Carol Stephen, Author at

Seven Myths About Procrastination

November 12, 2015 By Carol Stephen 8 Comments

Seven Myths About Procrastination

When faced with a deadline, how often have you said to yourself, “there’s always tomorrow!” and then put it off? If that sounds like you, you’re not alone. And we’re often told that procrastination is negative. But is it really true that people who procrastinate have no friends, overspend, and are unsanitary? I’ll tell you tomorrow.

Let Someone Else Decide

Issues May Resolve Without You

If you’ve ever decided something quickly, as we’ve all heard we should, how often could the issue be resolved by someone else? Emergencies often resolve themselves if you take no action. When people scream that it’s an emergency, often putting off the decision will force the person who created the issue to handle it themselves.

Decisions at the Last Possible Moment

In his book, Wait: The Art and Science of Delay, Frank Partnoy claims that when faced with a decision, we should assess how long we have to make it, and then wait until the last possible moment to do so. The Romans and Greeks embraced their own procrastination like the big party-goers they were. But then the Puritans came along with a bunch of malarkey that people would embroider onto cushions about “a stitch in time saves nine.” But important decisions need slow cooking, in more of a crock-pot approach than a wok approach.

Reframing the Stigma

What if, instead of procrastination we called it managed delay? Something about the word procrastination makes us seem not in control of our own destinies. But managed delay? That makes us seem to be the managers of time and not vice-versa. And if your time needs better management, here’s Time Management for Busy Entrepreneurs.

Fast and Efficient

Putting off tasks until the last minute might seem inefficient, but when it’s the 11th hour and you have to finish that report sitting on your desk, it’s more likely to get done. Maybe not perfectly done, but done. As long as you’ve left that 11th hour free, that is.

The Art of Procrastination

John Perry, in the Art of Procrastination, “generously acknowledges that he has stood on the shoulders of giants, in particular Robert Benchley, the Algonquin Round Table member. In 1930, Benchley revealed how he mustered the willpower to pore through scientific magazines and build a bookshelf when an article was due.”

Anyone Can Do Any Amount of Work

“The secret of my incredible energy and efficiency in getting work done is a simple one,” Perry wrote. “The psychological principle is this: anyone can do any amount of work, provided it isn’t the work he is supposed to be doing at that moment.” (from a New York Times article)

Productivity Under Pressure

Not everyone can sit down at their desk and produce a masterpiece at an appointed hour. Some are early birds and work best at dawn. Others need to delay until conditions are just so. If you can give your laser focus, but are a late starter, will you be any worse off? Here’s my post on about social media in 60 minutes a day, by the way.

Do You Procrastinate?

Let me know right now! Or later. Whatever.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: delay, efficiency, procrastination

Is There Pie in the Cloud?

November 5, 2015 By Carol Stephen 4 Comments

Is There Pie in the Cloud?

It’s so wonderful that Pinterest has free tech talks. The most recent engineering talk that I attended was about about cloud engineering. I always meet interesting people at these tech talks, enjoy the speakers, and the icing on the cake is the free food.

Irony alert: this time there was no cake. Or pie! Which to all God-fearing clowns is dessert. By the way, if you need to hear more about clowns, here’s an article any pie-loving clown would like: Secrets of the Social Media Circus.

So no cake, no pie, and no dessert of any kind? Well, I’ll just have to make do!*

Easy as pie?

First up for her tech talk was Nori Heikkinen , a Google engineer, who spoke briefly about the history of search and Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) and a stint at Healthcare.gov. She did not make her time with Healthcare.gov sound as easy as pie. And speaking of pie, my favorite kind is blackberry. But since it’s November, there is mostly pumpkin and apple pie.

Since I wasn’t allowed to take pictures, here’s an image of some blackbirds instead. This picture is not meant to resemble any living cloud engineers.

