In 2004 TheFacebook was created in a dorm room at Harvard to help students keep in touch with each other. It’s been many years since TheFacebook became a household brand connecting everyone from students to families, and it’s a marvel to see how much has changed for the platform over the years.

Social media has transitioned from being a place to connect to so much more. It offers a customer service line, educational platform, lead generator, advertising avenues, a live streaming service and so much more. It’s become something some business people put off, and some to spend most of their time on.

While it’s provided a larger audience to market to, it’s also given business owners more to do. More to research. Things like:

Where to find the time to properly do social media?
Where do we find content to post?
Where do we keep up with all the new rules and regulations?
How do we learn the dos and don’ts on social media?

These are questions I’m asked daily. Sometimes multiple times.

I’ve said it before, there’s no quick and easy way to do social media for your business. It’s not as easy as posting once a week and you’re done.

So how do you find time in your already jammed packed schedule and to do list to figure out what social media platform to be on? How often to post? What to post?

I always suggest to my students to break down their social media tasks and integrate them into their every day to-do list.

Here’s my 10 suggestions on how to find time for Social Media in your business

1. Add it to your daily, weekly and monthly to do list’s.

If I don’t write down all the things I have to do for my business to keep growing, it’s easy to forget something when we are already balancing so much. Make sure you write down in your calendar the time to get this task completed.

Personally, I use a basic spreadsheet to track my social media actions for myself and my client. Once the content has been created and scheduled, I can add a satisfying little check to my to do list.

2. Block out time.

Once you’ve made the goal to fit social media into your schedule, it’s time to block off when you’ll work on it.

Look for a time in your schedule that’s a little less busy as a rule. Is Monday morning a little less busy for you? Sunday night? Wednesday afternoon?

There’s no right or wrong time to do your social media content as long as you do it. Set a time that works for you and work on your content. Want to make your time most productive read my blog post about batch working.

3. Make a plan

I have mentioned this quote on many occasions and will say it again Fail to Plan, Plan to fail!

Knowing what you are actually going to post about that day, the next day and even the next week will save you time in the long run.

Take the time each month to plan your content calendar. Not sure where to start? I talked here about benefits of using a content calendar.

4. Create content ahead of time.

Once you know when you are going to post and what you are going to post now it’s time to actually create the content!

I generally create the whole month or at least two weeks of content at one time, so I can schedule it ahead of time.

Apps and tools that help me create the content are included in this post.

5. Use a scheduling app.

Once you have your content done, you can’t forget about it. Now you need to find time to schedule your content. Don’t believe that pre-scheduling your content will save you time overall? Read this blog post.

6. Follow people regularly

Creating amazing content is only part of a good online presence. Once you’re posting regularly, it’s time to turn your attention to gaining followers and making connections.

Aim to set aside time each day to follow 5-10 new people on one of your platforms. Choose people that are in your industry, someone you admire or people who fit into your target demographic. Not sure where they’re hanging out? I’ve covered that right here.

7. Get social

Schedule in time to interact with your current followers on each platform for 15 minutes at least 3 times a week. Ask questions, comment on their posts, give them feedback and show them some love.

Really love a post? Consider sharing it online. Tag friends in the comments you think would be interested.

I suggest using a stopwatch app to make sure you’re not spending too much time on this task.

8. Ask for a like

How do people get so many likes and follows on their pages? They ask! Aim to invite 5 new people to follow you on your social platforms per week. Start with people who like your content all the time and aren’t already following you.

9. Keep track of important stats

Check your social media analytics to see which posts did well the previous week. Use your analytics to determine what type of content your users like seeing so you’re spending time creating the right kind of content for your audience.

10. Keep a list of proven hashtags for saving time

Researching proper hashtags takes a lot of time out of your schedule when done properly. Make sure to save a list of hashtags you know work for your audience so that you can save time during your batch scheduling.

Many days makes smaller workloads

If social media looks like a daunting task to surmount each month, aim to break up the large tasks into smaller ones. And then spread out those smaller tasks so you’re only tackling 15 minutes to an hour of work each day.

Choose the times that these tasks will fit into your schedule. Maybe you’ll want to work on your engagement over the first cup of coffee each day. Or close out your day by commenting on posts and finding new people to follow.

As you start applying these tips into your schedule in a manner that works best for you, you’ll find that social media doesn’t take up nearly as much time as you thought!

Have a system that works well for you? Share in the comments below!

10 tips to stay consistent on social