trainers and coaches out there like me, who can help get your employees up to speed or assess a company you are looking to hire.

I’m sure there are some handy time saving tips you’ve come across that I’ve missed.  Have you found one tool that really keeps you organized?  We’d all love to hear about it.

For more tips on social media time management check out Kyle Lacy’s article : 5 Tips to Being Productive in Social Media.

Invariably, when I start working with a new client or when I am giving a presentation for a group of social media newbies, I get asked this question: “How do I automate all this?”  My answer to this is, you don’t.  I can show you tools that will let you automate your updates and posts, but you’re missing the point of social media. There’s something missing here and that is engagement.  Social Media is not traditional advertising.  Pumping out your self-serving message over multiple platforms is not going to do anything for your company and may even damage your reputation with potential clients.

I have been accused of being a Social Media purist.  So be it.  I know what works and what doesn’t.  Social Media is about developing relationships that will grow into good referral sources and brand loyalty.  It takes patience and a human touch.

So, okay, I understand there’s a lot of work involved and automating things will help with the time issues, but if you get zero results, why bother?   There are tools out there to help you manage your time while still keeping it real.  Check back later this week, for my Social Media Time Management suggestions.

On November 6th,  AllFacebook.com reported that according to Facebook’s advertising statistics, the social media super giant just reached its 325 million subscriber mark.   In a follow up article on Mashable by Ben Parr the author does a little math that is equally impressive.  “From September 15th to November 6th, Facebook grew by 25 million users. That’s 53 days, if we include the start and end days. Divide that by 25 million you get a daily growth rate of 471,698 users per day for Facebook. That’s a small city joining Facebook every single day.”

A small city every day.  I thought that deserved repeating.  So, lets stop the debate about whether Facebook will stick around, or whether or not it will benefit your business.  The question should now be, how do I harness this incredibly powerful tool?  And yes, I will admit there are some businesses that are not the right fit for Facebook Pages.  And if you have a specific question about your business please contact me.  I’d be happy to give you some guidance.

I just recently launched a Facebook Page for my consulting business.  This was a mind shift for me, I’ll admit it.  Up until a few weeks ago,  I wasn’t sure how I would use a Fan page to support my business.  The purpose is now crystal clear.  My page will serve as a hub for sharing information and answering questions about Social Media Marketing.  What could the purpose be for your business besides a blatant advertisement?  Remember, it is about providing value.

In just one week the page has attracted 91 fans.  These fans consist of clients, former workshop attendees, friends, and a lot of new faces who must have caught an update in their friend’s timeline and followed to join.  Perfect.  That’s exactly how it should work.

Fan pages have some new features that are very helpful for Admins.  One is the ability to target your updates to fans by geographic area, age, and sex.  Another incredibly useful tool is the Page Insights.  In Facebook’s own words:

“Facebook allows you to engage with your fans in more ways than ever before – and Insights now allows you to dive into the context of those interactions with deep analytics. We now show you how users are interacting with your page, broken down by Wall posts, likes and comments. Your Post Quality shows you how engaging your posts are to your fans, and your star rating compares your Post Quality to other pages of similar size. Your Fans Over Time graph now lets you track when users decide to unsubscribe from your posts in their News Feed. And we now provide statistics on where your fan base is located and which languages they speak. If you would like to export your reports, please click “Switch to the Old Insights” in the menu and follow the Export link. Check back frequently, as we will be adding new metrics in the coming weeks and months!”

So, could your business use a Facebook Fan Page?  It’s time to get creative and put your thinking cap on.  I’m posting here some links to some fan pages that are getting it right to give you some examples and food for thought.  I am purposely not showing you the big brand pages developed by the big brand marketing departments.  Here are some small businesses and charities who are working it, without the big budgets.  They may not have thousands of fans (except for the first three) but their fans are interacting and the Admins are keeping things fresh and varied with photos, videos, events, and questions and their getting comments from their fans.  As I work to develop my Fan Page (psst, see the Facebook badge to your right?  Click on it and become of Fan)  I will be putting together a series of articles on Fan Page development, so be sure to subscribe to the blog either through email or RSS feed.

