Photo by Realblades

Time is the most valuable resource many people who work in nonprofits have.  So, it comes as no surprise that the one of the common questions I hear during social media trainings is, "How much time does it take to do social media?"

In my presentations, I use a slide from Nina Simon's blog post called "How Much Time Does It Take To Do Web2.0 In A Museum?"   I've been thinking about remixing that slide so it matches the framework I set up for WeAreMedia tactical modules.  Here's what I came up with:

Click here to see larger image and description of approaches
Time Chart
See Flickr Discussion on Version
Wanna Remix it?  Download it here

So, how can you quantify - as close as possible - the amount of time it takes to put social media in practice with good results?  It's so hard and you could cop out with "It depends ..."   It does take more time in the beginning if you're just acquiring the skill with a particular tool.  As soon as you have the workflow in memory and have routine, it will take less time than when you first started.  But, there's the whole issue of being efficient - and if you have super human getting things dones with social media skills, then it will take you less time.   

Also, it isn't matter of less or more time - it is also how you manage your online time.  Are you staying on task and getting the workflow done for each specific strategy?  It has nothing to do with the tools, have you avoided getting distracted from your to do list or work flow or too much multi-tasking-- social media can be ADD producing.

Mizz information blog offered some additional ways to think about time spent on social media:

Learning. There is the time it takes to have acquired the knowledge to be able to do them in the first place. You have to know what tools are out there and not only how to use them, but how to use them for business--what you can and can't do, and how to do it most effectively.

Selling. Once you’ve acquired the knowledge you’ll be responsible for teaching others inside and outside your organization not only how they work, but why they’re necessary components of the social media strategy. 

Coordinating. You also have to factor in the reality - silos—membership does membership, PR does PR, marketing does marketing, etc. Social media is about all these things, yet if these departments don’t even communicate or work together internally, how are you going to present a united message about your organization’s programs or campaigns? And furthermore, who is heading up the social media efforts—is it one person? A team? Whether it’s either of those, it takes time to coordinate internally about messages, methods, goals, etc., not to mention decide who should and shouldn’t be out there sharing the story and what’s ok and not ok as far as doing it. Already have lots of meetings eating up your time? Prepare to lose even more time to meetings to decide about all this stuff.

How else can you quantify the amount of time it takes to implement a social media strategy?   What about for specific tools?  For example, blogging?  How much time do you spend?

Beth Kanter, BlogHer CE for Nonprofits and Social Change, writes Beth's Blog.