If there’s one thing I hear more than anything else, it’s about how much time social media takes in order to use it effectively. Actually, it takes about the same amount of time – if not more time – to use it ineffectively. It all takes time. And time is our most precious commodity, so the less we waste the better off we all are.

I get it.

Fortunately, there are some things you can do to reduce the amount of time you spend marketing your business on social media. Here I’ve shared some of my favourite tools and habits to help you save more time and become more productive.

Tool #1 – Egg Timer

egg-919299No, seriously.

If you find yourself going into Facebook to “only do that one thing” and then look up to see that an hour or more has passed, you need to get yourself an egg timer. The more obnoxious the ring, the better!

You could also set a timer on your phone, or your microwave, or whatever. The point is to have something to “wake you up” from the Facebook trance so that you can back to doing what you need to do in order to run your business.

Decide beforehand how much time you need. Set the timer, and away you go. If you aren’t finished that task by the time it goes off then give yourself some more time, but otherwise – close that browser and move on!

Tool #2 – Scheduling Tool

There are tons of these available – they’re apps that allow you to preschedule your posts on most of the major platforms: Facebook, Twitter, Google +, LinkedIn, Pinterest.

Some of the more familiar names are HootSuite, Buffer, and Edgar. Facebook also allows you to schedule posts in advance from your Business Page.

It doesn’t matter which one you pick, as long as you find something that is easy for you to use and doesn’t make you throw up your arms in frustration. Many of these tools are free, although the paid versions are always better and most are quite affordable.

Tool #3 – Swipe File

A swipe file is a place where you keep your ideas and inspiration for content. It can be a spreadsheet, a Word document, an Evernote notebook, a Dropbox folder, whatever works for you – so long as you keep all of it in one place.

For myself, I have a folder in Google Drive where I save images I want to share in the future and also keep a spreadsheet that lists, on various tabs:

  • My favourite websites for information and resources relevant to my audience
  • My favourite websites for entertaining content relevant to my audience
  • Links to specific articles I either plan to share or to use for inspiration in writing my own blogs
  • All the blogs I’ve written, their topics, and their links
  • Links to specific pages on my website that I need for any Calls-to-Action, such as to sign up for my free gift or to register for a webinar

It may take some time and effort in setting up and maintaining your swipe file, but keeping all of these things in one place will save you OODLES of time in the future. Oodles. Trust me.

Habit #1 – Put it on the Calendar

The egg timer comes in really handy in keeping you on track with this habit.

I’ve mentioned at least once that I only check my email three times per day. I set appointments for it in my calendar and get pop-up reminders so that I do it on time.

I do the same thing for social media.

Set appointments for yourself to only check social media so many times per day for a certain amount of time, and then set the egg timer to keep you on track.

Habit #2 – Curate in Batches

This is a habit I started developing a little under two years ago, and it’s a riff off something I learned by working with Stella Orange in her Write Club program.

In Write Club, Stella challenges us to “Shut Up and Write” for ninety minutes straight every Monday afternoon. I do a similar thing when curating content for social media, whether it’s for myself or my clients.

Once a week, I set my egg timer for an hour. During this time, I go back through all the links I saved in Facebook and all the pins I pinned in Pinterest in the past 7 days, and I choose what, if anything, I actually want to share with my followers.

Next, I refer back to the swipe file and go through my resources to find anything else I want to share in the upcoming week.

All this goes into a separate file that I send over to my VA for scheduling, along with any original content that I’ve come up with.

Habit #3 – Outsource & Delegate

Honestly, this is one of the hardest habits to develop and maintain.

It’s so easy to convince ourselves that no one can do XYZ better than we can. I am guilty of this all. the. time.

My team has been known to practically wrestle a task or project away from me because I don’t really need to do it.

In turn, I’ve snatched projects away from clients because they don’t need to be doing some of those things, either. So I guess that’s karma coming in to play. But I digress.

The fact is, piddly things like scheduling your content have no place on your to-do list. You got way bigger fish to fry, my friend!

Delegating is a skill. And it often requires that we place our trust in someone else upfront, before they’ve earned it. Which is why I advocate easing yourself into it. Just dip your toe into the waters and start delegating things, one-by-one.

One of the things I focus on when I’m working with a VIP client is planning ahead for the moment they reach the point where they really can’t manage it all by themselves anymore. Trust me, that day will come for you too, which is why I created the “Ain’t Nobody Got Time For That!” list.

Ain’t Nobody Got Time For That!

This is a list of questions to ask yourself in order to determine what to delegate, when to delegate it, and to whom. This is adapted from a list originally created by Tina Forsyth.

Who is going to manage all this?!

Tasks to consider:

  • Developing and implementing your strategy
  • Setting up new social media accounts
  • Overseeing daily actions to engage prospects and customers
  • Creating, monitoring, and growing Facebook or LinkedIn groups
  • Writing and curating content
  • Scheduling content
  • Monitoring, engaging, and conversing with prospects and customers on each platform
  • Measuring, tracking, and analyzing KPIs

Determining what to outsource or delegate

Ask your self the following questions. It is a good idea to review these questions on a monthly or quarterly basis.

  • Which aspects of my social media presence am I currently responsible for?
  • Which aspects of my social media presence are currently being managed by someone else? Who is managing them?
  • What comes easiest to me?
  • What is the most efficient use of my time?
  • What can be most easily delegated right away?
  • Who do I currently have on the team that could take on added responsibilities?
  • Who do I need to add to the team? What skills and qualities should they have?
  • What additional resources do I need in order to execute and maintain my killer social media presence?

Your answers to these questions will be different to mine. Your answers 3 or 6 months from now will most likely be different from what they are today. There’s no right or wrong answers – only what you need for your business.

The thing that I love most about this is that it allows you to plan ahead for things that maybe you don’t need today, but will likely need in the future. Perhaps you don’t need someone managing your FB group, because you haven’t created one yet – but it’s planted a seed in your mind for later when you have created it and the membership has grown to a point where it’s too much for you to handle by yourself.

What other tools or habits have you developed to help you save time on social media? I love hearing other people’s tips and tricks, so leave a comment below!