How to Manage the Time You Spend on Social Media In Three Simple Steps Using Google Docs

If you have a marketing plan that integrates social media, you know how easy it can be to get bogged down in applications, new social networks, SEO, and general SMM (Social Media Marketing) research and development.  The time suck is one of the biggest road blocks to social media success.  

To be effective with your social media strategy you need to track:

• The completion of your goals (social media activities)
• How long it took you to complete your goals
• Feedback- The good and the bad of each activity daily.
  

There's an easy way to track your social media activities.  All you need is an online stopwatch with sound, and an online chart that tracks your social media activities.  I am going to show you how to create a Social Media Marketing Log using Google Docs.

1.  Get the goal setting template.

Download the runner's log template from Google Docs into your Google Docs Account.  You will need to be logged into Google Docs to do this.   The runner's log turned out to be the perfect fit for charting social media marketing activities.  Are you surprised?

2.  Edit the Runner's Log Template to fit your Social Media Marketing Goals

You can edit the Runner's Log inside of Google Docs.  I removed these fields on the form:  Location, Distance, Who I Ran With, and Approximate Calories burned and added one field- Type of Networking.  When you are done you should have these fields on the form:  Type of Social Media Marketing Activity, Time Spent, Notes. 

You can also change the theme, there are 68 total. Choose a theme that you don't mind looking at everyday.

3.  Publish your Social Media Marketing Log In Your Google Docs Account

Hit Save in Google Docs when you are done and it will provide you with a link to view the Social Media Marketing Log you have created. 

Your responses will funnel to a spreadsheet in your Google Docs account that will be timestamped for you to easily analyze and track from anywhere you have an internet connection.

That's it your done.

There are many time tracking and project management tools on the internet but this simple chart gets the job done and will grow as your social media efforts expand.  Sometimes the more complex tools become a time waster when there is more time spent configuring and playing with them then actually using them to track your social media efforts.

Simply put, sometimes the simple things can be the most effective measurements of success.

Have fun and enjoy.  Now you know how to manage the time you spend on social media in three simple steps using Google Docs.

Subscribe to Blogging In The Rain, A Real Estate Marketing Blog

If you enjoyed this post on time management check out these:

• A Cure for Time Exhaustion.  The Solution that Business Planning Forgot
  
• How to Nip Blogging Schizophrenia in the Bud