The Use of Social Media
I am taking this slowly so I don't overwhelm myself. I reached the part of the training where Kyle talks about ensuring that social media doesn't take away all the time you need away from your business. In this day and age it can be incredibly easy to get lost in social media, whether it's personal or business. I have my own problems with getting lost so when I had worked on an Etsy store I was looking for ways to update my social media without spending most of my time trying to update them in order to keep them relevant.
I actually found a site that has an app called Buffer. It has a free option of 2-3 sites you can schedule and for about $14.99/month for their pro as well as options for annual and small business. This has helped be in creating a schedule down where I can make one post and share it to several sites at different times or the same time.
Some pros:
1) It frees up my time to concentrate solely on my business and not on the social media updates. Currently I have it on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest.
2) I can schedule a week in advance or just spend a few minutes creating a post then setting up a scheduled post through Buffer to all my social media sites.
Cons:
1) It can take a bit of work to get everything initially set up
2) There are a few bugs on occasion where the Buffer site may have some sharing issues with the other sites. Usually it can be resolved by signing back into it and checking settings to make sure an update didn't change allowances.
I like using it even with the occasional glitches. Their customer service and tech support are great at hammering through the issues. I haven't seen others that are better and available in the Apple store. I know Android may have more options but I try to find as many cross platform options as much as possible. The cross platform generally allows for it to be used on a desktop or laptop so that edits can be easily worked on. Doing this can create a glitchiness depending on which platform the coding was focused on first. For example, if the coding started out as Swyft for the Apple platform the transition to a PC and Android friendly version.
Despite some issues cross platforms, like Buffer, can have with coding it's still a good option and allows connectivity between phones, tablets and computers.
Recent Comments
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To get the most out off social media it is important to go on to the platform and engage on other peoples post in your news feed or on your friends list.
You don't have to spend an hour doing this. Just like and comment on the first 5 or 6 post. It doesn't matter what the post are about.
You are priming the platforms pump so to speak. Other wise they will show your content to nobody (at least on Facebook).
I am sure most platforms have such algorithms.
Do this before every post or update. Plus, you will get more interaction from the people who's post you just commented on.
A DMO for facebook would look like this:
1. increasing your friends list. (people from groups you belong to in your niche. Find a post you like of theirs like it and comment on it.
Send a Friend request and a message. Say how you much you got out of their post for example. Then say you would love to connect with them.
Time spent 15 minutes
2. comment on 5-10 peoples post in your newsfeed.
Time spent 5 to 10 minutes.
3. Post your post (eye catching headline, 3 or 4 tips, Then CTA telling them to comment or PM you for more information. Have an image on every post. An image of you is better. NEVER include a link in your post (Facebook hates that).
Time spent 5 minutes if you have your post created ahead of time. Schedule an hour on Sunday to create your social media post for the week.
4. Spend time on messenger having actual conversations. The money is made when you made true connections. Messenger is where the money is made.
Limit your messenger reach outs and followups to certain times of the day. Do not go over and reply the second after you receive a notification.
Doing this will limit your time on Social Media and make it more productive and effective.
I do comment when I have any comments happen. I check my notifications and respond as needed, even retweeting something of interest and relevancy. I also try to follow my followers back, as well. My niche is so small though that finding content to tweet or share about outside of updates to my site is actually pretty tricky, especially since the top tweets have little to no relevancy outside the USPS to candle making.
Buffer is good, although now I pay a small fee (I think it's about USD 20 per month) for an app called CoSchedule, which you can use from inside the WP editor and schedule your posts as social media blasts as well as scheduling purely social posts.
I did not know this. I had tried others, and they were all inadequate to what I found in Buffer. I might switch if it works better. I have had a few issues with Buffer not connecting or disconnecting at will.
The only connection issue I have had with CoSchedule is on LinkedIn, but they address this in their FAQs.
What I LOVE about CoSchedule is that you can schedule a post to be published in the future, and have coschedule send your social media push on the same day that the post publishes. It's great for forward-planning your content!
That would be super helpful because then I can spend about one day working on content and getting everything set up for the next day or so then have time to work on other things. This is the help I have been searching for; I have been pouring over the work then taking a couple of days off to try to work on other things around the house. It has massively lessened my productivity. Anything that can help me balance my work and home is a great help.
it's been great for me too - it means my content writers are also my social media managers, and my posts are always optimised for the best social media send times.
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Great, thanks for sharing