March 2017

SmarterQueue: The New Tool That Is Saving Me Hours On Social Media

SmarterQueue is a social media scheduling tool that works fantastically well for people like me - busy creative entpreneurs. I’ve gone back and forth between different social media scheduling programs for a while. I kept finding issues with one or another that would frustrate me and make me want to jump ship. Either it was too expensive, or it didn’t have recycling posts, or I thought the interface was annoying to use. I actually stopped using any program for a while because I just couldn’t figure out what I wanted to stick with.

About that time I started hearing whispers of SmarterQueue and I’ll be honest the first time I logged in my initial thoughts were, “uh uh. I am not learning another one of these things just to be disappointed.”

But then one Monday morning I sat there and did it, I set up the whole schedule and everything and then I just let it run its course for the free trial period. I didn’t even think about it (or my Twitter or Facebook accounts at all).

Well, spoiler alert, the trial period won me over. It made me see the light. I’m a convert.

Here’s why you need SmarterQueue in your arsenal (trust me on this one).


CREATE A SCHEDULE + CATEGORIES

Something that I love about SmarterQueue is that it’s very much a ‘set and forget’ approach (quite possibly my favorite approach to anything). The initial set up involves creating a schedule for posts based on categories. My categories include “my own blog posts”, “self-promotion”, “other articles”, “inspiration”, “questions”, and “tips”. How the scheduler works is that you designate that at whatever time and day you want it will send one of the categories to post.

Then you take time to a fit content into those categories (which I’ll touch on next). But that’s it – SmarterQueue filters what content appears at what time based on your schedule and your categories. The schedule stays consistent but the content varies depending on what you put in and the best part is it recycles (but more on that later).

The set up honestly took me about an hour the first time. Which might seem long, until you realize you NEVER HAVE TO DO IT AGAIN. Like it’s just done. Forever. What used to take hours each week is just done. Plus, I truly had no idea what I was doing on initial set up (I'm one of those 'read directions after I'm frustrated' kind of gals), BUT had I read a post like this one I would’ve been able to do initial set up in even less time (so keep reading!).


ADDING NEW POSTS

Adding new posts into each category is simple. They have a drop down to ‘add content’ and you can either write a new one (which I did for the tips and the questions and the inspiration categories) or pull from a RSS Feed (which I did for my own posts and other blogger’s articles).

They also have the option to repost your best content (and it’ll pull from way before you started using SmarterQueue) and the coolest one – “find content” where you can literally type in someone’s username, name, etc. and find their content and related content.

It’s so easy to support other people this way and you don’t have to worry about scrolling through Twitter to find a good tweet to repost, you can search for influencers or peers you trust and repost them directly in SmarterQueue.

Oh, you already have Twitter lists created for that? Cool. Just search the name of your Twitter list and pull that up directly in SmarterQueue to pull from. It’s amazing. I wasn’t lying.

The best part of all of this is that it seamlessly shortens links for you and pulls relevant photos, so your Facebook posts always look formatted correctly and your Twitter posts always have graphics attached (which convert better).


RECYCLE POSTS (FOR HOWEVER LONG)

In the area where you are ‘writing’ a post, you’ll notice near the bottom the question “would you like this post to expire?” which really should say “do you want to make your life easier?”

Because guess what!? You can just recycle posts that you know will always be relevant (like questions that might provoke interest in your services or your own content). So I usually leave the option for posts to re-queue if I know they’ll be relevant forever in my Twitter feed (plus SmarterQueue won’t let the same post show up to close together, so no worries about back to back posting of the same exact content).

There’s also the option to have the post expire after a set number of posts (so maybe you only want to share someone else’s same content like 4-5 times, and then delete it from the schedule) OR the option to stop posting it after a certain date (which would be useful for a launch or promotion that ends).

