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Social networking has become one of the most important ways to complement business communication, but its also one of the biggest sources of distraction and time suck for otherwise productive entrepreneurs.

Learning to manage your own social networking time will help you leverage all the great benefits while avoiding the unwanted side effects of lost time and productivity.

Here are just a few tips to get you going

Before committing to participation on another social network, make sure you have a very clear idea of what you want to accomplish. How does your time spent on that network contribute back to your business, marketing, and sales goals?

Think about it if you were going on a trip by car, youd need to have some idea of a destination, where to start, and what roads youre going to take to get there. This kind of planning is even more important on social media because its just too easy to get distracted.

Its important to know what you want to get out of your networking efforts.Whether its the ever-changing political climate that gets you all fired up or a funny meme of a cat saying something hilarious, weve all been distracted online.

Take time to identify your goals over the long term (expand your reach, get more loyalty from your audience, etc.) and what you intend to do on a short term, daily basis (respond to comments, post a new video).Whether you use paper and pen, mind mapping software, or voice memos to yourself to plan this out, record your ideas somewhere so you have a rock solid plan for what you hope to do.

I like using Trello to help organize themes and expected outcomes for each network where I spend time.

Limit the Networks Youre Involved In

Too many business owners try to be everywhere at once. This is a recipe for burnout and it isnt likely to grow your businessbecause you wont have time to work on your actual business.Its important to select only a handful of key social networks and if youre just getting started, simply begin with one network and expand from there.

Of course, finding out what works best for your business will take some experimentation. Just dont rush to do everything at once because you need to dedicate the appropriate time and effort to seeing what produces the most benefit.Your time is money, and its important to focus more on those activities that directly generate income wherever you can, which brings me to the next tip.

Prioritize Other Tasks First Before Social Networking

On a daily basis, work on your core business tasks first and then try saving social networking for the latter part of the day. That way, you can ensure everything that needs to get done gets taken care of.Carving out time at the end of your day will allow you a chance to do more exploration, and you can use that time to find new people to follow, interesting articles to share and more.

Speaking of prioritizing, decide how much time you are going to spend and what youre going to do once you log into your social networking accounts.And always remember, when you log in serve your fans first reply to comments, likes and shares.

Define Your Notification Strategy

Theres nothing more detrimental to productivity than being interrupted all day long with emails telling you about new retweets, likes and comments. You can limit these interruptions in a few ways:

Get Help with Your Social Networking

Theres no reason you have to do all your social networking by yourself. Even if youre a solo entrepreneur, you can hire a team or have an assistant alongside to help you.If you do bring in help, there are several common tasks they might assist with.

Building a team that represents your brand pulls a lot of pressure away from you and allows you to focus more on strategy and business building.

Dont let social networking overwhelm or consume you, or become a time suck. As long as you define your goals, create space in your calendar, and incorporate systems that work for you, social networking can be a huge advantage for your business!

How do you manage the time you spend on social networking? Share with us in the comments below!

Tanya Smith is among the top rising professionals in social media marketing. A creative content strategist, Tanya coaches service providers to leverage snack-size content for maximum visibility.

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Original post:
Tips for Managing Your Time on Social Networking - Rocks Digital (blog)