by Molly Jo Realy @MollyJoRealy

Frankly, My Dear . . . : Social Media Saturday

Frankly, My Dear . . . : Social Media Saturday

It’s that time of year again. No, I’m not talking about holidays (at least, not here on the blog.)

I’m talking about what happens after the holidays. That’s write right.

I’m talking about making a plan for the future of your media.

Hey, if you’re like me (and I know at least some of you are), you’re figuring out how to move forward with your health, your budget, your home. So why not your media presence as well?

If you want your social media to grow, you can’t just scatter a bunch of seeds and hope they stick. You have to plot the garden, figure how to feed what needs feeding, and prune what needs pruning.

It’s not too soon to think about a marketing budget, a posting schedule, and contacts you need to make to get the word out.

Overwhelmed? Don’t be.

It’s as easy as getting a weekly calendar and plotting out ahead of time things you want to draw attention to, and maintenance you need to do. If you’re blogging, it might look something like this:

SATURDAY: Schedule posts for week.
SUNDAY: List themes/ideas for next week.
MONDAY: Read book notes, write review.
TUESDAY: Contact/Call/Email so-and-so re: guest blogging
WEDNESDAY: Pull research for next week
THURSDAY: Rough draft posts
FRIDAY: Review/edit posts

Or, if you’re only about posting to Twitter or Instagram, it might look a little different:

SATURDAY: Share recipe posts from so-and-so
SUNDAY: Search hashtags for NYC
MONDAY: Post coffee facts
TUESDAY: Create memes for the week
WEDNESDAY: Follow three new people
THURSDAY: Share three #throwbackthursday posts
FRIDAY: Create list of themes/ideas for next week

Sure, you say. But that’s just weekly. How does a year calendar come into play? Easy-peasy answer coming up! Try to pick a theme for each month before the month starts, and curate information and other links to share. Boom. Job half done. Got guest bloggers? Assign them a day each week or month, and remind them ahead of time. Bam. Another to-do marked off. And once or twice a monthly (even weekly) schedule time to review your stats and responses. See what works, what doesn’t, and change accordingly.

Having a theme and a calendar makes it easy to track the special days you want to celebrate online, the stories you want to write about, and the times you may need someone to fill in if you’re on vacation or at the dentist. [Note to self: Reschedule exam after the holidays.] There are several websites that list Celebration Days. For instance, did you know tomorrow is National Pizza with The Works Except the Anchovies Day? Hey, I’m not making this stuff up!

Now, I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say I think y’all can tell I’ve not been following any calendar guide lately. Short posts, late night posts. But hey. At least I’m posting, right?

Y’all will be happy to know it’s time This Girl picked up next year’s Happy Planner. I’m gonna Plan the bejeebies out of 2018. Who’s with me? #plannersunite

Frankly, My Dear . . . : MoJo's Happy Planners

Frankly, My Dear . . . : MoJo’s Happy Planners

Okay. So that’s my social media scheduling advice. What do you do to keep track, and how do you get through the days you don’t?

TWEET THIS: Social Media Saturday: Planning is Key @MollyJoRealy #socialmedia

And Frankly, My Dear . . . : That’s all she wrote!

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