Four and Twenty Blackbirds

Another Highlight was Jeremy Carroll who reassured us that the pins we pinners pin are copied in triplicate so we can rest assured that they won’t disappear like hot pies left on the windowsill spotted by famished blackbirds (not his exact words). And did you ever stop to think about how many things have to happen after a pin is pinned? Someone has to make the list of other things you might like related to that first pin. Whew. Thinking about it might make you need a piece of pie. By the way, this Four and Twenty Blackbirds Pie Book sounds heavenly, doesn’t it? But I digress.

Pie Before E, Except After C

Pie before E Except After C

Raj Patel, head of cloud engineering at Pinterest, made one of the best points of all in his talk: A Pin Lives Forever. He discussed the half life of other social media posts, emphasizing that pins live on and on and can be rediscovered days, weeks, or months after they’re pinned.

You can’t spell Pinterest without PIE

Not to rub it in, but Pinterest without the PIE would just be ntrst! Which doesn’t sound very delicious. If you’d like to read about another Pinterest tech talk, here’s my Discover Pinterest: Behind the Scenes.

*I am in no way intending to malign Pinterest: just thought I’d offer them some pie for thought.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: cloud engineering, dessert, Jeremy Carroll, Nori Heikkinen, pie, Pinterest, Raj Patel

Eight Scary Halloween Characters You Might See on Twitter

October 29, 2015 By Carol Stephen 11 Comments

Eight Scary Halloween Characters You Might See on Twitter

You may have been wandering around some scary parts of Twitter lately, down some dark, lonely hallways late at night. Here’s what you might find during your travels.

Time to let go, Casper

The Ghost

Is this person really on Twitter? There were a couple of tweets in the beginning, but there hasn’t been a tweet since last October. This person’s account has passed away, but is still occupying space in the Twittersphere. Time to let go, Casper.

It is possible to kill a vampire

The Vampire

This is a character who feeds on the life force of others, stealing content, following everyone you follow, and making you feel like you’ve got a kid brother all over again. They insert themselves into all your conversations and tend to steal your energy. The good news? It is possible to kill one of these guys!

The Zombie

The zombie retweets your material and you never know why. They follow you, but they are really pretty slow. They may retweet stuff from 2 weeks ago, a lifetime on the internet. They are animated, yet they are still corpses. Do not trust them to babysit your children. When they do speak, they talk about “the Zombie Apocalypse” a lot.

The Werewolf tweets very late at night during the full moon

The Werewolf

This guy only tweets very late at night during the full moon, when they’re very active. Nothing ever happens during the day for the werewolf. And just when you think they’re completely extinct, one of them wakes up during the day and lets out a grumpy tweet. They may want blood or they may want espresso. It’s difficult to say.

Avoid the Bad Witch or Warlock

The Bad Witch or Warlock

This character is just plain mean. He or she pokes fun at other people, and never has anything nice to say. They take everything the wrong way. It’s all about the opposite of the law of attraction with the mean witch. It’s best to stay away from mean witches.

The Mummy

All wrapped up in themselves and only ever broadcasting, everything has to revolve around the mummy. It’s as though they have cotton in their ears because they never seem to listen to anyone else. The Mummy could use some ideas on how to be social.

The Troll loves to cause trouble

The Troll

The only way to stop trolls is to stop caring about them. They feed on your energy, whether positive or negative. Once they are exposed, they may stop their insults. And on Twitter, you can block or mute them (or report them!).

The Skeleton

The skeleton has no substance. You may see bones, but nothing has been fleshed out. No treats for you, Mr. Skeleton! By the way, here’s a fab article about what the skeletons of famous cartoon characters would look like (no cartoon characters were hurt in the making of the article).

And the scariest of all, and they need no introduction….

The Evil Clown (is there any other kind?!

The Evil Clown!

He’s got the red nose and gets all up in your business. He won’t take no for an answer! Booo! Now evil clowns could really use some clues on how to be social!

Seen any strange characters around Twitter? Let me know in the comments!

