Scheduling Online Interactions

Justin, you are on my calendar!

Hey, Gini. One of the first times I'm making it to your blog to take a closer look. Not surprised that I really like what I see. Some great advice and conversations out here.

I'm like you...I scheduled time when I first started blogging, tweeting to create a habit. Takes about 21-30 days to create a habit. After that, I fell into a routine. I've been able to keep up that routine with Twitter and Facebook. Sometimes I fall out of my routine with blogging and have to try and recreate the habit.

@Graytuna, you do make your way around the blogs, which is smart. Great way to build community.

@Angie Hey there. Nice to see you here. How are things with you these days? Angie does an awesome online radio show -- Twitter Talk Radio. Everyone should check it out.

@Gini Hoping we can still get together when I'm in Chicago in June. I'll be in touch :).

@jgoldsborough

Graytuna! I keep seeing you everywhere. How does a young, busy teenager get so involved in commenting on blogs? You seem to have figured out what works for you. Perhaps you should be telling us??

@Ellissa - Do you feel satisfied with scheduling your time so specific (like, for retweeting) ?

Another important point is to (beside the normal schedueled time for social media) scheduele some time for creativity.It is important to stay sharp and creative to attract more followers, readers and contacts. Perhaps a different event weekly /monthly :)

Great post & video! I find I really have to make a point to schedule my online interactions, and feel a bit guilty if a day or two goes by and I've been ' radio silent'. But I also try to schedule what kind of interactions I will be doing; eg retweeting, online chats, posting a guest blog or posting a comment. Staying on top of this mix can be challenging, but creating a mix of interaction keeps it stimulating.

Hi Angie, my dear friend! Love your gravatar! Yes, we advise clients to schedule all things online. For interaction, we advise first thing in the morning, right before lunch, and right before they leave for the night (knowing that we're monitoring conversations in the off hours). Then, depending on the client, we recommend they schedule an hour a day to blog. We do have some clients who like to write their blog posts on Sunday morning so we let them do that. :)

Davina, totally agree with you! Even as I was trying to make it habit, I scheduled it. Now I can't get by without my social media, blogging, reading and responding to other blogs, and interacting (as you well know).

Hey Gini, Great to see your face on video. I love that I feel like I almost get to visit with you even though we are so far apart!

Great insight about how you run AD. Question. Do you advise clients to have a schedule for interactions? I find that clients get easily overwhelmed when beginning if they don't have a schedule.

Gini, think maybe there's a difference in planning vs. scheduling. Like you I'm online and interactive all the time, so it's nothing to respond to or write a blog post at 10 p.m. on a Wednesday or over the weekend. It's not scheduled, but certainly part of my solo PR business plan. For newcomers, it may be easier to schedule things, until it becomes habit. FWIW.

Hi Gini Dietrich! Thanks a lot for sharing your interesting point of view :)

I'm trying to plan my use of social media and since I'm a young, busy teenager - it is a tough challenge.

What do you think about the situation teenagers face when it comes to scheduling online interactions? Can you see any advantages/disadvantages that young people might have, compared to older people (B2B Marketing/Blog guys :) )

We have a client that writes all of his blog posts on Sunday morning...before his family gets up. And then he just schedules them to publish every morning. But he has a team of people that interact online and they do it 24/7; no time scheduled for that because accessibility is the name of the game.

First, thank you for answering the question!

It is always good to hear other approaches to managing time around social media. I have to agree that it is always interesting to try to explain the need to be interacting 24/7, my wife still asks me at least once a week for a refresher on "what I do".
I still try to schedule time to ensure that I check my networks, share content, and create blog posts, that said I do try to always take things as they come, and create when the time, inspiration and information presents itself.