This post is the first in a multi-part series on Social Media Time Management, intended to supplement the content of the presentation I gave at BlogWorld Expo 2009. Click here to see the collection of posts in the series.
Information overload is real, but it’s something that’s in your control. Managing your time in social media is first and foremost about deciding where to spend your time and why, and that requires a little bit of organization to start with.
What Are You In This For?
If your goal is to be engaged in social media for pleasure or just for personal connections, your approach is rather simple. You’ll choose the tools and sites where you find folks with common interests, and you’ll tuck the time in outside your other responsibilities.
But if you’re in this for business, at least in part, you’re going to need to think through some clearer goals than that.
Here are five sets of questions to ask yourself:
1) Realistically, how many hours do I have to spend in social media each day? Do I have resources/people other than me? What can I expect of them? (Note: if you’re serious about doing social, you need to find an hour a day to start with, at least.)
2) Which 2 or 3 tools and social networks make sense based on my listening efforts? What is my goal for participation on those sites? What is the culture of those communities and how will my participation line up with that?
3) Have we evaluated our current online and offline communication efforts to determine what’s working and what we might supplement or replace with social media? Am I going to need to add this on to my existing responsibilities in order to prove its value before making tradeoffs?
4) Has our leadership bought into this idea already, or am I establishing a presence so I can build a stronger case? Is time I spend on social media going to be viewed as an investment or a time sink? How do I make the case for the former?
5) What does success look like? How about failure? How can I measure both, even simplistically? (Hint: Objectives you can’t measure against are going to be really hard to celebrate or adjust, since you won’t know how you did either way).
These are just a start, and you’ll think of more. But managing your social media presence and time means having a crystal clear idea of what you want out of it. The goals and objectives will help dictate the path and resources you need.
Personal Vs. Professional
You’ll hear lots of takes on this one, but here’s my short answer about whether you should be participating as yourself or as your brand:
The web is a vast, intertwined thing. If you’re participating in social media, you cannot keep your personal stuff from touching your professional stuff, even if you think you’re separating them by imaginary lines. The dots can always be connected, and you’ll do well to keep that in mind for the long term.
For the most part, as connections and colleagues, we don’t draw distinctions between you, the “personal” account and you, the “professional” one. You are you, with many facets. We think of you as a whole person, with many parts.
That said, you *can* create a separate blog, Twitter account, and Facebook page to foster conversation with a business purpose. I’d advise against participating solely as a logo; if you have a central corporate page/account, please let the voices and participants be intensely human and contribute as such. Whenever possible, provide names and faces to go along with the people on your team. Give your community people to associate with your company, and a sense of who they are. Allow them to converse outside rigid messages and corporate topics and be personable and approachable. That is, after all, the point of all of this.
And remember. If you’re using your personal account in hybrid (like I do, and the approach I prefer), whatever you post has a long shelf life. If you don’t want internet content about you personally to reflect on you professionally, keep it off the internet. There are no shortcuts to personal accountability. And good judgment doesn’t come with an owner’s manual.
Next….
We’ll cover time allocation for varying social media tasks like listening, responding, content creation, and measurement. Stay tuned tomorrow.
Other questions you’d like to cover about social media time management? Let me know in the comments.
Great list of questions for anyone sticking their toe in the social space. As one that works best from lists and plans, I’m always suggesting that having a purpose and plan is a must for anyone wanting to engage in social media. Like yourself, I have a more “hybrid” approach, but I also have a list of things that I refrain from sharing on social sites.
Thanks for your insight!!
Great list of questions for anyone sticking their toe in the social space. As one that works best from lists and plans, I’m always suggesting that having a purpose and plan is a must for anyone wanting to engage in social media. Like yourself, I have a more “hybrid” approach, but I also have a list of things that I refrain from sharing on social sites.
Thanks for your insight!!
I keep trying to talk myself out of wondering whether social media is a waste of time. It isn’t, I know that… but every time I’m almost convinced it’s a waste, something happens and I’m knee deep back in social media. I mean, really, has it helped us? Well, because of it, my company has been picked up for an article in PC Magazines and I’ve been asked to do a conference in Seattle…. I’m sure it’s helping me establish my company, but boy oh boy, does it take more than an hour a day.
I keep trying to talk myself out of wondering whether social media is a waste of time. It isn’t, I know that… but every time I’m almost convinced it’s a waste, something happens and I’m knee deep back in social media. I mean, really, has it helped us? Well, because of it, my company has been picked up for an article in PC Magazines and I’ve been asked to do a conference in Seattle…. I’m sure it’s helping me establish my company, but boy oh boy, does it take more than an hour a day.
I am one of the few in my inner circle who is trying to navigate social media and as a result, I am left to try to explain this thing to friends and colleagues. Sort of like asking my 6 year old to explain physics (only she would do a better job). So thanks for articulating this so well! I look forward to the rest of the series.
I am one of the few in my inner circle who is trying to navigate social media and as a result, I am left to try to explain this thing to friends and colleagues. Sort of like asking my 6 year old to explain physics (only she would do a better job). So thanks for articulating this so well! I look forward to the rest of the series.
This is a great article with a great list of questions. For beginners in the social media world, you have explained the basics very well.
This is a great article with a great list of questions. For beginners in the social media world, you have explained the basics very well.
Amber –
Great start on this topic and I look forward to your upcoming posts. A great sales coach once told me that I should spend at least 2 days worth of time building my business. Ever since I changed my time management practices to keep this in mind, my business has grown. As I add various social networking sites to the mix, I keep the same perspective in mind.