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: bad witch, evil clown, ghosts, Halloween, mummy, trolls, Twitter, werewolf, zombies

Why a Zombie Apocalypse Would be Better Than Having an Old School Social Media Manager

October 23, 2015 By Carol Stephen 7 Comments

Why a Zombie Apocalypse Would be Better Than Having an Old School Social Media Manager

We’ve all heard about why it’s a fabulous idea to have an old-school social media manager. But who ever talks about the downside? Nobody, that’s who! And who compares it to a Zombie Apocalypse? Nobody again!

Every Post is So Appropriate

Not only do old-schoolers research posts, but they also make sure each post matches the tone and is perfect for the audience. Again, there is no time for this kind of malarkey during an apocalypse. Staying alive is all that matters. Here’s a terrific article about U.S. States Most and Least Likely to Survive the Zombie Apocalypse.

Mature Content

If you hire an old-school Social Media Manager (“SMM”), they’re probably going to go on about how things were better in “the good old days.” Maybe they were. Because there was no Internet. But rather than you having to listen patiently to that kind of baloney, wouldn’t you rather be honing your basic survival skills? Of course you would.

Lacking in Emojis

Will your Facebook page have enough emoticons on it if you hire an old-school SMM? Probably not. A zombie apocalypse would be full of emoticons, if only because writing with a stick in the sand is already difficult enough. Emoticons are easier. Hence another win for zombie apocalypse!

Those Old-Schoolers Are So Darn Polite!

They Are So Darn Polite!

Why, an old-school SMM would probably say thank you as well as please and also “the pleasure is all mine.” Not only that, they might not cuss at all! Whereas a zombie apocalypse is *&^%ing full of cussing! Zombie Apocalypse: 4. Old-schoolers: 0.

Too Much Research!

Before old-school SMMs post something, they have to read it. But during a zombie apocalypse there is NO TIME. So up it goes! This is a huge time saver. By the way, here’s an article about how to do social media in 60 minutes day.

Old-School SMMs Never Get Drunk and Post

How much fun is that? They don’t have to delete a bunch of posts the day after a binge, either. During an apocalypse, though? Nobody cares! Do the drunken math!

Old-School SMMs Are So Politically Correct

Old-School SMMs Don’t Make Off-Color Jokes

They’ve seen what can happen if you bully or taunt people, and they won’t do that. Those are the best kind of jokes, right? But during an apocalypse nothing is off-limits!

They’re Over Experienced

Old-school SMMs have years of experience, sometimes even in the marketing arena. In an apocalypse, nobody has any experience. It’s all about getting through the day alive.

They’re Over Experienced

Their Communication Skills Are Terrific

Some of them grew up before there was social media or computers. And they know how to use punctuation, too. By the way, do you want to know whether Punctuation is Important? But during a zombie apocalypse nobody cares about the Oxford Comma!

Old-School SMMs Know What to Do in a Crisis

They’ve been in a crisis before, but have they ever played paintball or wielded an AK-47? Probably not. So there you have it! A zombie apocalypse is better than having an old-school SMM!

Zombie Apocalypse

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: adult, emojis, emoticons, old school, Social Media

Twitter Lists for the Power User

October 15, 2015 By Carol Stephen 27 Comments

After having seen people complaining about being listed on Twitter, I thought it was time to update this post.

You might have seen other people using lists on Twitter, or dabbled in creating lists once upon a time, when you first joined Twitter. Maybe you have been added to others’ lists and are curious about why people create them. If so, this post is for you!

Lists are a good thing!

First of all, being listed means that someone thinks your content is valuable. I don’t know how the opposite view got started, but it’s out there now. People will say in their profiles no lists please. You know what? I want people to list me! Please list me! Also: if someone really wants to stalk you, they could put you on a private list and you’d never know. Tweets are public, unless your account is private.

Why Twitter Lists?

Lists are an effective tool for organizing people you want to keep close at hand, those you don’t want to miss, or those you want to keep track of every day. Lists are also a way to gauge an account’s effectiveness. If you’re trying to decide whether to follow an account, check to see if that account is on anyone’s list. If not, that account may have bought fake followers.

