Do you have a social media system?
A couple of weeks ago John Jantsch, the Duct Tape Marketing guy, tagged me along with a number of others in a note saying that he had written a blog post outlining what he referred to as his "intra-daily, daily, weekly and monthly social media routine or system" and suggested that we follow suit. He said he would hook them all together to create an "at this moment" guide.
My initial reaction was, "But, John, I don't have a system!" I tend to be more or less extemporaneous, spur of the moment in my social media interactions via Facebook, Twitter and other social networks. (Obsessive might be an even more apt description.) Blogging, another part of my "routine," is often catch as catch can. Unlike John, I am decidedly not a systems-oriented thinker.
The more I thought about it the more I realized the need to deploy such a system, if for no other reason than to find a way to better manage the flow of all this stuff and not allow it to dominate my day. Plus, John asked me to participate and I want to honor his request.
So, what follows is my newly-ordained, shiny, brand-spanking new car smell social media system.
(Before we get to that, allow me ask the question that is the title of this post, do you have a social media system? If so, please leave a comment briefly outlining what it is. Or, better yet, write a post of your own and leave a comment with the link.)
DAILY:
Twitter - For me, Twitter is as addictive as crack cocaine. There are times when I simply cannot get enough. While part of my job at Bizzuka is to engage the social mediasphere, it's not my only responsibility. Hence, I'm limiting my daily intake to twice daily - once when I get to work in the morning and once after lunch.
That is not to suggest I won't pop in to make an announcement or share a link if the mood strikes. What I'm referring to is responding to @replies and DMs and adding new followers (usually those who follow me).
Twitter was not intended to be an instant messaging system in the same way that, say, Aim or Yahoo! Messenger is. Rather, it's a "high latency instant messaging system." I'm going to try and put more emphasis on the first part of that definition, rather than the latter. (This will be my biggest challenge, no doubt about it.)
Email - I know, email is not "social media," but it makes perfect sense to include it as, afterall, email is "media." I'm going to follow the same practice here as with Twitter, once in the morning and once in the afternoon.
Facebook & LinkedIn - Same song, different verse. Once in the morning, and once in the afternoon. "bid," as the doctor would say.
Scan comments on my various blogs and respond - I blog here, at Active Rain and at MarketingProfs. While I don't receive that many comments here, posting at AR and MPs is another story often times. Plus, I handle blogging duties for the Bizzuka blog and User Friendly Thinking, so I 'll throw those in for good measure.
Write a blog post - This includes daily posts to either this or Bizzuka's blog. Normally, time does not permit daily posting, so I'm going to cut myself some slack and say I'll update two to three times per week.
WEEKLY:
Check blog stats - I'm not as obsessive over stats as some of my cohorts. Primarily, that's because I don't rely on my blog to make my living. Once per week is sufficient.
Post to Active Rain - That's where I play the role of Social Media Handyman, so it's important that I stay frequent in terms of creating updates.
Engage in other social networks - I belong to a number of marketing-related niche networks - The SWOM, Marketing 2.0, Inside Social Media and a few others. It's imperative that I schedule time to incorporate engagement activity in those either in the form of a forum discussion, blog post, comment, friending or other activity.
Check MyBlogLog - This is a useful, yet often overlooked, quasi-social network that I need to pay more attention to as well.
BI-WEEKLY:
Post to MarketingProfs - Blogging at MarketingProfs Daily Fix is like eating a big piece of cake with ice cream on top. It's a real treat and I'm grateful to for affording me this opportunity.
MONTHLY:
Write article for Practical Ecommerce - This is something I committed to long ago and I need to honor that commitment.
Now, I'm sure there are things that I've left out. If something comes to mind, please mention it. Also, feel free to weigh in with some advice. I'm open to any and all I can get.
Of course, my concern is, now that I've set up this standard, I'll not adhere to it. Guilt is not a good motivator, but hopefully a little grace will kick in as needed.
If you'd like to see what others have outlined as their social media system, click here. John is keeping a running tally.
Now, what about you? What's your social media system? Please feel free to share in a comment.
