7 minutes.

That’s all it would take to effectively manage your social media presence.

No, I’m not joking.

One of the reasons most small business owners give up on social media is because they don’t have the time for it.

How do I know?

Let me tell you a story about how smallbiz social media can overwhelm.

**like they do it in the movies and TV series** The following episode is based on actual people. Names changed to protect privacy!

Laura {not her real name} is the owner of Fuzzy Buzzy Boutique {not a real name, again. It’s a story, remember!}, a delightful online store that offers gorgeous children’s clothes and toys. All carefully chosen and all organic and 100% safe for little ones.

She’s excited because it’s exactly what she wanted to do and she can’t wait to share it with the rest of the world.

So, she creates a Facebook page, a Pinterest profile, a Twitter account, a G+ page and gets set up on Instagram.

She starts posting on all these place. Every day. sometimes 3-5 times a day. She can do it. She has the time and that initial excitement that we all have when we start something new.

But then, as word about her store and its products spreads, she gets busy. So, the posting frequency drops and on a few networks, stops altogether.

She also notices that her updates aren’t getting much attention.

She’s also finding it increasingly difficult to know what to post.

She starts getting restless and even, frustrated by social media.

Is it really worth the time and effort?

Does she need all these accounts?

How on earth will she grow her business if she spends all day posting all over the place?

How will she continue to stay in people’s minds once they move away from her Facebook page or Pinterest board?

Plus with most of her updates not getting even a single click, are they really converting?

She’s confused and not so excited about this social network thing anymore.

She considers shutting it down altogether.

She doesn’t.

Because she realizes that posting on social networks effectively can be easier and more engaging.

She learns the 7-minute recipe to social media engagement, applies it successfully and she and her social networks live happily ever after.

The 7-Minute Method to Smallbiz Social Media Management

Before you start with the 7-Minute Method, do this:

Send out a survey to your email list, blog readers, prospective customers and existing community members to find out where they hang out online. This will help you identify whether you really need to be on a gazillion networks or just one or two.

You also need to have a social media calendar ready with updates to go. I show you how to do this in The Content Cookbook {due for launch realllllly soooooon!!!} and even, give you ready-to-use, high on engagement, customizable updates that cover everything from email optins to products and service offerings.

So, you need a mix of conversation, sharing and showcasing. I aim for a 70-30 split with 70% updates for conversation and sharing while 30% can be for showcasing your products and services.

Once you’ve done these two things, here’s what you need to do:

1. Focus on one platform every day, as far as possible. It’s better to spend the bulk of your limited time in a quality manner on one network than to spend a fraction on four.

2. Spend the first 2-3 minutes liking, replying and responding to comments or tweets. If you get a lot of engagement, great!! Set two 7-minute time slots, once in the morning and once in the evening to check-in!

3. Spend the next 4-5 minutes, copying your updates from your calendar and either scheduling them into Facebook or using my fave, Buffer to share them across platforms.

Ta-dah. Done.

Having your social media updates ready for you means that you don’t need to struggle with what to post on social networks.

You don’t have to waste time finding things to post about.

You can be laser-focused, highly engaged and very effective with your updates.

You can bring people back to your website and gain credibility as an expert via social media.

You can make social media sing for you and not leave you singed with frustration.

Let’s make being social about being social and not about being swamped and stressed out!! I can’t wait to share The Content Cookbook and The Social Spread with you to help you do exactly that!! Staying social can be fun, productive and best of all, result-oriented!!