Improve Your Followers to Following Ratio

You don’t have to follow the people you list. So you could put all the major news organizations on a list instead of following them all. And if you know someone will never follow you back (for example, @DalaiLama follows NOBODY), you can put him or her on a list. If you add those folks to a list, it will improve your followers:following ratio and also help you cut down on the noise while raising the quality of the tweets you see.

The Nuts and Bolts

Twitter allows you to have 1,000 lists with up to 5,000 accounts each. Even for a power user, that’s a lot of lists! Advanced Twitter users spend a lot of time maintaining lists, you’ll discover. So before you create your own, I recommend you go shopping and look at how people in your industry set up their lists. For example, take a look at Robert Scoble’s (@Scobleizer) fabulous lists. Could you use similar naming conventions? Or could you subscribe to one or more of his lists rather than reinventing the wheel?

Private Versus Public Lists

Private lists are those that only you can see. Public lists are for everyone. One benefit of having a public list is that you can offer it as a service to your followers. For example, @WindowWorksUSA has a list called San Francisco, which is a list of people who are in San Francisco (you can see the list icon on the left in the image below). You could occasionally send a tweet letting your followers know that the list is available. When you update the list, you could even let your followers know that, too.

Three Types of Lists

To see lists, go to a Twitter profile page, click on “lists,” (see above) and you’ll see the lists you create, lists you’re subscribed to, and lists you’re on.

Subscribe to Interesting Lists

While you’re shopping for lists, you will see some interesting ones. Subscribe to them by simply clicking on the “Follow” button.

Examples of Lists

You might have a list called “Social People,” with the people you want to follow and retweet every day. You could also have a private list called “Enemies,” with your competitors on it. If you’re researching something embarrassing, you could create a private list for that. Or, if you have a hobby, such as watching cat videos, you could create a list called “Crazy Cat Ladies.”

Display your lists so you can quickly see who’s tweeting what

Reading Tweets from a List

If you have a scheduler, such as HootSuite, in your arsenal of Twitter Tools, you can create a column for any list. So, for example, say you have subscribed to @Scobleizer’s list, Tech News. You can create a column and follow the technology news every morning through Twitter! Just scroll until you see a story you want to read. And if you’re looking for content to retweet, how about a list called “Retweetables” of your favorite sources (those that your audience would find valuable)?

How Do You Use Lists?

You’ve probably seen some imaginative lists out there! Let me know how you use lists, or ways you’ve seen others use them that you like, or dislike. Please leave a comment, below.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Lists, Power, Private, Public, Twitter, User

10 Social Media Expectations That Are Full of Baloney

October 8, 2015 By Carol Stephen 12 Comments

10 Social Media Expectations That Are Full of Baloney

People have a lot of expectations around social media. They think that it’s magic, and that once they are on social media, they don’t have to do anything except answer the phone calls of people wanting to hand them millions of dollars. Here are some popular misconceptions.

One Friend Will Tell Another Friend

This is a popular one. One friend will tell another friend will tell another friend. Like a giant Multi-Level Marketing scheme, the business or startup is of course at the top of the pyramid. When was the last time you were so excited about a new business that you told someone else? It happens, but rarely.

We’re Going to Raise a Million Dollars!

You might do that, but it could take a loooong time! It’s probably not going to happen in one week.

More Followers Equals More Value

This is the kind of thinking that makes people buy followers! Here’s how you can tell who has the most fake followers, by the way. In fact, the small accounts who take the trouble of engaging with you are probably your biggest fans. The number of fans makes some difference, but not if they’re fake.

Nobody Will See Your Drunk Tweets

Not only will they see those drunk tweets, they’ll take screenshots and share them with their friends and blog about it. By then you’ll be sober. And pretty sad. And that is one case where one friend will tell another friend who will tell another friend.

Having Goals on Social Media is Pointless

Yes, there is a point. If you’d like to move beyond vanity metrics (popularity or number of followers), some good goals might be: retweeting five people a day, having a conversation with someone new on Facebook, or participating in a Twitter Chat.