That’s part of the ‘set and forget’ concept that I love so much. I started with probably 20 posts of other people’s content that I will always want to share and know will be relevant and useful, so I left them to never expire. Then I’ll occasionally go in and add a new post (if I’m excited about someone’s post, or featured in their post especially) randomly, to make sure it stays fresh and relevant. That process takes me about 2 minutes when I randomly think to do it (probably once a week).

"Want to 'set and forget' your #socialmedia? This is how!" [tweet that!]


ANALYTICS

I’ll be honest, I’m not great at tracking numbers in my business (which I know is just terrible of me), but if you are an analytics person SmarterQueue delivers weekly updates straight to your inbox and also has a robust analytics section in your account.

In the analytics you can study which type (category) of post is performing best, which is getting the most likes or clicks or other engagement, what time is performing best, etc.

I won’t pretend to be an expert at analytics, to me engagement and interaction with people has always held precedence over straight numbers – but it is nice to get a weekly report showing numbers increasing, clicks increasing, and followers increasing – especially when I’m honestly not doing that much (if anything) to make it happen!


NOT BREAKING THE BANK (+ AFFILIATE PROGRAM)

Here’s the best thing I’ve found – SmarterQueue is super affordable and also has a customizable package option, so depending on if you need 4 accounts linked or 40 accounts linked, you can make the package fit your needs (and not overpay for services you don’t need).

I also admire any company with an affiliate program. Regardless, if I like something enough I am going to share it with you. But, it’s nice to be rewarded for wanting to shout from the rooftops about a new program or software that is benefiting you and your business. Plus, I like when affiliate programs offer more of an incentive – SmarterQueue gives you a free 30 day trial (versus 14 day trial) when you click through my (or someone else’s) affiliate link (which are all through this article, just a heads-up)!

Ready to learn more about SmarterQueue? I’m doing a Facebook live this afternoon at 2pm EST. I’d love for you to hop into our group and hang out, plus see #BTS of my SmarterQueue account and ask any questions about set up, using, etc.!

Every link to SmarterQueue in this post is totally an affiliate link, but I promise you this: I'm legit obsessed. Hop onto my FB live, I'll show you how #obsessed I am!



5 Unexpected Benefits of Outsourcing In Your Business

When you think about what outsourcing can do for your business, it might seem really obvious. But before you say, “duh Kaitlyn!” let me remind you of something – yes, you might intrinsically “know” what outsourcing can do for your business, but are you really digesting that and applying it to YOUR life and YOUR business? Because if you’re not outsourcing anything yet, then I’m venturing to say the answer is “no!”

So I’m asking you to continue reading on, but stop and apply these ideas to YOU personally and thinking about what it could mean for you and your business.


MORE TIME

This might be the most obvious answer – yes outsourcing work will give you more time. More time to work ON your business, more time to spend with family, more time for exercise, sleep, watching HGTV marathons (yas!), learning to cook, drinking fancy cocktails, and so on.

Why does that matter? Well, because being happy matters first and foremost. You didn’t jump into this crazy entrepreneurial world to get no sleep, be angry, and hate everything. So giving more time to activities outside of your business that bring you joy is definitely important. Also, more time to be ON your business working means more launches, more products, more sales, more connections, etc. (but more on that later).

Reina Pomeroy | Reina + Co

Outsourcing has allowed me to take care of the things I love doing in my business. I get to create content that matters to me and taking care of my family and better care of myself.
– Reina Pomeroy

I think perhaps the most important thing that more time can bring you is the ability to step back and really evaluate and look at things in your business and your life. We get caught up in this #hustle mentality and do the same thing day after day after day without ever checking or evaluating what is working, what isn’t working, what is growing our business, what is bringing in customers or clients, etc. As creatives we need time to sit, ponder, reflect, think, wonder, and grow. We can’t have our noses to the grind constantly and not expect a big traumatic burn out.

"Avoid the constant #hustle in your business - outsource work and take back your time!" [tweet that!]

And as one formerly burnt out creative, let me tell you – you don’t get ANYTHING done when you’re burnt out. Besides maybe a few pints of “The Tonight Dough” Ben & Jerry’s (WHICH HAVE YOU HAD THAT? IT’S THE BEST THING OF ALL TIME).


