Schedule social media posts in only an hour a week…and without losing your mind. It frees up valuable time to actually connect with others or to write.
Have you ever felt like you are losing your sanity keeping up with everything? Or have you ever found yourself so busy that it felt impossible to keep up with posting on social media that week, other than perhaps your blog feeding your posts into them?
I am not new to setting up a blog, but I am spending a lot of time learning how to build and grow a blog successfully. While we would like to think if we show up and write, they will come, that is not the case. There are many things we need to be doing in addition to showing up and writing our hearts out. It can be overwhelming.
I started using a system last week that has saved my sanity and wanted to share it with you. Social media was either taking too much of my time, or I wasn’t making time for it at all. I was having trouble finding a balance.
I read that it helps to choose your favorite social media site and spend most of your time there. I chose twitter as my primary focus, and Google+ is a close second, but I still found myself falling behind in posting, or I was posting and falling behind in everything else.
I had seen people using hootsuite for YEARS. I may have glanced at it years ago. At the time, I think I opted to use tweetdeck. Looking for anything that would help me, I checked out hootsuite again and am so glad I did. I discovered that with one message, I can schedule a post for twitter, Google+, and my facebook page. And with the autoscheduler, I do not even have to set dates and times, which makes scheduling posts super easy and super fast.. It will choose the date and time for me automatically within the parameters I choose in settings.
It takes me about an hour to schedule a week’s worth of social media for twitter, Google+, and my facebook page. This means when I am checking my social media, I can spend time connecting with people, which is what I really love to do, and not have to spend that time getting all of my posting done. This schedule frees you up to have more time for the good stuff, connecting and making friends.
Hootsuite has been my favorite so far. I am sure there are other programs to help schedule social media posts. This is probably not new to many of you, but it has saved the sanity of this ADD soul, and I wanted to share it with others. If you have found another program that you like, please share.
How to Schedule Social Media Posts for Blog
- Make a word document with a list of your favorite quotes, blog posts, questions, links, etc.
- Choose a day each week (or month if you really want to work ahead) and schedule your posts in hootsuite. It’s something easy to do that you can even do while you are watching television. I do not like to feel like I am overwhelming people, so I schedule about six a day. I may experiment and see if another number works better, but I like six right now. It gives room for me to pop in if I want.
- Create and use lists for a little extra connecting off and on during the week, always adding new and interesting people who like to connect. I tend to do a little here and a little there.
It took a little time to initially setup my list, but it is easy to maintain. I just add new posts and quotes I like to it as these things come up. Highlight or bold where you left off on your list so that you know where to pick up next time with your scheduling.
What system do you use to schedule social media posts?
And here is a little something for my subscribers…cause I LOVE them….
FREE Social Media Campaign Worksheet for Bloggers (for Word or Google Docs) – All setup and ready to start adding your own posts.
This is a great way of managing social media. Right now I’m only using Hootsuite for Twitter, for some reason, so I need to look into connecting my other networks. I love that it enables you to actually connect and interact with readers more throughout the week because all your time isn’t spent on posting.
Visiting from the #SITSSharefest!
It was such a life-changing realization when I saw that I could add my other profiles. I felt like I was all over the place. I am really the type of person who needs it all in one place. My ADD mind cannot handle too many places to be and coordinate. Thanks for visiting! It’s nice to meet you! ~Topaz
Thank you for sharing this post. I’ve been trying to do all my social media myself as I do not like the look of automated social updates that many plugins create automatically. May give this one a try as it sounds like I would have more control over things.
So glad it was helpful! That’s what I was trying to do, and it was nothing but a hot mess. lol I feel the more things I can find to help with things like this, the more time it frees to connect and to write. You have hit on the one thing that I am not of fan of with this, on my facebook page it shows that it came via hootsuite. But considering facebook lets so few people see our posts anymore, I decided I could live with it. If anyone comments, I always jump in personally. If you find another you like, please share! I am all about finding the best options for us. 🙂
I too use Hootsuite. It’s a great resource! Thanks!
It really is so easy to use, isn’t it? It amazing how quickly I can get my posts scheduled for the week. So glad you had already found it! 🙂
Such great tips! I only recently started using Hootsuite over Buffer but I have learned to actually combine my posting with the two of them and it definitely takes a bit of the pressure off. Thanks so much for sharing!