People on Social Media Are Waiting for a Sales Pitch

Yes and no. If people like you, they might put up with an occasional sales pitch. But selling all the time is so 1974. You probably won’t get a follower in the first place if you’re only selling.

Social Media is Free

One word: Nope! Is your time free? Is your brain power free? Is your creativity free?

It’s Okay to Broadcast without Engagement

What is this? The first day of the Internet? Broadcast-only mode is akin to sending direct messages on Twitter when someone first follows you.

People Won’t Notice Bad Reviews

Um, yes they will. According to this Search Engine Land article, “88% Have Read Reviews To Determine The Quality Of A Local Business.” Don’t you check out businesses online before you buy from them?

My Audience Isn’t Online

You could say that in 1995, but these days everyone is online. Your grandma is looking at pictures of your kids on Facebook and watching cat videos on Youtube.

Did You Have Any Misconceptions When You Started?

I’d love to hear! Let me know in the comments. And thank you for reading.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: expectations, failure, Social Media, Startup

Social Media in 60 Minutes a Day

October 1, 2015 By Carol Stephen 10 Comments

You’re creating your new app, your new software, or your new restaurant. You’ve been at it for months. Suddenly, you look up. Oh no! You need social media. You have to spread the word! But you have nothing! What to do, what to do? After all, 72% of all internet users are now active on social media (Jeff Bullas).

Look at the Top Traffic Generators

Facebook has 1.44 billion monthly active users, of whom 65% are daily users (VentureBeat)
Twitter has 316 million monthly active users (Twitter)
LinkedIn has 300 million users (Forbes)
Google+ has a few million active users (TechTimes)
Pinterest has 50 million users (Mashable)
YouTube has 1 billion monthly active users (Social Media Hat)
Instagram has 300 million monthly users (CNN Money)

Consider Your Demographic

And please don’t say it’s everyone! Are they Millennials? Women with college degrees? Of a particular ethnicity? This article from Pew Research gives an excellent overview. Then consider where that person shops, eats, and lives. Ask five people who would use your product or service how they use social media. A short survey could help. Don’t forget to consider the visual aspect of your business. That is, is it very visual or not at all visual? If it’s very visual, Pinterest and Instagram are good choices.

Consider age, gender, ethnicity, as well as interests and level of techno-savvytude.

Pick Three

Choose the three that appeal most to your target audience. Let’s say you’ve picked Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. The easiest way is to begin with the one you already know or use.

Narrow it to One

Start with the platform you already know to hit the ground running. Say you’re already a Facebook user. Set up a business account. Set up your profile, business hours, and physical address if you have one. Then: 1. Post when your fans are online, 2. Use large, beautiful pictures. 3. Use Facebook’s native scheduler.

Choose Daily Topics

Say you’re going to post five times a week, Monday through Friday. Let’s say you have a restaurant, for instance.

Your daily topics could be:

Monday: DIY food, specials
Tuesday: Behind the scenes with the chefs, nutrition
Wednesday: Wines and beer that goes with food
Thursday: Comfort food
Friday: Why people deserve to have dinner out, Happy Hour

Rinse and Repeat

Once you have Facebook under control (it will take more time in the beginning, naturally), add Twitter to the mix. Then add Pinterest. Now spend 20 minutes per social platform (use the same or similar topics). Schedule some posts and engage with people. Of course, this is greatly simplified. Facebook is not Twitter is not Pinterest. But you get the gist.

Still Stuck?

Hire a social media manager. Here are some things ten of the worst social media managers do. Make sure yours don’t do any of them. Let me know what else you’d like to know in the comments!

