With the number of 'plates' that we affiliate marketers have to keep spinning, finding tools that ultimately save us time (and money) can really be a god-send. What with writing, researching, blogging, reviewing, setting up affiliate programs, etc, etc, time can be a rare commodity. So add to this the activities of tweeting, Facebooking, Linkedining, Instagraming, Pinteresting, Google Plusing - forgive my very poor use of the English language and general grammar! - how are we supposed to stay on top of it all?

The internet can be a huge time-sap, but with discipline and the right tools, it can all be done.

Plan and prioritize

Firstly, discipline and planning are key. As the old saying goes, "Fail to plan, plan to fail"! Planning in advance is so important as it not only gives us a defined process to follow going forwards, it gives our strategies a structure and makes them time constrained. As I bang on in a few of my tutorials here on WA, be sure to set a little bit of time aside each day for planning, and then stick to it. But at the same time, be realistic about what you can and can't do in the time you have, and prioritize accordingly.

For example, agree with yourself a time to manage your chosen social media platforms at certain points of the day, week or even month. Don't simply be reactive and make or post updates when you see someone else's profile and think that because it has been done well, you should do the same. Decide what actions must be done daily (like respond to messages or comments), what can be done weekly, and if possible, what only needs to be reviewed once a month. Then, put it all in your plan, or even create a content calendar - you can read my post about setting up content calendars HERE.

Social media management is very much like managing your emails. Try and stick to carrying out a number of small actions, rather than be distracted or react to other things that are happening at the time. This way, you'll stay time-efficient and feel less under pressure.

OK.... so that's planning and prioritization. Now let's look at some of the tools available to help us manage our social activity.

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