My Social Media System
At a recent social media workshop a participant asked me to reveal my social media routine – how I track, converse, communicate and otherwise curate all my various social media activities. I paused to think about it for a while because I never really considered what I do a routine, but it occurred to me that, in fact, I do have a systematic approach to social media. (No surprise really, I’m a systems thinker and I just do it habitually – ask my wife, I have a system for making the bed and loading the dishwasher.)
I do think that participating fully in social media as a business and marketing strategy requires discipline, automation routines and a daily commitment. Now, you’ve got to balance that with the fact that much of your activity is about building long-term momentum and deeper networks and that doesn’t always make the cash register ring today. So, some of what I do won’t be right for all, but I thought I would share my systematic approach in the hopes this may reveal some tips that make your experience more fruitful. (I won’t take the space in this post to explain what all of the tools are that I mention, I’ve probably written about most, so try my search box above.)
Twice-daily
* Check twitter via Tweetdeck – preset searches for  @ducttape, john jantsch, and duct tape marketing – respond as I see fit, follow some @replies that seem appropriate.
* Scan mybloglog – I obsess over traffic, but this reveals trending links and stumble surges in real time so I can react if appropriate.
* Respond to comments on my blog
Daily
* Write a blog post – RSS subs get it, twitter tools sends to twitter, Facebook gets it, FriendFeed updates
* Scan twitter followers for relevant conversations to join
* Scan Google Reader subscriptions to read and stimulate ideas
* Share Google Reader favs – these publish to Facebook and you can subscribe
* FleckTweet any blog pages from my subscriptions that I love – this goes to twitter
* Bookmark any blog pages from my subscriptions that I love – delicious using Firefox plugin for right click posting – this goes to FriendFeed
* Stumble any blog pages from my subscriptions that I love – this goes to Facebook and FriendFeed
* Scan Google Alerts for my name, brand and products – in Google Reader as RSS feed – respond as appropriate
* Add comments to blogs as appropriate – mostly response types – Google Reader and BackType
Weekly (end)
* Scan LinkedIn Questions from my network and respond when appropriate
* Scan delicious, digg and mixx popular and select bookmarks for content ideas and trending topics
* Consciously add comments to conversations I want to join – hot topic focused
* Join one twitter hot trend conversation if appropriate – search.twitter.com shows these in real time
Monthly
* Check MrTweet for new twitter follow recommendations
* Scan Amazon’s upcoming and new releases for authors to interview on podcast (the big names seem more accessible with a book release coming!)
* Post a press release with social media links to PitchEngine or PRWeb (this changes depending on what’s going on, but at least monthly.)
* Strategize on ways to repurpose and repackage any and all of this in ways that make it more accessible to another audience.
For some this just seems crazy – others will notice some obvious glaring holes in this system – the point though is the system approach. Set your system up and work it, day in and day out, whatever that means for you, and then you will start to understand the vital role that social media can come to play in your overall marketing strategy.
This is my way and one way only – please share your tips for managing the beast!

Duct Tape Marketing Using Social Media to Generate Referrals – Wednesday- Two, Two Hour Sessions

Everyone’s buzzing about the awesome online global power of social media tools, but few people focus on touting practical ways to use social media to generate leads and referrals for the local business. In this session, John Jantsch, author of Duct Tape Marketing, will reveal practical strategies and tactics that any small business can use to leverage online social media tools to create deeper customer relationships, valuable strategic partnerships, local leads and ultimately more sales and profits.

John Jantsch is a marketing and digital technology coach, award winning social media publisher and author of “Duct Tape Marketing – The World’s Most Practical Small Business Marketing Guide” published by Thomas Nelson, with foreword by Michael Gerber, author of The E-Myth and afterword by Guy Kawasaki.
After working with small business owners for over 15 years and growing increasingly frustrated with the lack of a systematic approach to small business marketing, including online and social media, Jantsch decided he could make his mark on the small business world by creating the perfect small business marketing system.
He has made it his mission to bring the simple, effective and affordable Duct Tape Marketing approach to the millions of struggling small business owners all over the world through workshops, the Duct Tape Marketing small business marketing system and the Duct Tape Marketing Authorized Coach network. His Duct Tape Marketing Blog was chosen as a Forbes favorite for small business and marketing and is a Harvard Business School featured marketing site. His blog was also chosen as “Best Small Business Marketing Blog” in 2004, 2005 and 2006 by the readers of Marketing Sherpa.
What Others Are Saying About Duct Tape Marketing Speaking Appearances

“John Jantsch was a fantastic keynote speaker for our eMarketing For Entrepreneurs Conference. Working with John was a pleasure, as he not only served as keynote speaker, but also as a breakout session facilitator. His vast knowledge and experience in the area of marketing — and specifically eMarketing — showed throughout the day. There is no doubt that John contributed to the conference’s incredible approval rating, with 97% of polled participants stating they would recommend the conference to others.”
-Brad Kleimann, Corporate College Cleveland, OH

“John Jantsch is one of the best resources available today for small business owners looking for real-world marketing ideas that actually work. Duct Tape Marketing proves that there are REAL business benefits to a disciplined approach to marketing!”
-Anne Plese, Marketing Alliance Manager, Sage Software

“Your presentation at our annual conference was informative, right on point and clearly targeted to our audience of independent information professionals. You provided practical insight on the topic of small business marketing that should be shared with all small business owners. You presented in a manner that was thoroughly captivating with just the right balance of humor. Our members left wanting more and anxious to put into practice the tips you provided. Thanks for the inspiration! ”
-Jodi Gregory – President Association of Independent Information Professionals

“I thought I’d let you know that we thought the PRSA workshop yesterday was fantastic. We got a lot of great ideas from it. We have already set up our own blogs to practice our blogging skills.”
-Plattform Advertising