As always, if you have questions, I’d love to hear from you.  Either post them here as a comment below or on the Fan Page.   And if you have a Fan Page that is working for your business, please leave a link below.  We’d all benefit from more examples.

Surf Taco

St. Jude’s Children Hospital

Blog Squad

Highland Park Public Library – Teens

A Food Coma

Jersey Bites

Stuck on You

Jersey Shore Restaurant Week

I received a direct message through Twitter yesterday from one of my clients who wanted to know how I had acquired over 2000 followers on Twitter. My answer is coming in the form of this post since 140 characters would never be enough to list the many, many ways I have gone about growing my Twitter following over the past year.

The first point I need to stress is that I do not believe in using any automated tools for finding people to follow. We all need to stop looking for the highest number of followers and concentrate more on the quality and responsiveness of our Twitter communities. I could probably have collected 10,000 or more followers over the past year but if they don’t share my interests and don’t pay attention to my tweets, what good are they? My goal is to find people with my interests who will respond to my tweets and care about what I have to say.

Since my blog JerseyBites.com is a Jersey centric publication, I narrowed my search for friends to New Jersey. In the beginning, I used tools like Twellow and Nearby Tweets to find people to follow. You can also search for new people to follow by interest category. At the same time I was searching for people to follow, I was also tweeting. An active timeline is imperative to building your following; as is, a completed profile which includes your One Line Bio and (if you have one) a link to your website, blog or LinkedIn page. If you want people to follow you back, give them some information about yourself. And, unlock your posts. If you are looking to gain followers, a locked timeline is a huge deterrent. If you only want to keep your Twitter account for friends and family, that’s one thing, but if you want to make new connections and network, unlock those updates.

Be an informative and entertaining member of the community. You do not have to keep up with every single post from every one of you followers, but you should be popping on throughout the day and responding to whoever is in your timeline at that particular moment. Let your followers know you read their posts. Retweet something that you think is particularly valuable. RT’s are huge friend makers on Twitter. Use a contact management system like Tweetdeck to organize your followers so you don’t miss important tweets from your most responsive followers. Offer valuable information to your followers. I not only post information about recipes and restaurants, I also post links to articles on how to use Twitter. Everyone on Twitter is trying to make the most of it and interested in learning how. If you find helpful information, pass it on. Use a tool like Hootsuite to track the click thrus. This is a great tool to gauge the interests of your followers. If you post a link to an article and it gets 30 click thrus, you know you’ve got followers who like that kind of information so keep them coming.

Follow influential people in your industry and reply to their tweets with informed opinions or questions. Look at their followers and follow those who seem to be active and good potential contacts. Don’t be afraid to reach out to someone on Twitter that you would like to connect with. They are on Twitter to network. If you do not get a response, try again at a later date. I’ve had some great communications with some very high powered people whom I would never have had the opportunity to communicate with otherwise.

When it comes to gaining new followers, I am a big fan of Follow Friday. I pick up about 25 or more new followers every Friday through recommendations from my followers. This is because I have followers who feel I am a valuable community member and they feel confident in recommending me. Participate in Follow Fridays. Offer your followers as recommendations. More often than not, you will get a recommendation in return. Always thank those who recommend you with a return follow suggestion. Once you have a fairly large following and Follow Fridays become more difficult, use my favorite tool at The Twitter Tag Project.

With all of the spam floating around on Twitter today, you can’t sit back and wait for good followers to find you. Many of the followers who find you will not be quality contacts. They are generated by automated tools and you’ll find that the users are trying to either hammer a sale or collect followers. Do not feel the need to follow back. Reserve your timeline for “real” people. And remember to take your Twitter account offline. Put your Twitter handle in your email signature, on your business cards, in your newsletter and on your blog or website. I recommended to a client the other day to hang a sign in her store “Follow Us on Twitter.” Why not? You’ll see a huge sign at Blueclaws stadium directing fans to do the same thing. Think outside the box a bit, and I’m sure you will find other ways to attract quality followers who have a genuine interest in you and your services.