I have toyed around with plugg.io. It might have an option that I have yet to see on hootsuite, and that is the option to dripfeed retweets, replies, etc. So I definitely see how sometimes another program adds a little something. I don’t think I’ve seen buffer. It sounds like it might be similar to plugg.io. So glad to see you, Tiffany! I was just over at your blog earlier today. I love making new friends! xo
I just started scheduling all my social media in one place and you’re right–it really does save time! Using a social media scheduler has given me a lot more freedom to spend time with my family without sacrificing my blog. I actually started scheduling my social media on a WordPress plugin called CoSchedule. It looks similar to Hootsuite but it looks like it can integrate a couple more social apps, like Pinterest. I know a lot of people who use Hootsuite and love it. I’m so thankful for helpful tools like these!
Oh, Carrie! I am intrigued! I’m going to check that out! You had me at Pinterest. That was next on my list…to see if I could find something to help with Pinterest. Thanks so much for sharing that! It’s nice to meet you! xo
These are great tips & I’m pinning this post to my blog board. I’ve been thinking of doing this because since I’m training for a new job I can’t be on social media until the afternoon. I’m stopping by from SITS & thanks for sharing!
Oh, do it, Leslie! You will never look back again. I cannot even tell you how happy this makes me every week. My head is so ADD, and there is so much to do with a blog, this little tool keeps it from exploding. I feel that I never get behind, and it is easy to do. The main thing is just making your list and updating it as you go. I just keep that file open while I do other things, so it’s easy to update. It’s good to see you again! Congrats on your new job!
What a great tool. I’ve been trying to figure out how to organize all of this better and can’t wait to try this out. I’d rather spend a little time on this and spend more time reading and responding to my posts. (Stopping by from SITS Girls Sharefest)
EXACTLY, Jennifer! We know we are going to be busy doing something, but it is just a matter of automating things that can be automated, so we can spend time doing the things we love and connecting with others. Thank you for stopping by! It’s nice to meet you!
I also use HootSuite but for some reason can only schedule one day at a time in the autoscheduler now. It use to let me set up my whole week at one time. For instance, I could say that I wanted a message to go out M/W/F and it would schedule for all three days. Any ideas about why the change?
Thanks for tackling this issue!
That is strange, Sheala. So you have the days and times scheduled in settings, and when you write the post, instead of selecting a time, you select autoschedule? I haven’t had a problem with that. I can usually schedule even over a week without a problem. This past weekend, it did give me a problem with showing the preview. I had to wait a few hours and try it again. It worked fine later. Hope it’s something simple or that it “rights” itself soon. It’s wonderful to meet you, Sheala! Thanks for stopping by to say hello.
Thanks for responding. Yes, I think I’m doing everything right. As you said, hopefully it’ll work itself out! If not, I’ll contact them, now that I know that it truly is suppose to work the way it was at first.
Blessings,
Sheala
The issue I had with the image preview worked itself out pretty quickly. I googled and saw where people over the years had problems with that…off and on. There seemed to be no definitive answer as to why. Keep me posted if you contact them. I’m curious now in case it happens to me. Hope it’s working again for you soon. xo ~Topaz
Thank you ! thank you, for sharing this post. I am defiantly going to look into this. I have just felt so overwhelmed with the entire social media aspect.
Leslie
I was overwhelmed, too. This was an amazing change for me. I feel I conquered a huge thing and found a much better way to do it. It is just too much to do manually. Definitely look into it. I love that it’s free, too. It’s nice to meet you, Leslie!
I use Hootsuite too and my set up is pretty much similar to yours, except I also have mine open when I am in Bloglovin’ – that’s when I schedule shares for the bloggers I am following.
I am just working in the shares now. Still trying to figure out the best way for collecting them and working them into the system. I use Feedly, and that might be a good place to start like you are doing with Bloglovin’. Thank you for the suggestion!
I haven’t known how to share from other people’s blogs without inundating myself with a ton of blogs that I can’t keep up with. Have set up RSS feeds through HootSuite for some of them. Otherwise, I just follow on Twitter. May look at the Feedly or Bloglovin option. Thanks!
I enjoy Feedly. It took me a while to get used to it after Google Reader, but I am liking it. I see a lot of people on Bloglovin, too. You’re welcome, Sheala.