Where do you find the time?

I participate for four reasons.

First, it entertains me. Visiting the site is a break in the day. I get to see how my friends are doing.

Second, I enjoy the community want to contribute. Marketing comes easily to me. I imagine it doesn't to everyone, and I hope my notes help someone out there, even if I never hear about it.

Third, posts get responses and yes, new customers. A Biznik recently wrote me: "You seem sharp and fast and funny...I need those qualities...I would love a consultation with you."

And last, as a supporting member, each time I post I earn another in-bound link to my website, giving me another opportunity to make a connection.

Chris

These are excellent questions and totally resonate with me. I would love to have good answers but I don't. I have trouble scheduling this in. Often it is first thing in the morning like today. It's away to begin the day but not sure if that is the best way and I am not very organized with it either.

Yes- the efforts do pay off- absolutely. I have a few sites that I go back to but not regularly. It is more sporadically and I wonder with amazement how people have time to do this regularly.

There is no guilt about it as it is part of my business marketing and of course it is work but I am lucky as I enjoy what I do.

I look forward to hearing people's replies.

Here's a quick shot at my answers for you:

1) When do you make time to read and contribute? Is it at a certain time of day or do you find yourself reading during downtime throughout the day?

I get on each morning at the house while tea is brewing; and again sometime during the day at the office. On most days there will be several reasons to go to the Biznik site for something I need to find our or someone I need to contact or look for.

2) Do you have a routine that keeps you going back to the same sites or do you just "surf"?

I do both. Several people - like some of my network - are interesting to me and I like to know what they are up to and what they have said.

3) How do you manage real work vs. learning and contributing to the online community?

They are all real and I manage according to priority and inspiration. Thinking stuff has to wait for quiet time and open space in my schedule and inspiration (which is why it can sometimes be rare). What I think of as fly-by computing doesn't take much though: or at least it's on the top of my head and flows easily... I do a lot more of that.

4) Does it stress you out to the point where you feel like it's work or do you just devote time to do it without guilt?

I haven't updated my Profile in ages and I know it's waiting to be done, but there is no guilt: I can only give things so much priority time. When it feels like work I consider the cost-benefit and do what makes sense at the time.

5) Have you personally seen your efforts pay off?

Yep.

6) Do you feel like it's a time suck most of the time and you end up getting distracted from more important things?

Can happen. I ration the time and then move on. What got done got done; what didn't didn't.

This morning for example I when to several prominent blogs and member sites to see if anyone had that "Personal Invite" button installed because somewhere along the line I want one but I don't know if I can figure out how to do it. Well, I noticed that some prominent member's blogs haven't seen a new post since July, and none of the sites or blogs I went to had the Invite Button.

I'm giving that a lot of "meaning" I'm just noticing. And it gave me a chance to check in and leave links on quite a few blog and make a few comments on what was there. At the same time I was circling in and out of the Biznik site and that's good for Biznik mojo.

Somewhere along the line I will talk with someone who has installed or can install the button and it will get installed on my sites. There is no rush except that members keep joining on my invitation and recommendations but without responding the the "invite" message that I email them so I don't get the credit: I would like to fix that and I think the "Personal Invite" button might help.

I also noticed that the Biznik blog is practically invisable now and that there is a rarely a comment posted to it. Again, just an observation, it doesn't "mean" anything.

DD

What an interesting question, Chris. Yes, it certainly is time-intensive to read and comment a lot. I think partly it has to do with what your own business and marketing goals are. By being involved, we aim to:

1. Contribute knowledge to online communities in areas we have expertise in.

2. Get people curious enough to visit our website and learn a little bit more about our business.

3. In the case of blogs, find ones that complement our business and post comments to get traffic coming to our blog site (and, hopefully, down the road, reciprocal links). Joe, do you have a blog?

I think it's also a good way to build credibility if you are selling information products like we are.

As far as time goes, I am the "communications" person in the business. That is what I do: write weekly e-tips and regular blog posts, create the e-zine and yes, contribute to forums. My husband is the tech and "face time" side of the business. So I'm around the office a lot more and able to post more.

What a great discussion!

I just do what I can when I can. Sometimes you find yourself open for an hour sometimes your not. Regardless, any time spent here is good for you and fellow bizniks :)

Happy Thursday!

Hi Chris,

Here is your official professional organizer tip: "Plan your Work and Work your Plan".

Ask yourself, what is your highest priority? and what end result do you want to accomplish? Structure is boring. Not if it gives you time for you, your family and friends.

Create and organize a great week!

Mary :>)

Hi Chris,

Ditto to what a lot of folks have already said. This is major part of my marketing/networking, and so I devote time to it. It also helps that I love it, and it's fun for me.

The balance tips for me when I realize that I'm doing it because I need to connect to people, and I'm craving attention, not genuinely wanting to connect and be generous.

When I notice that feeling in myself, I try to restrain myself, take a break from the computer, and make a date with a friend to hang out and have social time. That usually helps me out.

Hi Chris,

I'm a newbie here on Biznik so I haven't really established a pattern yet. Although I am certainly one who sometimes indulges in the guilty pleasure of "procrastination-by-surfing", I think my time spent on Biznik is well worth it.