What are your tips for finding and keeping valuable followers? I’d love your input to help make this a truly valuable resource for everyone.

Let’s face it. The majority of Twitter users are not 18-24 year olds anymore. We’re older, we’re professionals. The age group that holds the majority according to Hitwise last year is between 35 and 44 years old. I am happy to say I still fall within that category, barely. Hitwise goes on to surmise that 12.3% of us may even drive a Prius. If we’re no longer teenagers and we’re smart enough to buy smart cars (well some of us), why is it still so darn hard for us to have a simple conversation? My theory is that some people just flat out don’t understand social dynamics. It’s the same person you get stuck talking to (or not talking to) at a cocktail party until you can find an excuse to slip away.

1. The Conversation Hog : Don’t clog up your followers stream of updates with 10 back to back updates of your own. Always remember the little guy. You know, the guy with a handful of people he’s following. You’re taking up his whole timeline. That’s a sure way to lose a new follower who may grow to become one of your biggest fans. It ticks off the rest of the Twitter universe too. If you are having a back and forth discussion with a fellow tweet then get a room. I mean DM them. If you’ve just got a lot of things you want to tweet about, use a tool like Tweet later or Hootsuite to schedule your tweets for different times during the day.

2. The Compulsive Quoter: If ALL your tweets are quotes from famous and not so famous people, you obviously have no original thoughts of your own. I don’t need inspirational anecdotes from Maya Angelou and Abraham Lincoln. What are YOU thinking, doing, reading, changing, questioning, today? “ How will future generations learn of the great thinkers and orators of today when we are compelled to rely on the words of others?” Deborah Smith. And, you can quote me if you feel the need.

3. The Suck up: Yes, it’s great to recommend people to follow from time to time. But, if ALL you do or most of what you do is promote other people in your tweets, how will I ever get to know you? And, recommends get pretty watered down and meaningless when all you do is arbitrarily spit them out. Eventually, your tweets go completely ignored or the follower will unfollow out of irritation.

4. The Self Talker: If all you do is post links and never engage with your followers, you are on a one way street to lonely ville. It may work for Guy Kawasaki and his ghost writers, but it is not going to work for the average joe. Even if you are offering up some really great links and information, you lack personality. There is no one behind the avatar. Followers like to feel they matter and that they can interject with the chance of a response. Pushing your tweets down the one way pipeline gets old fast.

5. The Anal Tweeter: They’re the one’s who take the question “What are you doing?” way too seriously. “just took dog for a walk” “doing laundry” “going out to dinner.” Ahhhh, who cares? If you are going to tweet about mundane everyday chores, make them interesting and entertaining. “About to climb Mount Laundry, if I’m not back by dusk alert the authorities.” This type of tw
eet puts a new spin on a very mundane topic and gets replies.

6. The Perpetual Salesman: If every tweet is a buy my product, read my blog, take a look at this affiliate’s product, you are committing the cardinal sin of social media and you will be unfollowed. Social Media is all about giving before getting. Offer advice, ask questions, participate in the conversations of others. Establish yourself as an expert and your product will sell itself.

7. The Insincere “Thank You for Following” Dude. Don’t you just love those automated thank you emails, especially the ones that contain links like “check out my blog” “please look at my website” or “I found you with this product, click here?” Haven’t you read any of the feedback on the automated emails, Dude? People hate them. Where have you been? I don’t expect a message from every person I follow and I’m sure my followers don’t expect one from me. On occasion, if I have something sincere to say, I will send a personal “Thank You for following” message.

And lastly, my bonus tip to guarantee that you won’t get followed in the first place. Leave you bio blank and don’t include any links to your blog or website. Keep potential followers completely in the dark about who you are and what you do. It’s proven very successful in keeping followers at bay.