My Blogging and Social Media To Do List

I think I’m going to call this My Everything List

I currently manage three blogs, three Twitter accounts, two Pinterest accounts, a Facebook page and profile, a Google plus page and profile, a LinkedIn account, two Youtube accounts, two online communities, two email lists, and one Instagram account. In addition to this, I try to get my writing out there in other ways– guest posts, interviews, anthologies, etc. Then I have the web design and training side of my business to manage. It’s a lot, and this is why without a list, I’d be completely lost.

Even with a 40 hour work week, I feel scattered and overwhelmed at times — trying to make sure every one of my streams is managed well.

The following post is as much for my benefit as yours! It’s a no frills task list according to platform. It’s what I aspire to {and only accomplish in part} with my online business and presence. I’m sure it’ll be helpful to many of you as well!

*YouTube, Instagram, and LinkedIn are my three weakest platforms so you’ll notice I don’t have as many tasks related to them simply because I spend the least amount of time there.

Daily Tasks

I’ve written out daily tasks as if blogging and social media are my full-time job {8 hour workday}. The truth is I spend most of the time doing these tasks in the early morning or at night since my web design business takes up most of my daytime working hours. The majority of us don’t have 8 hours to spend so you can reduce the tasks, the time involved, or just focus in on one platform. I know that setting a timer works very well. You’d be amazed at how much you can get done when you set a block of time and turn off all the extra interruptions. I’ve ordered the list in a hierarchy of importance. This way if I can’t get to it all, I’ve gotten to the most important tasks first.

The biggest takeaway from this list is that I don’t look or browse social media on a day to day basis. I respond to any questions, comments, etc. and post something. My content curation plan is done weekly. This is when I go looking for things to share. If when I do daily tasks I find something amazing, I pocket it for later use. You can get distracted when you browse social media so if you find you are running out of time in a day, save all your content curation for one specific time.

Blog Tasks 2.5 hours

• Answer comments on my blog 30min
• Work on upcoming posts {writing and images} 1hr
• Send out email newsletters {if a new post is published} 30min
• Read and comment on at least 5 of my favorite blogs 30min

Miscellaneous Tasks 1 hour

• Clean out my inbox and file away emails into action needed, to be read later, no action, etc. 3omin
• Read a book for at least 15 min
• Free write in a paper journal for at least 15 min

Twitter Tasks 30 minutes

You’ll notice there are no “tweeting tasks” with the exception of a couple spontaneous ones because I schedule most of my informative tweets once a week.

• Respond to mentions 10min
• Write three – five spontaneous tweets {can be done whenever} 10min
• Follow at least 10 new people 1omin

Pinterest Tasks 30 minutes

• Check my favorite pinners to see if there is new content to view and pin {this helps me in more than one way since some of these pins lead me to content I can curate during my weekly tasks} 10mins
• Post a new pin related to newly published posts 20mins {including image creation}

Google + Tasks 1.25 hours

• Write one to three posts for my personal profile and page 45min
• Respond to comments and mentions 15min
• Check my most important circle/s to comment and/or share 15min

Facebook Tasks 1 hour

• Respond to comments and mentions 15min
• Write one update to my page 15min
• Write one to three updates for my profile {done whenever} 15min
• Check in with groups 15min

Instagram Tasks 55 minutes

• Post one to three pictures 30min including editing if I do that
• Respond to comments 10min
• Go through feed and like and comment 15min

LinkedIn Tasks 15 minutes

• Check profile for invites and messages 5min
• Schedule one post {either blog or curated content} 10min

YouTube Tasks 5 minutes

• Respond to comments and/or mentions 5min

Weekly Tasks

These tasks are meant to be done once a week. I like to do a lot of this on Saturday morning or Sunday evening, though sometimes it’s my Monday morning to do list. I didn’t add time allotments to these tasks because it can vary wildly. However they are ordered in a list of importance so I often don’t get to the YouTube or Instagram weekly tasks.

