We all think we have a super power. If we don’t, we can find it. Automation is what’s going to help you. Yesterday we discussed leverage and how you can multiply your way to success.
You’ll need some automation in there and systematization and that’s the secret to the super powers.
What I mean by having a super power, is that little old you can do a lot for your business. You have that power within you. People from the outside will say to you, “how on earth do you do all that?”
We all have 24 hours in the day. Have you ever wondered how some people manage to do a lot during their day and they probably don’t have a huge staff or anything like that? It’s smoke and mirrors — that’s all it is.
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What Type of Tools Can We Use?
The best area for this is Social Media. The best example to look at is Social Media. You will want to be in a lot of places at one time, right? Places like Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, Google plus, and LinkedIn. We’re not even including blogging, Youtube or the others. How on earth can you do all this on the same time? Automation!
So what do we use? The common tools are things like Hootsuite, Sprout Social and TweetDeck are tools you can use for Twitter. Quite often they will work with a lot of the other Social Media platforms as well and sometimes you need to go for the paid version to get into other ones.
Meet Edgar and Buffer
Two of my favorite tools that we use are Meet Edgar and Buffer, where you can schedule everything ahead. Hootsuite takes a a bit of effort, but you can schedule directly into Twitter or Facebook. Meet Edgar and Buffer are designed for scheduling on the go.
Buffer will have a preset schedule every Monday to Friday. You set the hours you want things to post and when you add them to your queue, it will post it for you. You can set it as often as you like, as little as you like.
Edgar has the advantage of adding things into a library so things can be reused. So for instance if I have tweeted a fantastic info-graphic about some trends in Social Media, lots of people will not see that.
That’s going to be on the Twitter stream for about three seconds. Why can’t I tweet the same thing a week later? Why can’t I tweet it a month later? If it’s that good I want people to see it.
That is not spam. Lots of people are doing this. Brendan Breshad, who has a massive following of over a million people on his list, puts the same post out on Facebook every single Sunday and still has people coming toward him. No one has ever said to him, “stop putting the same thing out Brendan”. They don’t see it every time.
Feedly
Let’s talk about Feedly. Now if you use Feedly you’ll be looking for blogs and things in your subject area that interest you. If you want to share that with someone, you don’t want to have to type it in and schedule every individual thing. You can just hit buffer and it will load it into Buffer for you.
Now while these are the automated tools to help you be everywhere at once, you still need to be real. You need to be tweeting in between those tweets as a real person. This is how people are producing such excellent content without being there.
Ever wondered if people take a break on holidays? Do they take days off? This is how they do it. They schedule and plan it ahead. They might spend half a Monday working out their entire week’s scheduling of Social Media. It’s all done and then they just have to live respond and reach for those things.
Let’s Talk Systematization
Now add to that automation a little systematization (which is to create a system of how you do your process, so once you start doing it you will write out how it’s done.)
Now, your super power really will kick in, because at this point, you can have somebody else do that for you. Teach someone how you find good material; what you consider good, what you consider not good.
Teach them how you form a link, a title, a headline. Show them how to do it. Write it down. Create a video using Jing to show screenshots of your process. Don’t forget that’s the free tool Jing.com discussed it before.
Pop it up, host it on screen cast for free part of Jing. Show them how you do it and then have them do it, and you monitor how they do it.
Work with them to perfect it. It will make it easier for them and for you and to make it work better . Don’t forget to check in every now and again. Manage the system, and the system will manage itself. You go off and do something else.
Automate what you do, not in a spammy way, but in a sensible way, making sure to add it to your systems. Create a team, outsource, insource it’s going to make you super man or super woman and you’ll be surprised.
Tuesday’s Toolbox Tip
This week, my toolbox tip is going to be Buffer. Buffer has both a free and paid version. The paid versions run for around 10$or 12$ a year. We use buffer and it’s great.
The other thing I like about Buffer is that they are one of the most transparent companies on the entire internet. They show their profits, their figures of subscribers and everything. They show their costs and their salaries.
Be sure to check them out and give them a try.
What is your favorite automation tool that helps make your job easier?