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, posting, Social Media, time management, Twitter, YouTube

The Gamification of Social Media

September 24, 2015 By Carol Stephen 16 Comments

The Gamification of Social Media

Robert Nissenbaum (follow him on Twitter at @RNissenbaum) of Tactical Social Media recently wrote a post about fun being the ROI of social media, which made me think. We’re all intrigued by fun, but can it lead to more business? If you read the statistics on how many hours people spend playing games, with every subsequent generation spending more time and money, then you’d say it makes a lot of sense. For instance, Millennials spend 1.47 hours a day playing games, according to the Wall Street Journal. 1.47 hours!

Anything Can Be Gamified

Gamification is the practice of adding gamelike elements to reward behavior in a non-game setting. Think: getting points every time you brush your teeth.Or an award for doing the laundry. Or washing the car. I’d like a prize for doing the dishes! Also: can someone please make music come out of the soap dispenser? Please and thank you.

Foursquare

Foursquare is one of the first social media platforms that made social more fun. With its location-based checkins, badges, mayorships, and points, Foursquare gave users a way to measure excitement during outings. Foursquare’s explosive success has led to its morphing into a company that rewards its users in different ways now, without the intense competition that led to its early success. Still, the idea of play and social became intertwined with Foursquare.

Are Fun and Serious Work At War?

Fun and serious work can coexist peacefully. Playing games at work or playing games for work is possible when the purpose is to get work done. Many people experience a “flow experience” from playing music. And a game player achieves that same “flow” while playing a game. So why not play games at work? In fact, as Mario Herger explains “with new times there are new tools. And “Sales gamification platforms are one new set of tools that you can use.”

Could Gamification Work with Social Media?

Among your co-workers, how about running contests for the post with the biggest reach, or the most comments? You might consider giving away movie tickets, a night out, or a board game as a gift for the tweet or post that creates the most “likes” on a company account. Of course, the playing field would need to be level for each instance. You could also give away a prize for the best tweet during a tweetchat. Here’s a post about Twitter Chats: 101 tips for success.

Gamification Makes Us Smarter

Gabe Zichermann, in his excellent TED talk on gamification, explains how kids, given a game-based curriculum, improved in math and science from a third-grade level to a mid-fourth grade level. And the kids, when interviewed, say that “learning is fun.” He underlines that for Gen G (Millennials and those growing up on games), their primary form of entertainment is games or a game-like environment. And he recommends that we all get in the game so that we can understand kids. You might also like this article about how the San Francisco Giants can improve your game.

Gotta Go

So excuse me but I’ve got to get back to World of Warcraft! If it would be fun for you, leave me a comment. Thank you!

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: analytics, Big data, Facebook, Foursquare, games, gamification, Gen G, Millennials, Social, Social Media, Twitter, video games

Does Punctuation Matter?

September 17, 2015 By Carol Stephen 16 Comments

Does Punctuation Matter?

If you’re not a fan of rants, then you need to avert your eyes from this post. Because I’m getting really, really tired of people who don’t even try with their punctuation. It’s one thing to misplace a comma occasionally or to not know 100% of the time whether to use a semicolon. But c’mon, all you people who write for a living! How about paying just the slightest bit of attention to punctuation? And speaking of writing, here’s my article about why writing headlines is a pain in the asterisk.

Semicolons Don’t Have to be Fearsome

Semicolons: the Most Feared of all Punctuation?

Let’s get the scariest punctuation mark out of the way first. The Oatmeal has an article about semicolons being the most feared of all punctuation. If you’re a fan of the t.v. show “Fringe,” then you know how two people can exist separately. Like Walter and Walternate, they are separate but related. Both Walters have Peter in common; Peter is the person who often brings the two Walters together. And the same is true of semicolons–they bring two separate but related ideas together.

The Question Mark

Question Marks

A question mark indicates that there is a question! If you put one at the end of a sentence that isn’t a question, you could sound like you lack confidence. If there needs to be one (HINT: Who, What, Where, When, and How are friends of the question mark), put one in. Could you do that? Please? And I don’t know about you, but a question mark without any text before it reminds me of Scooby Doo. If you have questions about starting a blog for your startup, here’s an article for that.

