You ever see those books promising you will that you will have Warren Buffet's riches through social medial on just 15 minutes a day? Yeah, just an FYI, they lied. If you actually were involved on all the social networks and blogging, don't count on less than 3 hours per DAY, and that might be the minimum.

How did I come up with this horrid number? By experience. Let's look at just some typical stuff.

1. Read tech or industry news- Long form articles get saved. (15 minutes)

2. Twitter has multiple parts: A)Look over Twitter Trending topics to find out if there was a disaster, big announcement, or whatever that I might want to tweet about or blog about. B)Look at tweets from list C)RT ones you think followers will enjoy. D) Quick glance at regular stream to see if I can answer a question, thank someone for a RT, or whatever. (15-25 minutes)

3. Facebook- Look over topics being discussed in groups I belong to. Make comments, if appropriate. Look over your personal stream to catch up on babies, marriages, divorces, and food porn. Add a video or blog post to your business page, if necessary. (15 minutes).

4. Pinterest/Instagram- Pinning, liking, commenting, and adding your own pins. (20 minutes)

5. Snapchat Watch the snaps of interest, post your snaps, and comment (15 minutes)
6. LinkedIn/Quora- Look at notices, skim read the new stuff, congratulate, invite some for connections, answer a question, comment (20 minutes)

7. Blog Post- I had not forgotten the post. Actually, you could do this second, but for our purposes we will put it last. Write your content, make or find an accompanying picture, and then distribute if not done automatically. Respond to comments throughout the day. (30 minutes)

8. Youtube- You could forgo the Blog post and use video instead. Either way, you need to also view your subscriptions, comment, respond, and share. (15 minutes)

9. Instagram- Take photos, submit, hashtag, view other photos, comment, and follow (15 minutes).

These are just the top ones. If you belong to special ones, then you have to add those on your schedule. Of course, these times will vary, and if you want to stay sane, I don't recommend doing them all everyday. There are some shortcuts like using Buffer to schedule your posts. The only thing here is that if there has been a major tragedy and you send out an auto tweet, you will get hounded.So, plan your tweets, but also be quick to adjust the posting time or content if something major happens during the day. And please, don't use tragedy to try to sell. That doesn't go over well at all.

Other things that could add to your social media time is doing Google Hangouts or Twitter chats. They generally last an hour. If you want to run your own (hint. hint) set up one on a weekly basis.

A sample Twitter chat #smallbizchat


So, as you can see, it takes time to be social online, just as it does offline.

Social Media· social media for business· Social Networking· social networks

Social Media is Time Consuming But Worth It

You ever see those books promising you will that you will have Warren Buffet's riches through social medial on just 15 minutes a day? Yeah, just an FYI, they lied. If you actually were involved on all the social networks and blogging, don't count on less than 3 hours per DAY, and that might be the minimum.

How did I come up with this horrid number? By experience. Let's look at just some typical stuff.

1. Read tech or industry news- Long form articles get saved. (15 minutes)

2. Twitter has multiple parts: A)Look over Twitter Trending topics to find out if there was a disaster, big announcement, or whatever that I might want to tweet about or blog about. B)Look at tweets from list C)RT ones you think followers will enjoy. D) Quick glance at regular stream to see if I can answer a question, thank someone for a RT, or whatever. (15-25 minutes)

3. Facebook- Look over topics being discussed in groups I belong to. Make comments, if appropriate. Look over your personal stream to catch up on babies, marriages, divorces, and food porn. Add a video or blog post to your business page, if necessary. (15 minutes).

4. Pinterest/Instagram- Pinning, liking, commenting, and adding your own pins. (20 minutes)

5. Snapchat Watch the snaps of interest, post your snaps, and comment (15 minutes)
6. LinkedIn/Quora- Look at notices, skim read the new stuff, congratulate, invite some for connections, answer a question, comment (20 minutes)

7. Blog Post- I had not forgotten the post. Actually, you could do this second, but for our purposes we will put it last. Write your content, make or find an accompanying picture, and then distribute if not done automatically. Respond to comments throughout the day. (30 minutes)

8. Youtube- You could forgo the Blog post and use video instead. Either way, you need to also view your subscriptions, comment, respond, and share. (15 minutes)

9. Instagram- Take photos, submit, hashtag, view other photos, comment, and follow (15 minutes).

These are just the top ones. If you belong to special ones, then you have to add those on your schedule. Of course, these times will vary, and if you want to stay sane, I don't recommend doing them all everyday. There are some shortcuts like using Buffer to schedule your posts. The only thing here is that if there has been a major tragedy and you send out an auto tweet, you will get hounded.So, plan your tweets, but also be quick to adjust the posting time or content if something major happens during the day. And please, don't use tragedy to try to sell. That doesn't go over well at all.

