We all live busy lives. Some of us have busier lives then others. While thinking about how we can make our lives better or more productive, I came across a website that allows you to schedule tweets. I had always known about programs like Hootsuite, but I had never taken into consideration how scheduling tweets could really increase my productivity off of twitter.
“It doesn’t really matter what time it is if you haven’t determined what to do with your time.” – Andy Stanley (HT: Rick Smith)
Timely was first introduced to me via a blog by Justin Wise. It is on his top 5 list of social media apps that he uses on a daily basis. After reading that blog post I started to use it daily.
What does it do?
It schedules your tweets for you based on your exposure so that you don’t have to think about it. Think, set it and forget it. Just like that annoying infomercial. I’ve loved using it every day and here is why:
- It’s easy! – Sign up to get started using Timely today and find out how easy it is to incorporate into your life!
- It’s fast – Once you hook up yourself with the powerful bookmarklet you can share sites on the fly without ever having to go to the Timely website.
- It integrates with Bit.ly for FREE! Buffer does not have this capability.
The Overview
The login screen.
Sign up, and then login with your username and password.
Below is where the productivity begins!
You’ll see your Queue where you can begin to schedule your tweets, and you’ll see the tweets that you have scheduled for the future as well.
Want to know if your tweets are being clicked on or re-tweeted?
Check out the performance tab:
Don’t want to annoy your followers with 9 scheduled tweets a day or more?
Just change that under settings. You can even have Timely take a break like you do on the weekends, just by clicking the button on that page.
Have a Bit.ly Account? Like short urls?
This app offers free integration with Bit.ly. Login to your account and start tracking your tweets performance with Bit.ly.
Conclusion
Over the past few weeks that I have been using this app it really has amazed me how easy it is and how much of a ROI I get in terms of clicks just based on the time my tweets are posted. If you are looking to start exploring around in fields of flowers on your free time, or just looking to be more productive with twitter, why don’t you give this application a try.
Already using Hootsuite, or Buffer to schedule tweets?
Try it anyway! 😉
After a few days, i’m sure you will make the switch just like I did.
Do you use Timely? Let me know what you think.
[Image via Martin]
Dave Shrein says
Have you every used Hootsuite at all? My interest would be to see how this compares with the scheduler within the Hootsuite app. But agreed, scheduling your entries are super effective in maximum exposure.
Brian Alexander says
Dave, I have. The thing I don’t like about Hootsuite’s scheduling is that you have to choose the time that it is posted. Personally, I’d rather somebody figure that out for me based on most exposure.
I do think that Hootsuite is the more popular choice though, just not as much of a fan of it as Timely. 😉
Dave Shrein says
I went to the timely website and ran my twitter through their optimization test on the home page… it’s pretty insightful. I think why I like the Hoot is because it allows FB & Twitter… Sometimes I like to cater a different message because of space. I’m going to look into the Timely though.
Brian Alexander says
Dave, I can totally see where you are coming from when it comes to catering. Thanks for trying Timely.
MK @ Teach Sunday School says
I hadn’t heard of Timely until reading this blog post…and I am so happy that I stumbled across it! You give a great overview of the product, and I’ve decided I’m going to give it a shot. I’ve been having a hard time managing my Twitter account (there’s just not enough time in a day!), so it will be so much easier for me to schedule the whole day’s (or week’s) worth of tweets all at one time. Thanks so much for sharing!
Brian Alexander says
Thanks for trying it out.
One suggestion I would just offer to you though before scheduling a whole week or couple of weeks. Don’t schedule all of your tweets with timely. Try to post as a real human being sometime. Don’t want to be a twitter robot now do ya?
Dave Shrein says
That raises an excellent question… is it robotic to use a post agent to make your posts? Is there something sacred about actually posting in the moment? I think I hear what you’re saying… the authentic piece, and I agree… but just to stir the pot… isn’t snail mail pretty authentic, but you base when it goes out on when you want it to arrive… thoughts?
Brian Alexander says
Dave, that is an excellent point. Let em clarify my above statement. I meant that he would not want to be 100% auto-posting using timely or another service. That would be a bad idea.
Eric J says
Very cool! we use tweetdeck because it is free for scheduling tweets for facebook and twitter.
Brian Alexander says
Eric, how would you compare TweetDeck’s scheduling to Timely’s?
Eric J says
We aren’t using timely because it is twitter only.
Dustin W. Stout says
I love this! I do hope to see some Facebook integration in the future though. Until then, this will likely be my scheduler of choice!
Brian Alexander says
Great choice Dustin! Any problems you’ve seen with it?
Dustin W. Stout says
The first thing I noticed was that when I ran my twitter stream through the analyzer, it gave me MST. I’m in PST. It would be nice if it either detected my timezone automagically or allowed me to choose one.
Brian Alexander says
I had to change mine manually as well. Not sure why that doesn’t work automatically, but it’ll be nice to see them add for sure. Thanks for the feedback.