Social Media is a Time Stealer
Does anybody out there, besides me, feel like social media is consuming a lot of time?? I don't mean 1/2 hour here and there, I mean, lots and lots and lots of hours here and there.
The thing is, I was watching a video tutorial of Jay's on getting your blog/product website out there in the social media world and how important it is to use it as a marketing tool. It was a great tutorial and here it is if anybody hasn't seen it.
https://my.wealthyaffiliate.com/training/planning-...
It's got fantastic information on how to plan out your social media schedule when it comes to posting your site and making sure you post and re-post to get continuous exposure. So, after watching the video I was pretty confident that I could follow the schedule that I put up for myself according to the social media accounts I have, mainly Twitter, Instagram and Google +. Guess what? I've kept up and that's all fine and dandy and it's actually not that hard.
But.....what I've come to figure out IS hard is taking the time to like, comment, read, and discuss OTHER peoples Tweets, Google + posts, and Instagram photos who are following me and liked and commented on my stuff! It's a freakin' full time job!
In order of difficulty for me I have:
1.----- Instagram--When I have 200 or 300 people like my photo, I feel like I have to go through and like every, single one of their photos back. Now, for those that don't use Instagram, that doesn't sound like a lot, but trust me, it's taking hours to go through and like everyone's photos back. Secondly, I can hardly keep up with the likes, let alone trying to go through the "home" page and just start running through and liking the latest photos that are streaming. Thirdly, in order to grow your followers, you have to jump on the "search" page and start liking and following other people. By the time I'm done, 1/4 of my day is gone and I've only tried to keep up with the one photo I posted that day! I did a little test the other day and took one of my photos that had over 300 likes. I set the timer and proceeded to like back everyone who liked that specific photo. You know what?? It took over 2 and 1/2 hours and that was without stopping for a potty break! I have no idea how people keep up with this that have 1000 or more likes. What the heck is the secret???
2.-----Google +----Since I just started with my Google + account, I have a little less that 200 followers so it's not as difficult to keep up with this one, but I think that this social media platform is more difficult that Instagram in a few ways. First, if you make a post and on that same day you have a bunch of people like that post, then you can go through and like it back, but if it's the next day and you check on that photo, I can't tell who liked it the day before and who liked it just now because the notification just says "so and so liked your post and so did 10 other people". Well who the heck are the 10 other people! When you go to click on the post activity Google + doesn't clue me in so I automatically have to run through the whole line up and like everyone's posts all over again! Secondly, I continuous have to run through "followers" because new followers don't show up at the top of this section and not all of them show up in the notifications, either. They get all mixed in between all the people who are already following me. So by the time I figure out who followed me, looked at their posts, followed them, and liked back all those that liked my posts, the next 1/4 of my day is gone. I think that this is going to go in the same direction as my Instagram account...just you wait.
3.------Twitter-- This platform, by far, takes the least amount of work for me, but it's the most addicting and I tend to hop on and off a lot more than I do with the two accounts above. I find that I can spend 15 minutes here and there through out my day on this platform, but even so, time adds up and I find that I'm trying to always interact in order to keep myself out there. After a lot of those 15 minute sessions, the next 1/4 of my day is gone.
Now, of course I'm exaggerating because I don't spend 18 hours a day on social media, but I feel like I do spend a lot of time on there and most of that time isn't promoting my stuff, it's commenting and liking on everyone else who liked my one post or photo!
In Jay's video he talks about people having multiple websites/product sites/blogs. I have no idea how anyone can do this and respond to all those who "like" and comment on their posts.What the heck is the secret?
Sometimes I feel like social media is such a pain and so stressful and it's definitely stealing valuable time away from me that I should be using to write and post my own stuff. Sometimes after working so hard on those media sites, I don't want to write my own blog posts. I'm burnt out.
If I try to cut back on liking and commenting on others, then I don't get the likes and comments on my stuff. That's logical, it's give and take, but the real key is how do I spend more time on my stuff and less on other peoples and still gather a following and be genuinely interested in what others are putting out there to?
Is anyone else out there having difficulty with keeping up with those who follow them?
What do you do about it?
Recent Comments
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If you are struggling with a time factor on Instagram and Twitter then this 555 routine works well in just 15 minutes a day. Add to that 3 minutes x 3 for posting three times per day and it has taken about 25 minutes of your day.
If you follow the basic # saver rule for Instagram in my 2nd training it will save you time as will batch making your posts in canva in advance and storing them on your phone so that they are ready to use when you have them scheduled in.
I know its still 25 minutes of your day and perhaps and extra 30 minutes on canva creating once per week but it is still a time saving routine.
Hope this helps :-) Instagram 2 How to make a template in Canva to quickly create quotes and other "branded" pictures Instagram 3 - Followers and Following
Hi Cath,
Thanks for this. How do you go about liking the photos of each person whose like your latest photo? That's my problem. Do you not go back over all the likes you get and return the favor?
