“How much time should I spend on Twitter?” is a question I get asked repeatedly. And last week one person upped the game by asking, “But what if I only have 20 minutes a day?”
OK, I accept the challenge! Here are my thoughts on being an effective Twitter-er in only 20 minutes a day. I’ve divided this into two categories — 20 minutes a day for beginners and then experienced folks.
The 20-minute challenge for beginners
In a world focused on “engagement” and “conversation” I’m going to give some unconventional advice — Forget about it for a few weeks. If you’re a beginner and can only spend 20 minutes a day on Twitter, concentrate on building a relevant tribe of followers. Two reasons for this:
- You’ll become disheartened trying to engage with people if there is nobody interesting to engage with and
- Twitter is simply boring if you’re only following 12 people and you’ll probably quit. Critical mass means following at least 150 active tweeters.
So in the first two months, tweet at least once a day so people see that you’re active, but spend half of your time finding and following interesting people. Don’t worry if they follow back or not. That will come in time.
In this related post on building influence through Twitter, I’ve listed some easy ways to identify and follow interesting people who are relevant to your business and interests. And if you’re just starting out and need some advice on what to tweet about, here is some help on that topic.
Now for the other half of your time, spend it reading, and occasionally responding to, tweets from your new friends. This will give you the chance to see what kind of tweets you like, which is instructive when you start tweeting more heavily yourself. If you’re unfamiliar with the quirky language of Twitter, do a search for one of the many tutorials that are out there. Most people quit in the first two weeks, so hang in there and get help if you need it!
The 20-minute challenge for pros
Let’s face it, if you’re really immersed in Twitter, the challenge is probably how to not spend ALL your time on this addictive little channel! Once you have surrounded yourself with an interesting tribe, it’s easy to “go down the rabbit hole” and follow link after interesting link.
Now that you have built up a critical mass of followers, it’s time to take advantage of this amazing resource and engage and build meaningful connections. Here are a few time-saving corner-cutters:
1) Get in the habit of sharing. You’re constantly reading on the Internet any way, right? It’s so easy to share an article, post or video these days by clicking on that little Twitter “share” icon. Don’t worry what it’s about. If it’s interesting to you, it will probably be interesting to your Twitter friends, too. Just be yourself and let your Twitter audience find YOU!
2) If you’re only spending 20 minutes a day, do it at different times of the day so you have the chance to interact with a broader range of people.
3) By now you’re using some kind of an organizing tool like Tweetdeck or Hootsuite, right? It’s an excellent way to improve your efficiency by helping you focus on those who are actively connecting with you.
4) One of the most time-efficient Twitter strategies is to look for opportunities to re-tweet posts. This has two important benefits. First, you’re providing interesting and meaningful content to your followers with little time investment on your part. Second it is a way to connect with somebody and compliment them with a tweet. And don’t just re-tweet the same people all the time. When you can, glance through the whole Twitterstream and look for opportunities to connect to new folks.
5) Another great time-saver is using a Twitter app for a smart phone. Use those idle minutes waiting to pick up the kids at school!
Can you keep up with everything going on? No way. Not even if you spent 10 hours a day! Being effective in 20 minutes a day means knowing how to use these time-saving tips and then having the discipline to prioritize. Here’s what works for me:
- My first priority is to see who has mentioned me in tweets. I don’t take that for granted. People are reaching out to me and trying to connect, so I want to engage with them, even if it is a simple “thank you.”
- Next, I look at direct messages and quickly sift through the spam to make sure I don’t miss something important from a friend.
- I have my TweetDeck set up with columns with marketing thought leaders, people who are active on my blog, local friends, and other topics. I scan through each column to see what some of my favorite people are saying and look for opportunities to engage and re-tweet.
- I’m constantly reading throughout the day and clicking the “tweet button” to share interesting articles. One problem I have is that I tend to share in chunks, so I will be inactive for most of the day and then send a flurry of tweets because I’m in reading mode. That may be annoying to some followers. Of course it is possible to schedule tweets to even things out through various services including HootSuite but that takes a little more time and the idea of “scheduling” tweets seems fake to me. A personal choice.
- Don’t forget to show you’re human. If you’re in a queue some place, write a quick tweet to let people know what’s going on in your day.
Those are a few of my ideas for saving time and still being an effective citizen of the Twitterverse. What’s working for you? How do you spend your time most efficiently on Twitter?