From Sarah, With Joy

*Poet * Author * Wanderluster*

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

The 1 Social Media Tip a Writer Ever Needs. Also Rumpelstiltskin.

There is so much said everywhere about how to use social media. And by so much I mean SOOOOOOOOOO much. In terms of how to use it and what to use it for, the advice is endless and can't really be taken as more than opinion. Everyone has different personalities, goals, and strategies, and all that comes in to play when using social media. It's point is to be personal, and while taking other peoples tips and ideas can definitely help, it really comes down to what you want.

How to manage social media, however, is a different can of worms.

Whatever you do, however you do it, social media can get complicated. There's so much out there, so many possibilities it easily becomes overwhelming. I mean, sure we all want to take advantage of as many social media opportunities as possible, and sure we may have some creative ideas, but how do we put it all in to play without going crazy and putting the rest of our life in jeopardy?

The answer is extremely and ridiculously simple. And believe it or not, it can truly be boiled down to five minutes a day.

Make a spreadsheet. Along the top, list all your social media accounts. Get the big ones in there first, like Twitter, Facebook and Google+. Then down the side list the days of the week. On mine I've included a "Daily" section for things I want to do every day. Then you schedule out your social media strategy for each site, each day. For sites like Twitter, where daily posting is appropriate, I've listed a sort of category or topic for each daily Tweet. I have planned what days I'm going to post on Facebook and Google+, and what type of thing I'm going to post.

My list of things is pretty broad: stuff like music videos, funny videos, cool pictures, quotes, links to other cool blogs, stuff like that. It cuts down on sitting-trying-to-think-of-something-to-post time, and scheduling helps so it actually gets done. And even with as many sites as I use, when you break it down it comes to a couple comments, a link and a quote or something like that everyday, spread across a few sites, and that, my friends, can be done in only five minutes.

(Blogging is slightly different. Obviously it does take more than five minutes a day, and even more time commenting and reading other blogs is good too. This other stuff is a way supplementing your blog, really, though keeping track of what you want to do blog wise on the chart is a good idea too.)

Hope that all makes sense. On a completely different but equally important note, is anyone else watching Once Upon a Time? Freak, guys. I have a damaged-man complex or something. I kind of flipped out a little bit. Tell me it broke your hearts too. He's going to save Belle and she's going to save him right back and it will be beautiful, and this show has finally paid off. Mr. Gold has officially been added to my Snape, Ben Linus, Mr. Rochester, Men who shouldn't have a love interest and do and I love them list. *Sigh*. It's a beautiful, beautiful thing. Anyone else as crazy as I am?

Sarah Allen

10 comments:

  1. As wonderful as social media is, it can very easily become overwhelming! Definitely some good advice here on how to manage it all! Thank you!
    the-creationofbeauty.blogspot.com

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  2. Thanks for this! I tend to slack off on the PR side of things and really need to kick my butt into gear. Hopefully, this will inspired me!

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  3. I watched it, I watched it! I love how this show always manages to throw me when it adds a twist to those classic fairy tales.

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  4. Sounds like you've got a great strategy.

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  5. I can't say I love Rumplestiltskin that way, but he is a fascinating character and I love the way he's developing. It's a great show.

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  6. I love spreadsheets, not sure why I hadn't thought of this idea yet. Great idea. I'm gonna give this a whirl. Thanks.

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  7. Your management suggestions are spot-on. I am trying to learn HootSuite so I can have some of this running and pre-scheduled.

    I recently started keeping an online spreadsheet of planned blogging days, topics, scheduled guests, and reference links. Working on April A-Z already...got totally overwhelmed last year but I think I'm getting a better handle on organization. :)

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  8. I just blogged about how overwhelmed I am with social media. It's a lot of work and I'm not sure it's the most effective way to get your name out there in the big ol' world of writers, but it's all we've got to work with.

    I like your idea of scheduling it out and keeping it simple--something I need to work on. Good advice.

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  9. Great tip! You could even schedule tweets ahead of time using Hoot Suite. For now I limit my social media use. I currently only tweet and blog.

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  10. Hope this helps :) I actually love doing social media stuff, and it doesn't have to be stressful.

    Sarah

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I absolutely love hearing from you! Thank you so, so much for your thoughts and comments, they really do make my day. Consider yourself awesome. Also, I do my best to respond to every comment within 24 hours, so I invite you to come back and continue the conversation :)

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