Every time I sit down at my computer to tackle a task I know is important for my business, I seem to get sidetracked by something that seems more urgent. Has that ever happened to you?
Interestingly, one of the tasks that used to drift to the “important but not urgent” category is social media and blog posts. I know I need to blog at least once a week and maintain an ongoing social media presence, but there is ALWAYS something else that seems to need my attention.
I want to share three quick tips that I’ve used to help me be more consistent.
Get a picture. I have spent some time to understand my listener. Not exhaustive but enough to understand how what I do could make a difference to them. For my solopreneur readers, time is one of their biggest challenges. So is marketing. Many are passionate about what they do and experts in their businesses. But if they have no background in marketing or they are not technologically savvy, managing their social media presence can be very frustrating. Additionally, because I understand that time is one of their concerns, when I see something that I feel might save them some time, I share that too even if it has nothing to do with what I offer.
Keep a notebook. This has been valuable for me. I get ideas when I’m in the craziest places. I’ve gotten myself one of those small 3 x 4 notebooks (you can use your phone too) and when I hear something that sparks an idea, I jot it down. That way when I’m getting ready to write my blog, I’ve got ideas handy. A word of caution, jot down enough information so you’ll remember why you thought it was a good idea when you get to it. I can’t tell you how often at first I would look at my notes and think, “What is this all about?”
Automate. I like Hootsuite because if you are doing your social media yourself, you can probably use the free version. And, even if you have more social media channels than the free version will allow, it is only about $10 – $12 a month. You can check into your Hootsuite account either over coffee in the morning or on a Friday afternoon and queue up your posts for your social media channels for the next week. And where do you get the content? Use those blog posts you’ve written. You can take one blog post and create 3 – 4 social media posts from each one. Write a sentence or two and point them back to your blog.
Note: if you’ve got more than two social media channels as a solopreneur, you are making things more difficult than they need to be. Unless there is a strong reason to have more than two, I suggest you focus on the two that make the most sense for your business.
Look for next week when I’ll share how to share content you don’t have to write yourself, having fun with social media themes, and where to find images that are affordable (and legal).