Other things that could add to your social media time is doing Google Hangouts or Twitter chats. They generally last an hour. If you want to run your own (hint. hint) set up one on a weekly basis.

A sample Twitter chat #smallbizchat


So, as you can see, it takes time to be social online, just as it does offline.

Everyone has a platform or the ability to build one with a click of a mouse. We call that social media. Fill in few lines, upload a picture (real or imaginary) and they have a space. Now what they do with that space is rather interesting.
1. Soapbox- It doesn't matter what it is, they think their audience wants to hear it. We are not talking once in a while, but often enough that you tend to unfollow or ignore their posts.
2. Complainers- This is an interesting group because sometimes their complaints are valid, but what is not valid is using their posts as a way to manipulate companies into doing something for them which is not warranted or deserved. The main group are people too lazy to pick up a phone or go to the Website, so they just post their gripe, and then gripe more if a representative from that company does not contact them publicly to air out their issues. It's manipulative at its core, but sadly, it's effective, particularly if the complainer has at large following.
3. You can throw a rock and hit a social media "expert." Most are not one, it's that plain and simple.
4. Tech writers are not that original. As a reader of nearly 15 of them, too often they tend to skim off each others ideas, even down to quoting the same material.
5. There are lots of VALID opportunities but you will have to sift through to find them. I partnered with some major companies on the basis of one tweet and an idea of how to utilize it. It completely changed the direction I was going.
6. You can make some great friends, but by all means keep out of the social media clicks and dramas. Millions of people may be on social sites, but you find the community is actually really small.
7. Handle your business. It can be easy with all the social media websites to get whiplash trying to decide which one(s) to be on. Really, it is a mute point if using for personal reasons. If using for business, go where your audience is, and that doesn't require much for most businesses.
8. Have fun. Way too often you can see one post too many telling you how you are doing it wrong, ignore them and talk to your people the way you like or the way they are used to you talking to them. My tweets are really mixed, because it is really built on my personality. As much as I have tried to change it, I always go back to it. I do that because I don't like games and I handle people online the same as I would if they were in my home. I don't have to try to remember how I am supposed to act.

So, you have a platform, use it but please never take people who have invited you into their virtual world for granted.

What say you?

Social Media· Social Networking

What I Have Learned Through Social Media

Everyone has a platform or the ability to build one with a click of a mouse. We call that social media. Fill in few lines, upload a picture (real or imaginary) and they have a space. Now what they do with that space is rather interesting.
1. Soapbox- It doesn't matter what it is, they think their audience wants to hear it. We are not talking once in a while, but often enough that you tend to unfollow or ignore their posts.
2. Complainers- This is an interesting group because sometimes their complaints are valid, but what is not valid is using their posts as a way to manipulate companies into doing something for them which is not warranted or deserved. The main group are people too lazy to pick up a phone or go to the Website, so they just post their gripe, and then gripe more if a representative from that company does not contact them publicly to air out their issues. It's manipulative at its core, but sadly, it's effective, particularly if the complainer has at large following.
3. You can throw a rock and hit a social media "expert." Most are not one, it's that plain and simple.
4. Tech writers are not that original. As a reader of nearly 15 of them, too often they tend to skim off each others ideas, even down to quoting the same material.
5. There are lots of VALID opportunities but you will have to sift through to find them. I partnered with some major companies on the basis of one tweet and an idea of how to utilize it. It completely changed the direction I was going.
6. You can make some great friends, but by all means keep out of the social media clicks and dramas. Millions of people may be on social sites, but you find the community is actually really small.
7. Handle your business. It can be easy with all the social media websites to get whiplash trying to decide which one(s) to be on. Really, it is a mute point if using for personal reasons. If using for business, go where your audience is, and that doesn't require much for most businesses.
8. Have fun. Way too often you can see one post too many telling you how you are doing it wrong, ignore them and talk to your people the way you like or the way they are used to you talking to them. My tweets are really mixed, because it is really built on my personality. As much as I have tried to change it, I always go back to it. I do that because I don't like games and I handle people online the same as I would if they were in my home. I don't have to try to remember how I am supposed to act.

