Thursday, August 24, 2023

How to Use HootSuite to Schedule Social Media for FREE!


It didn't take me long to figure out that social media was where a lot of my traffic was coming from for blogging and other writing. I used to write at Bubblews before they went defunct, where my pay was based on views, likes and comments, and I needed to get the word out about pieces I wrote or I didn't make much money. 

I knew I couldn't sit on Twitter or Facebook or other social media all day spamming my followers with message after message ... I don't want to alienate my readers!

Solution: HootSuite!

It's free! (unless you want the fancy version that gives you all the reports)

Here's what you do:

1. Go to HootSuite and sign up.

2. Add your FIVE social networks that you send info to the most. Options include Twitter, Facebook, G+, LinkedIn, FourSquare, WordPress. I have a little owl icon at the top of my toolbar in Chrome. I click on him and then choose up to five different places to send my post or message. I usually choose my Facebook fan page for The Kerrie Show for general items because I have that set up to also automatically tweet everything that hits there.

Sometimes I pick other places to send my message, like to my Homeschooling Mommybot Facebook fan page or to the fan page for THIS blog!

3. Find a post you want some love on.

4. Add an image if it doesn't already show up on the HootSuite box.

5. HootSuite shortens the link for you! Then you can tailor the message if you like.

6. Click on the calendar to schedule your message for whenever you want it to hit. I do love, however, the Auto Schedule option, which takes it out of your hands and spaces messages far enough apart so as to not spam your followers, plus it apparently sends messages at optimal times somehow.

Talk about making money while you sleep! You could schedule a bunch of tweets overnight for your worldwide fan base and wake up with a nice amount in your AdSense account or find that affiliate links have been clicked or, like used to happen for me, that your Bubblews amount increased incredibly!

If this post confounds you, just check on YouTube because there are HootSuite how-to videos that show you step-by-step ways to set this up and use it.

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