Exclamation Marks Are Not the Drones of the Punctuation World

Despite what you may have been thinking, exclamation marks are worthwhile and honorable. Is it their fault that they’ve been abused? No! People tend to overuse exclamation marks, thinking that more is better. That is certainly not the case. If you’re a Scrabble player, here’s a fab article about some historical names for our friend, the exclamation mark: Bang, pling, boing, shriek, gasper, screamer, christer, and other exclamation mark aliases. Warning: some are NSFW.

End Apostrophe Abuse!

Apostrophe Abuse

Everyone abuses the poor apostrophe, with grocery stores being the worst. Listen, we don’t need an apostrophe to know that apples (not “apple’s”) are on sale. Maybe people put them in to let us know that an “S” is coming. If those pesky apostrophes are giving you nightmares, don’t forget to look on the internet for articles. Here’s a good one: Using Apostrophes to Show Possession from the “Dummies” people.

Periods Help You Get to the Point

Periods

This little guy is for ending a sentence. He’s tiny, yet powerful. Just when your sentence gets up to speed, he puts on the brakes and stops it. (Did you see what I did there?) Of all the punctuation out there in Punctuation Land, the period is maybe the easiest to master.

That is all.

End Rant?

Punctuation does matter. And in case you were wondering, there will probably be another post about our friends in the punctuation world. Meantime, tell me how you feel about punctuation! Like it? Hate it? Indifferent? Leave me a comment!

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: apostrophes, commas, exclamation mark, periods, punctuation, question mark

Social Media: Ten Reasons to Automate

September 10, 2015 By Carol Stephen 8 Comments

Social Media: Ten Reasons Why You Should Automate

Many social media consultants feel that automation can hurt your brand. Whenever you mention the “A-word,” people fall on one side of the divide or the other. Hardly anyone is in the middle on this one. And yet, it’s something that can be done gracefully, and without looking like a robot. Of course, I’m not recommending total automation, but a hybrid approach.

Your Mental Health

Even if you’re not a social media consultant, if you must make every post manually, you will surely go insane. And since you’ve carefully been getting enough sleep, why risk your health now?

Time Management

Creating posts all at once, maybe a week at a time, is a better use of your time than doing them one at a time.

Maintain Consistency

If you have decided upon a certain number of posts per day, automation can help you reach that goal.

Time Zones

It’s simply not possible to be on all day long. Everyone needs some time off. And if your client is on the east coast while you are on the west coast, automation is the way to go.

Automation Can Make You Feel More in Control

Feel in Control

Social media can be an overwhelming task, especially if you’re trying to run your startup at the same time. Automation can help you get your life back. By the way, here’s a post about how to blog for your startup, in case you missed it.

Post When Fans Are Online

If you’re up at 2 a.m., you might not want to send out that tweet if your audience isn’t there. Schedule that tweet and go back to bed!

Use a Scheduler

Analytics

When you see a post that you like, use a scheduler such as HootSuite to auto-schedule the retweet for an optimum time. For most of us, that is 9-5. You can use a program like Tweriod to see when your followers are online.

Vacation

Sooner or later you need a few days off. Schedule some stuff, but make sure to have someone check in for you if you do.

Posting Frequency

As more and more people get online, the marketplace is more competitive. It’s possible to post more frequently using automation (as long as the quality still remains high).

Stay Top of Mind

If you’re the most brilliant person in the world, but you don’t show up? No one will remember you.

Scale Your Social Media

With automation, you’ll be able to grow your followers more easily.

A Hybrid Approach

After six years of trying different approaches, I’ve come up with an effective hybrid approach. It’s partly automated (from blog posts), and partly live participation, which includes posting others’ articles and engagement. The hybrid approach has gotten me the most followers and, more importantly, the best relationships. And everyone knows that Relationships are the ROI of social media, as my friend Bridget Willard says.

Where Do You Stand?

Do you automate a little bit? A lot? What tools have helped you? Leave me a comment!

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: analytics, automation, Engagement, Social Media, Startups, time management, Twitter