So, you have a platform, use it but please never take people who have invited you into their virtual world for granted.

What say you?

Everyone knows Twitter.com is a great tool for people that have an online or offline business and there are third-party web services that enhance its usefulness. Twitter is fast, free and very effective - perfect for the online or offline business owner. You can sign up for a free Twitter account and get going in no time and with not too much effort. All of the third-party websites listed below are offered free as well. People of all ages, incomes and locations are signing up for Twitter - and they can easily become your customers.

Here are 7 cool Twitter tools that will make your twittering faster, better and more profitable:

1. Grouptweet.com: Do you have a team of people who are all on Twitter, but you don't want the info you tweet to be sent out for all to see? Grouptweet.com lets you send a tweet to a select group of people and keeps it from prying eyes.

2. Twittermoms.com: This site lets you connect with thousands of moms on Twitter. This is great if you are a mom, but it can also be great if you have a product or service that benefits moms (but just make sure your Tweets aren't spammy, or you will quickly get the boot).

3. Tweetbeep.com: This tool is like having Google Alerts for Twitter. You can have alerts set up for your name, company, product, service, or anything else. If someone tweets about it, you get notified. (Kind of like how your earn burn when someone talks about you, but high-tech and a lot better!)

4. Twitzer (Firefox addon): Normally, Twitter tweets are limited to only 140 characters. This nifty little gizmo lets you post more than that.

5. Twitterfeed.com: This gadget will feed your blog posts to your Twitter account. You can choose the frequency of the tweets.

6. Strawpollnow.com: Create a poll on Twitter with this fun tool. It appears to allow comments, as well. It is great for getting your followers to interact with a tweet of yours.

7. Twitturly.com: This tool lets you keep track of what URL's are talked about on Twitter.

These cool tools can help you bring your business to the next level by keeping you informed, connected and up-to-date. Of course, the key to any Twitter success is to acquire as many quality followers as you can. Without very many Twitter followers, all of your marketing efforts and tweets won't have much impact on your bottom line. Go signup now at Twitter.com.

Daryl Daughtry is the founder and CEO of a marketing membership service for solo independent professionals, entrepreneurs, and small business owners located online at http://www.SoloBusinessProfessional.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Daryl_Daughtry

Social Media· Social Networking· Twitter

7 "Must Have" Twitter Tools

Everyone knows Twitter.com is a great tool for people that have an online or offline business and there are third-party web services that enhance its usefulness. Twitter is fast, free and very effective - perfect for the online or offline business owner. You can sign up for a free Twitter account and get going in no time and with not too much effort. All of the third-party websites listed below are offered free as well. People of all ages, incomes and locations are signing up for Twitter - and they can easily become your customers.

Here are 7 cool Twitter tools that will make your twittering faster, better and more profitable:

1. Grouptweet.com: Do you have a team of people who are all on Twitter, but you don't want the info you tweet to be sent out for all to see? Grouptweet.com lets you send a tweet to a select group of people and keeps it from prying eyes.

2. Twittermoms.com: This site lets you connect with thousands of moms on Twitter. This is great if you are a mom, but it can also be great if you have a product or service that benefits moms (but just make sure your Tweets aren't spammy, or you will quickly get the boot).

3. Tweetbeep.com: This tool is like having Google Alerts for Twitter. You can have alerts set up for your name, company, product, service, or anything else. If someone tweets about it, you get notified. (Kind of like how your earn burn when someone talks about you, but high-tech and a lot better!)

4. Twitzer (Firefox addon): Normally, Twitter tweets are limited to only 140 characters. This nifty little gizmo lets you post more than that.

5. Twitterfeed.com: This gadget will feed your blog posts to your Twitter account. You can choose the frequency of the tweets.

6. Strawpollnow.com: Create a poll on Twitter with this fun tool. It appears to allow comments, as well. It is great for getting your followers to interact with a tweet of yours.

7. Twitturly.com: This tool lets you keep track of what URL's are talked about on Twitter.

These cool tools can help you bring your business to the next level by keeping you informed, connected and up-to-date. Of course, the key to any Twitter success is to acquire as many quality followers as you can. Without very many Twitter followers, all of your marketing efforts and tweets won't have much impact on your bottom line. Go signup now at Twitter.com.

Daryl Daughtry is the founder and CEO of a marketing membership service for solo independent professionals, entrepreneurs, and small business owners located online at http://www.SoloBusinessProfessional.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Daryl_Daughtry