I subscribe wholeheartedly to the not-just-for-profit model and am currently integrating more of that on my websites. I am eager to continue making new friends on the net .

In Joy,

Levitea

Wow- my post above got mangled, and came out only partly there. Anyway, to save time when I should be doing something else, I'll just add 'ditto' (or the nefarious 'me too' ;-)) to what folks have said above.

And add one more thing:

Our team meets once a week to set weekly priorities, and once a month for a longer strategic meeting- and that keeps me clear on what my work priorities are, so no one thing takes up too much attention.

I go in spurts. I will often go to Biznik a few days in a row, especially when there is a topic I am interested in & I want to see the replies. Other times I spend days/weeks away from it.

Last week I spent some time here & had 70+ hits on my profile. The week before I was on it a bit more & had over 100 hits. From past experience I would say that is pretty good.

Also I have had 3 new customers buy clothes from me. That's 3 more than any other networking site has provided me. Thanks for the questions.

I almost forgot to note one thing about Biznik: When they say you are ranked based on activity they also note that the type of activity is ranked. For example, I have posted over 100 comments, a dozen topics & invited 6 members that are accounted for. However if another member has not invited anyone, never made a comment or post of any kind but does attend an event, they are ranked higher than me. So there is a balance. Posting will get you seen in many different places but attending events will boost your ranking.

As one of those "most talkative" heads, I'll chime in.

I don't know if I have best practices, really. As an enneagram 8, I tend to just do whatever feels motivating to me in the moment, rather than abide by a structure.

That being said, I will say that I probably do like Jeff and Dennis and just surf the site for topics I'm interested in, as well as watch members I know and see what they're talking about and doing lately.

I definitely love the "follow topic" button, so that once I join any discussion, I get an email when the conversation is updated so I know to return. That's probably the tool that helps me the most to stay involved.

Also, I'm a chatty extrovert, so I love conversing, both on- and offline.

Does it help my business? Absolutely. As a therapist, people need to see if they're going to feel comfortable with me. I believe it's crucial for me to be approachable, personable, and, dammit, likeable. :)

This is a great topic - and I posted one just like it, so thanks for doing this. I too wanted to know if people had a system in place, a routine or schedule they use.

My thread was geared more towards working in multiple network sites.

The RSS feed is a GREAT way to cut down the clutter and get to what you really are interested in - so kudos for that.

I'm actually scheduling time in to do this everyday. I have 1 hour in the morning to do this type of networking, and after that, I stop in when I can. I do plan on finessing my schedule to a point where I have 15 minute intervals to visit Biznik and Ecademy. Add onto that, reading blogs, responding to those blogs, and doing my own blog - and you have a full plate of busy. Fun busy though - that's the perk.

I recommend David Allen's "Getting Things Done" for anyone who needs to multitask like this - his system is great and you can spin it to make it your own - we all have different ways of organizing and being efficient.

Again - thanks for the thread - exactly what I was wondering yesterday!

Regarding Biznik: I take a quick peek in the am then again in the pm. If I see a subject that I can comment on I will do so. Sometimes I check more often especially if I'm messaging someone.

What amazes me is how many people are members here and never have posted anything...sort of like they sign up then forget about it!

Chris... Biznik is my "primary" social network. I check in at least twice daily and attend and host events regularly and YES I get calls (average about 2 every day) from potential clients that say they found me through Google through Biznik. Even though it's an effort, it does pay for me to be "out there". I hardly ever cold-call anymore. ...Howard

Rebecca- I don't think people always sign-up and forget about it. What I've seen in my own membership forum The Business Oasis as well as other forums I've visited, is that the ratio of 'lurker' (hate that term) to poster is quite high. Meaning that there are a LOT more people reading than posting.

I wrote an article that touches on that dynamic- I haven't yet posted it to Biznik, but I will. Here's the article on my own site:

It's just true- in many instances people would rather listen than talk. I'd say that that's probably a healthy dynamic in many ways. ;)

A book you might enjoy... "Slow Time" by Waverly Fitzgerald, www.schooloftheseasons.com.

From the website: "Slow Time is The Artist's Way for time: a workbook offering twelve weeks of reflections, stories and playful exercises to help readers transform their relationship with time. The book shows readers how to jump off the hamster wheel of artificial time and experience the flow and the rhythm of natural time."

This is a great thread to follow Chris! I am only fairly new to all of this online networking and forums but I have found that I can get caught in them for a longer period than I originally planned! I recently sat down and thought threw my business plan (not that I've ever made it to writing it down!) and I decided that I would like to have:

• 1 day a week to concentrate on further educating myself through tutorials on various programs or just surfing and playing to learn new things (some of these links may come from forums)
• 1 day a week to just network and forum
• 3 days a week to do client work.

Probably won't pan out that way but I'm trying not to be distracted by 'chatting' all day. I do have the luxury of running a home business, so if I am being unproductive I'm the only one to suffer.

Note to Rachel - it's great to see someone else who's into the enneagram - I think I'm sort of a 3 with a 4 wing!

Happy Easter all!

Thanks Marie. I actually do an event with Biznik here in Seattle to help people learn about the enneagram. I think it's so helpful for personal growth as well as for understanding relationship dynamics!