MORE LAUNCHES (MO’ MONEY)

Here’s the exciting thing that outsourcing can bring you – the ability to LAUNCH MORE THINGS. I’m talking more workbooks, more retreats, more eBooks, more courses, more products, more services, more meet-ups, more group masterminds… that really means MORE MONEY.

What?! Spending money to make money?! Huh?

Just kidding, I’m not going to act like that is my original idea. But it’s a true. Seriously.

Krista Miller | KristaRae

Since I've been able to hand all of my blog, YouTube, newsletter, and social media content editing and scheduling off to others, I've had the time to take on more clients, hit my biggest income month yet, launch a separate business, and start a podcast. There's no way I'd be able to do all those things if I didn't have an amazing team behind me.
– Krista Miller

The thing with having a multi-faceted business (and multiple income streams) is that they take time to think of, develop, and launch. If you’re currently so busy in your business that you barely can write a blog post, how on earth are you supposed to also launch these new exciting (lucrative) things?

Even freeing up the hour a day you spend on social media or the hour per week you spend formatting and uploading your blog post can mean an hour devoted to developing these new moves in your business. Part of the reason I used to get overwhelmed in my business is because there was SO MUCH I wanted to do and I couldn’t understand how I’d possibly have enough time to do any of it. Outsourcing literally gives you back time to DO the things you want.


MORE FOCUS

Another benefit of outsourcing in your business is that when you do sit down to work on what you love to do or are very good at – you can do it. Uninterrupted. For hours. You know why? Because other things in your business will just be working and going on without you! Efficiently!

Back to the previous point of more launches – those launches can happen even quicker than you might be used to, because you will have more focused time in your schedule to actually devote to it. So an eBook being written in 15-minute chunks a day might take a while – by the time you get into your groove it’ll be onto a new task, right? But what if you had enough time in your schedule that you could devote 3-4 hours a day to it? That eBook would be done and launched in no time!

This doesn’t only apply to ‘new’ things in your business either – but more focus on what you started out to do in the first place. You wanted to be the best coach, or copyeditor, or writer, or whatever it is that you do – not the best social media scheduler or email answer-er. Outsourcing those things gives you time to focus on what you LOVE to do and WANT to do.

Jodi Brandon | Jodi Brandon Editorial

Outsourcing everything design-related and social media scheduling has allowed me not only to work in a more streamlined manner, but it's also freed up more time for client work, which is exactly how I prefer to spend my time.
– Jodi Brandon


MORE CONNECTIONS + REFERRALS

Something a bit more unexpected that comes with outsourcing work is the growth of your reach and impact, which inevitably includes more referrals for your business.

What I mean by this is the minute I start working with someone I see how they work, how good they are at their job, how much they help others, etc. Then, I’m scrolling through Facebook and someone in a group needs a coach, or a lawyer, or a copyeditor and I know just who to recommend! The person who I’ve seen inside their business and know they are AWESOME and legit and helpful.

Not only that, but just the general connection with others can grow exponentially. You might start working with a tech VA who also works for two or three other amazing bosses, and suddenly you have something in common with them and a way to be introduced/meet them.

Basically, my point here is that when you start working with more people your circle expands exponentially. You’re no longer stuck in your little corner of the internet, alone.


MORE SUPPORT + LOVE

Building off of that, besides the actual connections with clients or peers and referrals, you also suddenly have a team that, if you focus on building it in this way, will support your business, your ideas, and you. I know for every team that I am on, I’m fully invested in their success and want to spread their message and their word across my audience and more.

Outsourcing can be tricky and I think focusing on building a team that does support your vision and want to see your success is essential. They’ll be the first one to share your tweet, like your Facebook post, and refer you to their peers. Outsourcing is efficient yes, but it’s also good for you on a deeper level – connection, friendship, support, a sounding board… all of that is so necessary in growing your business (and you definitely DO NOT have to do it alone).