Blog Tasks

• Write down/brainstorm new post ideas
• Perform updates and backup to WordPress software
• View and analyze stats {this helps with decisions related to what to write about next}
• Update an old post with a new graphic and schedule for social media
• Go through my blog reader and find content to curate {I use Hootsuite and Feedly}

Miscellaneous Tasks

• Read and research a new technique or tool for my online presence
• Check various sites for any contests, linkups, or submissions that may be applicable to me
• Check my Google AdSense account {or related affiliate accounts}
• Pitch myself to a brand I might like to work with
• Work on writing/saving templates for email queries {this saves me TONS of time when I have daily emails I’m writing over and over}
• Clean out photos on my computer {this makes my life simpler as well. A disorganized computer is so inefficient}
• Work on unpublished essays for anthologies or e-books

Twitter Tasks

• Purge Twitter account of people not following back or inactive profiles {Use JustUnfollow or SocialBro}
• Schedule tweets for the week of curated content and archived posts
• Participate in a Twitter party {if applicable}
• Check my favorite lists

Pinterest Tasks

• Schedule curated content with pins for the week {ViralTag, Ahaology, etc.}
• Follow ten to twenty new pinners

Google + Tasks

• Check in with groups and respond to comments and threads
• Find and follow 10-20 new people or businesses
• Schedule curated content on page {this can only be done for a brand page, not a profile- but you can Pocket your favorite articles so they are ready to go}

Facebook tasks

• Schedule posts of curated content {Hootsuite, PageModo, Post Planner, etc.}
• Check in with all the Facebook groups to see if there are important threads
• Fill out info on group files {if applicable}

Instagram Tasks

• Find a popular hashtag and tag relevant posts {for exposure}
• Find 10 new people to follow
• Purge inactive or inappropriate users

LinkedIn Tasks

• Update profile {if applicable}
• Write a blog post {some people like to blog right on LinkedIn}

YouTube Tasks

• Plan one video or hangout

Monthly Tasks

I can’t tell you how much more “on my game” I feel when I take one day a month to focus on these tasks. They are often not urgent so it’s easy to procrastinate, but don’t. Try to shut out the urgent and tend to the important. This is spread out over an 8 hour day.

Blog Tasks 2 hours

• Go through the SEO by Yoast bulk editor and update titles and meta descriptions on archives
• Check Google webmaster tools and check my site’s health
• Run a security scan, clean out unused plugins, etc.
• Clean out old posts, tags, categories, etc.
• Submit pre-published posts to various online sites like BlogHer, Scary Mommy, etc.
• Update or tweak design

Miscellaneous Tasks 2 hours

• Update my media kit
• Collaborate with colleagues for guest post or new series
• Brainstorm future ideas and goals
• Work on my personal mission statement
• Research conferences in my niche
• Reorder business cards

Twitter Tasks 30 minutes

• Make sure bio and header is up to date
• Analyze most clicked through tweets via Hootsuite analytics {helps to figure out what works and what doesn’t}

Pinterest Tasks 1 hour

• Go through one board and clean out old pins or replace with better images
• Update board descriptions
• Switch out cover pins, rearrange boards
• Create a new board

Google + Tasks 30 minutes

• Update photos
• Check and update about section
• Look for new communities to join
• Participate in a hangout
• Clean out and update your circles {purging and rearranging as necessary}

Facebook Tasks 30 minutes

• Update cover photo and header
• Check about section on profile and update with new or relevant info

Instagram Tasks 30 minutes

• Make sure photo and description are updated
• Research and practice a new photo app for editing/collages etc.

LinkedIn Tasks 30 minutes

• Look for relevant jobs and/or careers in applicable field

YouTube Tasks 30 minutes

• Update cover photo and about section
• Purge old videos
• Spruce up your most popular videos with description, intro, etc.

Tools I use to accomplish all of this!

1. IFTTT – helps automate tasks like Instagram to Twitter for example. If I post a photo, it goes to Twitter and I’ve killed two birds with one stone.
   » Tutorial on IFTTT
2. Feedly – This is where I track all the blogs I follow and use it to read and schedule
   » Tip for using Feedly to track your favorite pinners
3. ViralTag/Ahalogy – Pinterest scheduling tools
4. SocialBro/JustUnfollow – I use these programs to find new followers on Twitter and purge accounts on both Twitter and Instagram
5. Google Docs/Calendar – For all my files and folders and tasks
6. Canva/PicMonkey – For quick graphic design images and pins
   » Canva tutorial
   » Picmonkey tutorial
7. Pocket – I use this to save blog posts or articles that I want to reference later
   » Tip for using Pocket
8. Hootsuite – My primary scheduling software
   » Tutorial for Hootsuite
9. MailChimp – For my email newsletters
   » Tip for easy newsletter creation

If any of this is overwhelming to you, try my “Social Media in a Pinch” post. It’s designed for people who have {literally} only five or ten minutes to spare! If you like the daily task list and want to print it, I’ve created it as a PDF.