One of the criticisms of Twitter and other social media sites is that they consume a lot of time.
Yes - they do, if you let them.
But when you work them with a plan, you can reap the benefits while controlling the time you spend on this marketing activity.
Here's the 10/10 plan you can work into any busy schedule.
It uses 10 steps and 10 minutes at a time - hence, the 10/10 plan.
1.
Have a purpose to using Twitter.
Sure, it can be a personal tool.
But if you're reading this you are most likely a marketer - and you want to use Twitter as yet another method for getting the word out about you and your business.
Keep that in mind as you tweet throughout the day.
2.
Plan to have three promotional periods during the day.
Set a time limit for each - say 10 minutes for each "Twitter Time".
You'll go into Twitter just 3 times per day, for a total of 30 minutes.
3.
In your morning session, tweet a message about how you're starting your day.
Then review the last page or two of tweets that have come across your timeline, responding individually to any you can with the @ symbol.
RT (retweet) any that are appropriate for your followers.
4.
Go into your account and look at the @ messages that have mentioned you.
Respond to those if you can.
5.
Send off one or two tips or tweets about what you're working on.
6.
At your midday session repeat this process, but also search for keywords in your niche topic area.
Follow new people who show up in your niche.
Respond to any of the niche-targeted tweets that you find.
7.
Go into your account and look at the Direct Messages, responding as appropriate.
8.
Send off one or two more tweets about what you're working on, perhaps adding a link to an article or blog post.
9.
In the evening session repeat the process of reviewing the last few tweets and responding and retweeting.
Check your @ folder and respond.
Check your Direct Messages and respond.
10.
As your last act of the Twitter day, post a promotional tweet, generally leading to an article or blog post - which then leads to the sales site.
Since this is your last tweet of the day, anyone looking to follow you will see that tweet first when they visit your profile page.
When you follow these 10 steps and observe the 10-minute rule, you'll find yourself quickly building a following of quality, targeted prospects - without spending all day on Twitter.