How I Use Buffer and a Two-Step Process To Become a Scheduling Star

I was asked a week or two ago how I manage to stay organised and schedule posts and updates for my blog. Staying organised and creating content for my blog is a post for another day, but scheduling updates on social media is definitely a topic for today. No, I'm not going to talk about how you should be everywhere all the time - you can't be, nobody is online all day, every day, but you can give the impression of being extremely organised, even when you're not. Here's my secret behind becoming a social media schedule superwoman.

I created a publishing schedule

When I first started blogging, I would think of my content, write it, and publish it, all within one day, and then save the next post for whenever my next bout of creativity hit. I had posts five days in a row, and then nothing for two weeks, and that was a baaaaaaad idea. The moment I started creating a publishing schedule was the best moment of my blogging so far.

Currently, I post up to four times a week, more regularly, three times, and it's a schedule that not only suits my current work life, but it also creates a demand for my content. I'm asked frequently why I don't post more often, why I don't post more content more regularly, and the truth is, by having a set schedule, I can plan my social media updates much more easily than I could without one.

Since I post around three times a week, it means that each of my posts have at least two days in which my main promoting focus is on one post. That means I can schedule, or at least plan out two days worth of updates concerning that one particular post if I really wanted to, and that's where my number one resource for becoming a scheduling superhuman comes in.

I get my buttocks on Buffer and schedule social media!

Buffer has become pretty much become my go-to, most used, most helpful blogging resource in forever, and I would not be able to keep my social media accounts updated without it. Without the ability to promote my posts on the go like I used to, I had to come up with a new way to keep my promoting strategy in play - I had to up my game, so I jumped on the bandwagon and checked out Buffer.

Now, you've probably heard that to get the most out of Buffer, you've got to splash the cash, and yes, to get the ultimate amount of use out of it, you do, but you don't need money to achieve some scheduling superpowers. I don't pay for any of Buffer's services and yet I achieve a more than perfect scheduling system that works for me and Nellie and Co. - proof you don't have to spend a buck to have what everybody else has.

Buffer is awesome in that I worry so much less about Nellie and Co. and social media when I'm not around, and it's seriously helped my stress levels too. When I'm stressed, I feel pressured, and that's when my content suffers, and it shows. Being able to plan my next ten updates, whether they be over 24 hours or over 24 days, I feel in control, I feel like I'm ready for anything, and I know my followers aren't going to miss anything.

But what's my super snazzy secret behind getting ahead of the game - surely there's more to just putting in links and letting it be? That there is my wonderful friends, and here it is.

Permalinks, (or slugs as they're known on Wordpress) are super important when it comes to promoting and marketing yourself, whether that be through SEO or social media, but it the entire URL link also comes in extremely helpful with Buffer.

Related: How To Change Your Blog Post URL/Permalink (Blogger)

Take this post for example. The entire URL link for this post is: http://nellieandco.blogspot.com/2015/10/start-scheduling-social-media-with-buffer.html. By using this link, I can schedule posts well in advance, in fact, I can prepare social media updates way before the post itself has been posted, and it's all thanks to that little, very important URL link.

Generally, I use Buffer for updates on Twitter, so lets use that as an example. Here's my Buffer dashboard.


Now, using the URL for this post, I can schedule an update for this post, ready for when the post itself is set to be published. Generally, I publish my posts at around 12:00 am BST, and my first Buffer social media update is set for 12:27. It's vital that your post is already published before the Buffer update is published, otherwise you'll have a faulty link, not only affecting how your followers view you, but it affects how Google ranks your blog too. Be careful and double check. Here's what my update looks like.


Almost automatically after I've entered the URL, Buffer creates a new, shorter URL that looks much sexier (yes, sexier people) on a social media update, although it takes up the same amount of space as the URL you put in. At this point, I can add an image, for example, the graphic that goes with this post, and then my update is ready to roll.


From this point, it's just a case of publishing and waiting for the update to go out. Personally, I keep within the freebie 10 updates for free, but you can easily update for a month, or a year, and get up to 100 updates on the plan instead, so if you're looking for an easy way to prepare updates for weeks, gosh, maybe even months, Buffer is one of the best options available. It's completely changed I organise myself, how much more prepared I am, and it's also made a huge difference to my viewing through social media, coming in at my most popular channel with 39.5% of all viewing. If that doesn't speak volumes, what does?

Do You Use Buffer? Will You Start Using It?