In the middle of the day, when we’re just trying to get things done and keep our customers happy and our business running smoothly, it’s hard to remember to tweet or post a Facebook status update. However, it’s important to remember that social media is a valid and valuable part of your overall marketing plan.

I encourage people to create a social media calendar to keep them on track so their posts and tweets don’t just fall by the wayside. Creating a social media calendar serves two purposes: it helps you to stay organized, but also, if you are creating time in your calendar to do these things, there is less of a chance that it will be displaced.

On your calendar, plot out when you will blog, use Facebook, and tweet. You can use different colours for different activities, and even sketch out some ideas for what kinds of posts you are going to put up.

Remember, to save time, repurpose some of the things you are doing. For example, when I write a new bog post, I post it on my Facebook page, and I also tweet the link. You can create a YouTube video, and then embed it on your blog, and tweet about it.

Something magical happens after you’ve been doing this for a while and your “social media brain” kicks in. Tweeting and blogging and updating Facebook just simply become second nature, and you will find it to be less of a struggle and more of a natural part of your everyday business. But you have to stick with it for a while! You can’t do it for a month and then give it up. You can’t expect over night results (although you might get lucky!)–it is an investment of time. You need to commit at least three months to this process.