Thanks,
Ashley
its not something that you are expected to do and I certainly don't have time to go about that all day.
If you follow the 555 in the trainings then you will be interacting with different followers daily and so they are bound to cross. Imagine when you are getting 500 likes per pictures, you certainly wont be able to go and like all 500 back. As long as you follow then its enough.
Hi Cath,
Ok- thanks. That was my problem I was already have a hard time with 200 or 300 likes and couldn't image what I would do with more! Thanks so much for the help.
New goal.....implement the 555 rule!
Have a very Merry Christmas!
Ashley
Why don't you post an accountability pic on the post and then come back later and see how you have grown?
Just take a screen shot of your Instagram account so it shows the number of followers and posts etc and upload it then in a week or a month come back with an updated screen shot and make a comparison.
Oh OK! That's a great idea! I'll do that. I've already started with your suggestion. The only hard part for me is I want to take more time doing the "like backs". Only doing this for 5 minutes is hard for me. Once it becomes a habit, it will be easier to do.The other two 5 minute things I'm able to follow much easier.
Thanks for all the great tips!
you can do the 555 more than once per day if you have time, it is only a guideline. I can sometimes do it three times per day if I have periods of time when I am waiting for something or someone.
Hi Cath,
So up date on this one. I'm getting pretty good at this. I try to do the 555 about three times a day. I really good keeping it to 5 minutes for the news feed and 5 minutes for the search bar for Hastags, but I'm still going a bit beyond the 5 minutes to "like back" followers who have liked my most recent photo. Even so I feel that I've made progress on this platform and practice makes perfect, right?? So far I've gain an additional 50 followers so I'm good with for now.
Thanks again for the help! You've saved me a lot of time!
Ashley
hey Ashley that's great news, thanks for letting me know. Are you remembering to unfollow to so you can keep your ratios level?
No, I don't unfollow because I don't have a free platform to keep track of followers and unfollowers. I use Crowdfire and until several months ago they had a free version for this for both Instagram and Twitter, but they dropped the freebie for Instagram and I haven't yet found another platform that will do freebies for both. I really like Crowdfire because it worked so great and it still works great with Twitter. I'm a bit stingy on paying for stuff until I can get up and running. Without a platform to let me know who unfollows, it would take me forever to figure it out! It stinks, but I either have to stay as is or pay up :(
Thanks for always responding to my rants....I really do appreciate it!
I hope you had a very nice Christmas and I wish you a wonderful New Year!
if you follow the instagram trainings there is one where I mention how to unfollow with an app on your phone. Off the top of my head I can't remember which one it is, I am on my phone and the internet is so slow right now. check out teh BB Instagram accountability post for which training it is to unfollow :-)
I found the tutorial with the unfollow app that you suggested. It's a bit confusing because it said "in-app purchase" but I went ahead and installed it and I guess it's actually free. I've already gone about unfollow those accounts that don't follow back and don't pertain to my "hobby". Thanks so much for this. I've book-marked your tutorial that gives all the links on how do do things with Instagram! I love it! Great job :)
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I've always considered Jay's training sort of a masters degree in this stuff. If you love SM marketing and plan to use this strategy heavily in your business then following Jay's training makes sense.
If you are just doing tasks to complete Kyle's training, Jay's training may go too deep.
There are other members who feel as you do (including me), SM marketing is too time consuming: Social Media - is it Really Worth Much of Your Time? There are other marketing strategies for us to consider:
> SEO (Content Marketing)
> Email Marketing
> Video Marketing
Hi Dennis,
Thanks so much for the link!
I started implementing the 555 rule (as Cath gave me in the answer below, and that has really helped tremendously! It’s so easy to say, “I’m just going to hop on for 5 minutes to (insert whatever social platform you want here) and then be done”, but the reality is it’s never for 5 minutes.
Now I time myself and no matter what, I move on to the next thing after 5 minutes. It’s helped me so much. I can actually get all 4 social media platforms done in multiple 555 sessions a day and then I’m not feeling so dragged down by it.
I am doing all of Kyle and all of Jay’s training very slowly, but intensely and sometimes I am stuck on one lesson for a long time because I refuse to move on until I’ve done everything and really know it. Plus there are those little tutorials that are necessary which are not actually in the courses and I’ve done those, too. I really do like SEO and SM (NOT S&M-LOL! I have a crazy sense of humor; I blame it on being an Aquarius )
I plan on using the SM marketing strategy heavily and I’m in this to really learn and understand everything. I want to master as many core skills as possible in order to maximize my efforts across the board. I really like the behind the scenes stuff.
I need to start looking into the email marketing (I just watched Jay’s video on that the other day) and then move onto video marketing.
Thanks again for commenting and giving me an extra lesson to learn from! I appreciate it!
All the best and happy Tuesday!
Ashley