Transparency – I share mostly professional information on my various platforms, but I’m always 100% me. I choose quotes, tips and thoughts that represent my philosophies and beliefs. I share tips that I know will help clients. I completely agree that the lines of personal and professional are really blurred. My mom told me a long time ago that telling the truth is always the best policy, but you can select to not say anything too. I am somewhat surprised by the number of people that use their profiles to complain tweet after tweet. Sharing your personal life is OK, but remember that what you put online will be perceived in the same way that it would (or maybe worse) than in face to face meetings. You would not walk up to someone and say “Hi – I’m Mary and I really can’t stand the person at the Starbucks counter and driving in traffic drives me nuts…”
Another consideration for those that are using their accounts for business: build your expectations on reality. I have some clients that believe that they should be able to make a sale in days on their social media platforms. Like traditional networking, it takes time. The time necessary to make a sale with online networking is relative to off-line networking. My business is helping others improve their productivity and organization. For most, it is a very personal topic. I keep that in mind as I have conversations.
To your success!
Amber –
Great start on this topic and I look forward to your upcoming posts. A great sales coach once told me that I should spend at least 2 days worth of time building my business. Ever since I changed my time management practices to keep this in mind, my business has grown. As I add various social networking sites to the mix, I keep the same perspective in mind.
Transparency – I share mostly professional information on my various platforms, but I’m always 100% me. I choose quotes, tips and thoughts that represent my philosophies and beliefs. I share tips that I know will help clients. I completely agree that the lines of personal and professional are really blurred. My mom told me a long time ago that telling the truth is always the best policy, but you can select to not say anything too. I am somewhat surprised by the number of people that use their profiles to complain tweet after tweet. Sharing your personal life is OK, but remember that what you put online will be perceived in the same way that it would (or maybe worse) than in face to face meetings. You would not walk up to someone and say “Hi – I’m Mary and I really can’t stand the person at the Starbucks counter and driving in traffic drives me nuts…”
Another consideration for those that are using their accounts for business: build your expectations on reality. I have some clients that believe that they should be able to make a sale in days on their social media platforms. Like traditional networking, it takes time. The time necessary to make a sale with online networking is relative to off-line networking. My business is helping others improve their productivity and organization. For most, it is a very personal topic. I keep that in mind as I have conversations.
To your success!
I enjoyed your post a while ago about how you spend your time on social media, and appreciate this deeper look at the considerations around identity and time. Great list of questions, too! I might add another question area: who else in your organization can spend the time engaging in social media? How will you spread the listening and engagement?
As for personal vs. professional vs. logo identity, you really hit it on the nail! I have worked with clients who WILL NOT, not matter WHAT, assign a person or a real name to their social media corporate identities. I have tried to explain that social networkers connect with people, not logos. I, myself, will almost never follow a logo (corporate or nonprofit) except for news information. That said, what corporate-logo-news-spouting identity ever moved people to connect with them or engage personally? How can a business ever expect its fans/followers/friends to become rabid enthusiasts when they’re connecting with an unnamed logo?
Thanks for sharing, and I look forward the next posts in this series!
I enjoyed your post a while ago about how you spend your time on social media, and appreciate this deeper look at the considerations around identity and time. Great list of questions, too! I might add another question area: who else in your organization can spend the time engaging in social media? How will you spread the listening and engagement?
As for personal vs. professional vs. logo identity, you really hit it on the nail! I have worked with clients who WILL NOT, not matter WHAT, assign a person or a real name to their social media corporate identities. I have tried to explain that social networkers connect with people, not logos. I, myself, will almost never follow a logo (corporate or nonprofit) except for news information. That said, what corporate-logo-news-spouting identity ever moved people to connect with them or engage personally? How can a business ever expect its fans/followers/friends to become rabid enthusiasts when they’re connecting with an unnamed logo?
Thanks for sharing, and I look forward the next posts in this series!
This is a very good issue. I do not participate in social networking on the computer, only because I do not have the time to sit and chat. I usually check my e-mails and work on my assignments for school and then I’m done. I really think that people who live on the computer are people who have to talk alot. There are lots of people that way, but you really have to be a social person to interact that much.
This is a very good issue. I do not participate in social networking on the computer, only because I do not have the time to sit and chat. I usually check my e-mails and work on my assignments for school and then I’m done. I really think that people who live on the computer are people who have to talk alot. There are lots of people that way, but you really have to be a social person to interact that much.
I suffer alot from information overload, but I guess everyone does thesedays. I tend to sign up to every new social network that I find interesting, but use ping.fm to post things which lets me only log into the one site. I tend to check on twitter for replies etc more often that the other network im a member on.
Ive wrote down a few key points you mentioned, which I want to try and improve on. If I manage to do some of these things you pointed out, I will probably be alot more productive.
I suffer alot from information overload, but I guess everyone does thesedays. I tend to sign up to every new social network that I find interesting, but use ping.fm to post things which lets me only log into the one site. I tend to check on twitter for replies etc more often that the other network im a member on.
Ive wrote down a few key points you mentioned, which I want to try and improve on. If I manage to do some of these things you pointed out, I will probably be alot more productive.
I’ve been to China travel, in my opinion chinese people are very freidly, and i especially like the city of
beijingshenzhen, i have a friend from china, i ike her blog
discount china, now she is in Jewish, just now, she send me
a Jewish Directory website, i think the it is very useful.
I’ve been to China travel, in my opinion chinese people are very freidly, and i especially like the city of
beijingshenzhen, i have a friend from china, i ike her blog
discount china, now she is in Jewish, just now, she send me
a Jewish Directory website, i think the it is very useful.
Social media is really awesome, as long as you know how to do it and you are not harming someone.