Twitter Roadmap: The 10-10 Approach

One of the criticisms of Twitter and other social networking sites is that they are very time consuming. Yes, they do, if you let them.

But when you work them with a plan, you can reap the benefits while controlling the time you spend on this marketing activity.

Here is the 10/10 plan that you can work on in any busy schedule. You use 10 steps and 10 minutes at a time, hence the 10/10 plan.

1. Have a purpose for using Twitter. Sure, it can be a personal tool. But if you’re reading this, chances are you’re a marketer, and you want to use Twitter as yet another method of getting the word out about yourself and your business. Keep this in mind as you tweet throughout the day.

2. Plan to have three promotional periods during the day. Set a time limit for each, say 10 minutes for each “Twitter Time”. You will enter Twitter only 3 times a day, for a total of 30 minutes.

3. In your morning session, tweet a message about how you are starting your day. Then go through the last page or two of the tweets that have appeared on your timeline, individually replying to any you can with the @ symbol. RT (retweet) whatever is appropriate for your followers.

4. Log into your account and see the @messages that have been mentioned to you. Answer those if you can.

5. Send a tip or two or tweet about what you’re working on.

6. In your lunch session, repeat this process, but also search for keywords in your niche subject area. Follow new people appearing in your niche. Reply to any of the niche-targeted tweets you find.

7. Log into your account and view the Direct Messages, responding as appropriate.

8. Send out one or two more tweets about what you’re working on, perhaps adding a link to an article or blog post.

9. In the afternoon session, repeat the process of reviewing the latest tweets and replying and retweeting. Check your @folder and reply. Check your Direct Messages and reply.

10. As the last act of the Twitter day, post a promotional tweet, which usually leads to an article or blog post, which then leads to the sales site. Since this is your last tweet for the day, anyone who wants to follow you will see that tweet first when visiting your profile page.

When you follow these 10 steps and observe the 10-minute rule, you’ll find yourself building a following of quality, targeted leads quickly, without spending all day on Twitter.