What is your most valuable resource? Money? Material items? I would argue our most valuable resource is time. If time is our most valuable resource does that mean we need to fill every white space on our calendar? Does busy equal successful? I am not one of those “Look how awesome I am because my calendar is so full it’s about to explode” kind of people. I don’t want to raise my kids thinking a busy calendar means you are successful. There is no point filling your life with events and task to prove to others you are useful, helpful, or important. My goal is to fill our lives with events and experiences that will help us grow as people and show love to those around us. So let’s get to it and talk about saving time on social media with Planoly.
“What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world remains and is immortal.” – Albert Pike
When I heard the quote above it was as if a light bulb flashed on inside my mind. It provided a filter through which to view my calendar. I asked my self questions like, are the tasks on my calendar for selfish gain or to serve others around me? When I chose to take my passion for photography and turn it into a business my goal was simple. Love others and create amazing photography experiences to help them preserve their life memories to share with future generations. Everything I do, I try to filter through this lens. Am I loving people? Am I helping them create and preserve their memories? If the answer is yes I move forward. If it’s no I take the time to reevaluate why I am doing what I am doing and make changes as needed.
Another factor I take into consideration is how much time I am actually spending with people and how much time am I spending in front of my computer or other devices. If my intention is to love on people then I need to be with people. Wasting hours in front of my phone or computer trying to figure out the latest Instagram or Facebook algorithm is not a wise use of my time. So today I want to share with you a planning app I use to make my social media life easier. It’s called Planoly.
Time is our most valuable resource. It’s the one thing we can’t make more of when it’s gone.
Now there are a number of automated apps out there that will help you plan your social media content. New ones are being created all the time. This is simply the one I have chosen to use. Here are a few reason why. First, I love Planoly because there is a fantastic free option. I’m not against paying for sites to help me be more productive but if there is a good free option I am in! The free option Planoly allows you to upload 30 images a month! Perfect right? One post per day! Also, I love how you can move the images around so you have a nice preview of what your Instagram grid will look like. I believe the how the grid looks is an important factor if you’re going to use your Instagram as a secondary portfolio to show off your work.
Another cool time saving feature is creating hashtag groups.
Their Hashtag Manager allows you to create multiple hashtag groups so you can easily apply to captions without having to rewrite them time and time again! Another fabulous time saver! I have multiple hashtag groups sometimes for the same type of photos so I can change things up and not over use the same hashtag.
After you create your groups you are ready to add your post copy, hashtags and schedule your post to automatically post to Instagram and Facebook. I attempt to sit down once a week and plan a full week of post. If you’re really motivated you can knock out 30 post and check that task off your list for the month! Right now my current goal is at least one week at a time. This takes me on average 30 min to an hour depending on how inspired I am to write the content. Then done! No more time wasted trying to figure out what photo to post or what to say each and every day. I can use that time to take more photos, meet more people and have more adventures.
Now there are MANY other features from Planoly. Too many for me to share and way more to choose from if you choose the paid option. So if you are looking for something to help organize your social media and be more effective with the time you spend working it, I’d highly recommend giving Planoly a try! Once you sign up they also send you great content each week via email to help you navigate and more effectively use their services. Social media is not our business it’s a tool which helps us do business. Let’s not get sucked into the social media hole and cheat our business from the attention it deserves. Consider a service like Planoly to help you with saving time on social media while producing consistent content. Happy Planning!
By the way If you’re a calendar junkie like me you might find my post about my calendars interesting or helpful.