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Nial: Sophie, one of the big questions, everybody says it and you’re very well known obviously on social media, prolific on social media, the brand queen has become a big brand in its own right the question is time, how do you get the time? Where do you find the time from to do all of these things?
Sophie: Well I am a big believer that part of your brand starts with your values which a lot of people don’t think about but actually in order to create the business that you feel happy working in you need to know that it is working in line with your values which is things like your desire to communicate with people, your desire to help people, things that really make you feel happy as a person inside and once you know what those values are you can then work around them. So I discovered that my values included spending time with my family in the evening, so I actually chose to get up early in the morning so you will often find me on social networks at 5 ‘o’ clock in the morning because I will do two or three hours work before coming back into the house and doing all that sort of stuff and then have a full day in work but then at 5 ‘o’ clock that’s me, I’m done for the rest of the day and sometimes I work in the evenings but very rarely because I have decided that, that’s how I am going to fit it in so I think a lot of that is based round that. You need to decide what time you are going to allocate to it and then you need to really go for it in that time but also you can waste that time very easily so it is all about having a strategy and a plan for what you want to include in that time.
Nial: So managing it basically?
Sophie: Managing your time. Using things to help you with that so for example I designed a social media planner, I do a lot on social media, there is no way I would have the time and even more so the mental energy to do the things that I do every single day without having a plan for that so what I have done is worked out a way that I can figure out what my, the people who I’m connecting with on a daily basis, my ideal clients, what they want to see from me on my social media, I then create categories for those, I then save messages so when I see ones that I like I’ll write that down, I’ll keep a note of it or I’ll create ones myself and I will save those and then I will schedule in a whole load of updates so that they are all going out and I can just completely chill out and relax and know that that’s all sorted and that takes me maybe half an hour, an hour now because I have got it down pat. That, and then that’s one less thing for me to worry about so my time is managed much more effectively then I can just manage it and be involved and reply rather than having to think oooh what am I going to post today.
Nial: So what you’re saying is you’re using a structured process to a plan rather than what most people I suspect that social media is about which is just always having inspirational moments several times through the day and suddenly finding things by opportunity. Rather than that you’re suggesting stick to a plan, use the tools and plan the process for it?
Sophie: Absolutely. Ultimately you can waste massive amounts of time on social media and it literally can be a waste. It’s great fun it’s really nice to connect with people but if you haven’t got a strategy for why you’re using it and where you want to be directing them, then you’re basically just going to be wasting your time, having a nice time doing it but that’s time that could be well used doing other things that is going to take your business forward rather than just slow it down.
Nial: So you use a social media planner?
Sophie: Use a social media planner, have a plan, have a strategy, use it and then enjoy the results of your labours rather than stress about it every day, there’s no point in stressing and that works across the board with anything, if you have a bit of a plan and a bit of a strategy for your business week, you know plan what you are going to do tomorrow, well lots of stuff, then suddenly your day becomes much more manageable and you can enjoy it more rather than constantly **3:31**.
Nial: Fantastic, that is great, thank you