Small businesses without a dedicated social marketer on staff often neglect social networks all together thinking management of the networks will require too much time.  However, with a plan and a checklist in hand, even a time-strapped business owner can tackle basic social networking tasks.

Here are some tips I found on Chris Brogan’s blog along with some tips of my own:

(You can Download the Daily Social Media Checklist as a PDF now)

Twitter:

-Find seven things worth retweeting (spaced out throughout the day)
-Reply to at least five tweets with full responses (not just “thanks for the RT”)
-Follow back up to 10 new people
-Twice a week check out the lists you’ve been added to
-Tweet at least three pictures each week

Facebook:

-Respond to at least three interesting comments on the wall
-Post at least one status update
-Post at least three pictures each week
(pictures hold the most FB weight and are shown in newsfeeds the longest / provide highest level of engagement)

LinkedIn:

-Approve group requests early in the day
-Post one question, status update or link
-Respond to comments

It will be important to monitor @ replies on Twitter and keyword searches for your company constantly, but you can use an app to help you rather than having to sit and watch your feed all day.

I like to use Newsfire for Mac but there are plenty of other tools you can try. With Newsfire you simply tell the app which keywords you need to know about and it’ll pop up an alert as soon as someone tweets that keyword or phrase.

You can Download the Daily Social Media Checklist as a PDF now. Print it out and post it above your computer!

Anything you think should be added to the daily social media checklist? Leave a comment below and I’ll update the doc with the best responses!