How to Use HootSuite to Schedule Social Media for FREE!

It didnt 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 write at Bubblews, where my pay is based on views, likes and comments, and need to get the word out about pieces I write or I dont make much money. 

I knew I couldnt sit on Twitter or Facebook or other social media all day spamming my followers with message after message ... I have a house full of kids to raise here and dont want to alienate my readers, either!

Solution: HootSuite!

Its free! (unless you want the fancy version that gives you all the reports)

Heres 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 doesnt 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 that your Bubblews amount increased incredibly!

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

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BlogHer ads for your blog paid social media

I love BlogHer so much. Every time I log on to deal with my ads or my social media touts (logging when and where I did social media for a campaign I get paid for), I always get sucked into the posts on the front page. Without fail there is something that catches my interest and I usually end up commenting and getting a great idea for an article or post of my own in the future with my own angle.

A few years ago I signed up to see if I could get BlogHer ads on my main blog, The Kerrie Show. They accepted me and sent me the paperwork via email and then, not having internet at home and not checking my other email account often enough, I dropped the ball and lost out. I re-applied, was accepted again and this time got in all my stuff despite my internet and fax challenges.

*Im not saying everyone with a blog will be accepted to BlogHer

What does all this mean? It means I have their ads on my blog. I dont make much on that but its based on views and not clicks so the more traffic I have the more money I make. Currently Im making about $5 per month from ads and thats based on not even 2K visitors per month. So if you have a decent blog with decent traffic, you could make some good money.

Then there are the social media projects. These pay $50 for 8 tweets or Facebook posts, usually. Sometimes theyll pay $25 for 4. Sometimes you can do a sponsored post for good money, or get involved in a Twitter party. This is where I make my money: from the social media posting. In February alone I was involved with about 5 programs at $50 each, which will pay via PayPal within about 45 days.

So theres my personal experience with BlogHer over the last few years. They dont want you to have other ads or rude content, but other than that you can post as often as you want. They like you to post at least 3 times per week.

Heres a good post out of hundreds, called On the Pursuit of Blogging Fame.

Give it a shot!

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