The dawn of June saw me say goodbye to the second year of my degree in Advertising and Marketing! It really is crazy how time flies, and even scarier to think that this time next year i’ll be back in the big world looking for work as a graduate!

University thus far has been a hectic mix of lazy days, quick meals and frantic working towards deadlines. The last couple of months of my second year, especially however, have been hectic as i’ve been revising for end-of-year exams. Two and a half months of hardcore studying has taught me that I stress (a lot), I have a heavy dose of determination when it comes to getting stuff done, and there are the hours in the day. While balancing studying for six different exam modules for uni work, I was also fitting in my actual work.

I’ve learnt that, when it comes to prioritising your time, you need to have good organisation, granted, but there is enough time to get it done.

I think, very often, lack of know-how and confidence can cause people to shy away from social media, mostly under the umbrella excuse of “not having the time” to get it done. This – simply put – is not true. Mostly because social media doesn’t need to take you long, at all, each day. Granted, to begin with, you need to put a plan, strategy and goal in place to make sure you’re aware of where you’re going with SM and where you want to be. However, once you’ve got your plans in place, it’s simply a matter of ‘giving it a go’ getting to grips with the platforms and the value each of them can offer your business.

Like they say, practice makes perfect, and it doesn’t take long at all to get the hang of how things work on each platform. My advice is to take on social media with a plan (of course), but also an open mind. The social sphere is a very saturated environment and this doesn’t at all mean that the opportunity to succeed isn’t there, it simply means that thinking outside the box can give you creative and competitive edge. If you truly embrace SM without prejudice, you’ll be generating creative content and strategies before you know it. And where time’s concerned, set yourself at least 10 minutes each day to schedule, post, follow, engage and build your community. Despite what we all say and like to think, we don’t “have no time” left in the day. When a little effort on social can go a very, very long way, the question is really whether you can afford not to get involved?

If you need a little guidance getting there or igniting those initial ideas, Libby’s Lunch and Learn sessions are a great opportunity to speak to others, bounce creative ideas around, get inspired and learn a lot in the process, too. I’d really recommend to anyone, because it only takes one great idea to spark a whole host of them! Alternatively, you can speak to Libby one-to-one to get the coaching you may want to kickstart your social the best way possible.

So, really, what are we all waiting for?

This a guest blog post by Harriet Giffard-Tiney. Harriet has been working with me for three years, having started as an apprentice and worked her way up to being a super-duper right hand woman. She is currently studying Marketing and Advertising at Lancaster University, and also works as a freelance blogger and content creator. You can connect with Harriet on LinkedIn by clicking here.